{"id":20945,"date":"2015-03-14T06:44:53","date_gmt":"2015-03-14T12:44:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=20945"},"modified":"2025-11-06T07:13:05","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T13:13:05","slug":"first-of-the-year-sage-thrasher-on-antelope-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/03\/14\/first-of-the-year-sage-thrasher-on-antelope-island\/","title":{"rendered":"First of the Year Sage Thrasher on Antelope Island!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FirstFirst of the year Sage Thrasher on Antelope Island – Nikon D810, f8, 1\/1600, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I was absolutely delighted to spot a pair of Sage Thrashers on Antelope Island yesterday because I have been anxiously awaiting their arrival since they left last fall.<\/p>\n

I almost missed them but the shape of the bird said “Sage Thrasher” and I turned around and went back to the birds. It was then that I could hear the one that was furthest away singing<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

This Sage Thrasher was perched on a tintic quartzite boulder high above the Great Salt Lake and the mudflats of the drying lake bed.<\/p>\n

I looked it up and the earliest I had seen Sage Thrasher on Antelope Island was the 18th of March so my sighting beats my personal record by 5<\/strong> days!<\/p>\n

\"PreeningPreening Sage Thrasher – Nikon D810, f8, 1\/1250, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

While I wish the boulder had been closer I enjoyed observing this thrasher preen and fluff on a warm spring morning. I loved this fun pose and had to share it.<\/p>\n

I thought (hoped) I would hear a Long-billed Curlew yesterday because they too should be arriving soon but instead I had a Sage Thrasher surprise.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good!<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Sage Thrasher photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was absolutely delighted to spot a pair of Sage Thrashers on Antelope Island yesterday because I have been anxiously awaiting their arrival since they left last fall. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":162830,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[511,27,1022,103,26],"tags":[3981,11978,788,4005,9038,4164,4019,4470,4003,2727,4613,735,3251,373],"class_list":["post-20945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-sage-thrashers","category-utah","tag-davis-county","tag-desert-island","tag-first-of-year","tag-great-salt-lake","tag-late-winter","tag-oreoscoptes-montanus","tag-preening-2","tag-rocks","tag-sage-thrasher","tag-song-bird","tag-thrasher","tag-thrashers","tag-tintic-quartzite","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-perched-mia-mcpherson-0233.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-5rP","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":100621,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/13\/looking-for-my-first-of-year-sage-thrasher\/","url_meta":{"origin":20945,"position":0},"title":"Looking For My First Of Year Sage Thrasher","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 13, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"March 13th is an anniversary of sorts for me. The date is the earliest that I have seen and photographed a Sage Thrasher in northern Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fluffy Sage Thrasher adult warming up on a rock, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/sage-thrasher-adult-on-rock-mia-mcpherson-0248.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/sage-thrasher-adult-on-rock-mia-mcpherson-0248.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/sage-thrasher-adult-on-rock-mia-mcpherson-0248.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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McPherson","date":"March 9, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I can barely wait to see my first Sage Thrasher of the year warming up on a rock in front of the Great Salt Lake, scurrying along on the ground, perched on top of sage or rabbitbrush singing or displaying.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Early Sage Thrasher warming up on a rock in front of the Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-first-of-year-mia-mcpherson-0261.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-first-of-year-mia-mcpherson-0261.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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