This week's Crops & Clips: Eastern Meadowlark

One or two pairs of meadowlarks sang and nested on the grassy field that was next to our Illinois condo before the land was cleared and graded for the new construction. The clear whistled song of the Eastern Meadowlark is generally interpreted as "Spring of the year!"  They sing from the day they arrive in the spring until well into autumn, when most depart for points to the south.  When we lived in New Mexico, the Western Meadowlark had a distinctly different gurgling or warbling song, which sounded to me like "Look at me, I'm a meadowlark!"

I stopped the car to take these photos of one we saw at the side of  the road just after going out our driveway.





The light was rather harsh for this shot, but it is interesting to note that this bird's left leg has a swelling at the "ankle." I wonder what caused the malformation, whether disease, an injury or a developmental defect.



While I have often captured only their brown backs, this is one of my favorite shots--



I love to catch them singing, as I did with this one at nearby Jones Meadow Park.



Meadowlarks are abundant at Nelson Lake/Dick Young Forest Preserve about a mile away.



This one seems to have responded to a command from the drill sergeant: "Left wing, Salute!"