Chondestes grammacus
Lark Sparrows are large, brown sparrows with bold facial patterns, long tails with white corners and pale underparts with a dark spot on their chests.
Yesterday while I was up in the mountains savoring the cool air I photographed a couple of birds on an old wooden jackleg fence that I had parked close to.
I haven't shared any of my recent Lark Sparrow photos this spring so I thought I would remedy that by sharing some that I took out in the West Desert nine days ago.
Today is World Sparrow Day and since I love all of the sparrows on the planet I thought I'd share some of the sparrows I have photographed in North America.
Two days ago I photographed this adult Lark Sparrow that I found perched on an old fence post in golden light in the West Desert of Tooele County.
One of the first birds I heard singing three days ago in the West Desert of Tooele County was a Lark Sparrow perched on top of a sagebrush.
In the past week I have photographed so many birds in a Wasatch Mountain canyon that I thought I would share a group of them in a photo gallery.
Last week while I was photographing some Lark Sparrows in northern Utah I took images of this one who had droopy wings because the sparrow was hot. I was hot, I know how the sparrow felt.
I wasn't sure I wanted to write this post about an imprisoned Lark Sparrow I heard about on a Facebook group that is about identifying birds but after mulling it over I decided I'd tell the story.
Lark Sparrows are only in Utah during their breeding season so whenever I have the opportunity to photograph them and their bold facial patterns I am thoroughly delighted.
This beautiful little Lark Sparrow was so busy singing that it was a very cooperative subject and I took quite a few images of it as it sang and changed positions on the gnarly old fence post.
The day I photographed this Lark Sparrow with an ant on the boulder right next to it the light wasn't the best for bird photography but when I reviewed the images and saw the ant I knew I had to keep this photo.
The harlequin faced Lark Sparrows are unique, easily identified and quite striking for sparrows which are known for being "little brown jobs".
I thought I would share a few Lark Sparrow facts, a sound recording and of course an image of a Lark Sparrow on the ground.
This Sage Thrasher and Lark Sparrow on rabbitbrush are only two of the birds that benefit from the rabbitbrush on Antelope Island.
I don't often have the opportunity to photograph young Lark Sparrows so I jumped at the chance last Saturday when I saw this one on Antelope Island State Park.
Lark Sparrows are the easiest sparrows to identify that inhabit Antelope Island State Park with their bold facial patterns and white edged tails.
For the past week I have been anxiously awaiting my first sighting of Lark Sparrows and yesterday I finally saw them.
It was great to get back out into the field yesterday and even better that there were some cooperative Lark Sparrows in my viewfinder.
These are but a few of the birds I photographed this week in various Utah locations and all of them made great subjects!
The only native true lark that lives and breeds in North America is the Horned Lark.
Yesterday I photographed a mixture of the birds of Antelope Island State Park and had great fun while doing it.
I had some luck with a cooperative Lark Sparrow this past Sunday where the handsome bird stuck around for quite a bit on several different perches.
This is the closest I have been to a Lark Sparrow to date and this was a very cooperative bird too!