{"id":4748,"date":"2012-04-07T08:22:32","date_gmt":"2012-04-07T14:22:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=4748"},"modified":"2025-11-06T04:56:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T10:56:10","slug":"a-fearless-sage-thrasher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/04\/07\/a-fearless-sage-thrasher\/","title":{"rendered":"One Fearless Sage Thrasher"},"content":{"rendered":"

This past week I have seen a few Sage Thrashers (Oreoscoptes montanus<\/em>) on Antelope Island State Park<\/span><\/a> and although none of them were close enough to photograph I know it won’t be long before I will be able to create new images of them. Seeing them reminded me of an encounter with a Sage Thrasher a few years ago that appeared to be fearless.<\/p>\n

\"FearlessFearless Sage Thrasher – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/1000, ISO 250, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I’ve found Sage Thrashers to be a touch on the skittish side but not this individual bird. I came across this thrasher while using a vehicle as a mobile blind.<\/p>\n

The bird wasn’t too far from the road when I created the photograph above and although I would have preferred less obstructions the foreground I still liked this image because of the subtle colors in the bird’s plumage and the setting.<\/p>\n

This particular bird didn’t fly off any time soon as many of the Sage Thrashers I have photographed do. Instead the bird would dash out onto the road and then disappear under the pickup.<\/p>\n

It would then scurry back to the side of the road and then proceed to run under the pickup again. As near as I can tell the thrasher may have been finding prey on the road under the vehicle and its hunger may have overcome its fear of humans.<\/p>\n

I can’t be sure but I know I found the behavior fascinating. I wish I could have gotten images of the bird as it dashed under the pickup but it was simply too close to focus on!<\/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":"

This past week I have seen a few Sage Thrashers on Antelope Island State Park and although none of them were close enough to photograph I know it won’t be long before I will be able to create new images of them. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":162766,"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":[511,27,103,26],"tags":[4004,11978,9223,4124,519,4164,2326,4003,9225,9224,2315,4613,735],"class_list":["post-4748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-sage-thrashers","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-desert-island","tag-fearless","tag-mobile-blind","tag-nature","tag-oreoscoptes-montanus","tag-road","tag-sage-thrasher","tag-scurry","tag-skittish","tag-summer-3","tag-thrasher","tag-thrashers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-fearless-mia-mcpherson-1772.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1eA","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"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":4748,"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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/sage-thrasher-adult-on-rock-mia-mcpherson-0248.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14858,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/04\/29\/two-simple-sage-thrasher-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":4748,"position":1},"title":"Two simple Sage Thrasher Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 29, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"While on Antelope Island yesterday I was able to photograph these two Sage Thrashers in two different locations with one perched on Sagebrush and the other on Rabbitbrush.","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":"Sage Thrasher with a peachy background, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/sage-thrasher-high-key-mia-mcpherson-9394.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/sage-thrasher-high-key-mia-mcpherson-9394.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/sage-thrasher-high-key-mia-mcpherson-9394.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/sage-thrasher-high-key-mia-mcpherson-9394.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":459,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/08\/23\/sage-thrashers\/","url_meta":{"origin":4748,"position":2},"title":"Sage Thrashers","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 23, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Sage Thrashers are from the Mimid family. They forage mainly on the ground for insects, though they do eat berries at times.","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":"Sage Thrasher juvenile on a rock, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5100.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-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5100.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5100.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-singing-low-light-mia-mcpherson-5350.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-singing-low-light-mia-mcpherson-5350.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-singing-low-light-mia-mcpherson-5350.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-singing-low-light-mia-mcpherson-5350.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":80469,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/03\/05\/sage-thrashers-time-to-listen-for-their-march-melodies\/","url_meta":{"origin":4748,"position":4},"title":"Sage Thrashers – Time To Listen For Their March Melodies","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 5, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Sage Thrashers return to northern Utah in March and it is now time for me to start listening for their songs and melodies.","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":"Perched adult Sage Thrasher, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-adult-mia-mcpherson-2876.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-adult-mia-mcpherson-2876.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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