Yesterday morning, I spent time photographing a male Horned Lark perched on a barbed wire fence in the West Desert, with Stansbury Island in the background.
Two days ago while on Antelope Island I photographed a male Horned Lark that seemed to have a big attitude which was really about him defending his territory.
After photographing this male Horned Lark on Antelope Island three days ago I decided to share a photo of him plus female and immature larks in a single post.
In 2018 fossil hunters in Siberia found a extremely well preserved bird seven meters down a tunnel in permafrost that turned out to be a 46,000 year old Horned Lark.
I photographed this adult male Horned Lark singing on a snow-topped fence post three days ago after a spring snow fell overnight in the West Desert.
This singing male Horned Lark was close enough to me that I could take portraits of him while he sang two days ago and I believe the reason he was so close was that his urge to find a mate overcame his natural wariness.
I was thrilled to photograph this singing male Horned Lark last week because he was high up on a boulder with the Great Salt Lake below and behind him since I don't have many images of this species with the lake in the background.
Yesterday I had the opportunity to photograph a male Horned Lark on Antelope Island State Park that included Redstem Filaree in the photos and I was delighted, that pop of bright color sure says "spring" to me.
I like this photo for the eye contact, the fine details in the plumage of the bird, the stretched wing, light and how his one foot is raised, plus I think Horned Larks are beautiful songbirds.
Spring is a time when the Horned Larks here in Utah perch on top of rocks, posts, mounds of dirt, junipers and sagebrush to sing their songs.
The most interesting activities I saw yesterday were territorial behaviors and chases between two male Horned Larks in an open area of the park.
While I was focused on the lark a small bird; presumably a sparrow, zoomed past and I captured an image of a startled Horned Lark who reacted by raising his wings and calling while he moved down the rock a bit.
This West Desert Horned Lark in golden light was taken in the foothills of the Stansbury Mountains of Tooele County on a clear morning last month.
Yesterday I took a few images of a Horned Lark male singing on Antelope Island State Park and it reminded me that I hadn't posted this image of a female Horned Lark that I photographed last year.
Yesterday was a delight in the West Desert because there were plentiful birds to photograph including this male Spotted Towhee singing on its territory.
Could you guess what bird I photographed just from looking at the extreme close up photo above?
Yesterday the sun was shining on Antelope Island unlike the stormy day before and there were birds and animals to photograph much to my delight.
It never, ever fails that when I have an opportunity to photograph Golden Eagles something always goes wrong.
Three days ago I didn't just have fun with Coyotes on Antelope Island State Park I also had fun with this fluffy male Horned Lark.
Western Kingbird After several days of not being able to photograph birds because of bad weather I was pleasantly surprised to have a medley of birds to photograph on Antelope Island Monday.
I have dreamed about getting a shot like this since I first started photographing Horned Larks, I wanted a shot of a Horned Lark at the precise moment it began to lift off with the wings lifted.
In the West Desert of Utah there are a few places in Tooele County I can almost be sure to find Horned Larks warming themselves in the morning light on rocks and boulders.
Summer has changed to autumn and the behaviors of the Horned Larks that have been seen through the summer but have been difficult to get close to.
There are seasonal cycles on Antelope Island State park, winter turns to spring, spring to summer, summer to fall and fall to winter but there are also yearly cycles for the wildflowers that bloom on the island too.
I wanted to share some bird lift off images today so I rounded up a few that showed different styles of lift offs.
Great Horned Owls and Horned Larks are species of birds that have tufts that I photograph regularly here in Utah.
The only native true lark that lives and breeds in North America is the Horned Lark.
I photograph tons of male Horned Larks but don't have that many images of female Horned Larks, I was happy to find this beautiful female dancing and singing on a boulder in early morning light yesterday in Tooele County, Utah.
I photographed this male Horned Lark just two days ago and I'm tickled that I can see new growth of grasses in the frame.
I spotted a flock of Horned Larks in Box Elder County, some were foraging on the road and a few were perched on mounds of snow that someone had plowed. It seemed like the ones on the snow were just enjoying the sunshine.