{"id":54254,"date":"2018-09-22T06:29:46","date_gmt":"2018-09-22T12:29:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=54254"},"modified":"2025-11-07T06:11:41","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T12:11:41","slug":"sage-thrashers-northern-mockingbird-white-crowned-sparrow-and-wild-rose-hips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/09\/22\/sage-thrashers-northern-mockingbird-white-crowned-sparrow-and-wild-rose-hips\/","title":{"rendered":"Sage Thrashers, Northern Mockingbird, White-crowned Sparrow and Wild Rose Hips"},"content":{"rendered":"

The birds I photographed on the wild rose bushes were adult and immature Sage Thrashers, an adult White-crowned Sparrow and one beautiful Northern Mockingbird.<\/p>\n

Yesterday morning was great for bird photography, the sky was clear, the temps were pleasant, the light was nice and I found that there were plenty of birds to photograph. Today my focus is on birds that I photographed on wild rose bushes whose branches were dripping with rose hips.<\/p>\n

\"NorthernNorthern Mockingbird perched on a Wild Rose – Nikon D500, f9, 1\/800, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Here in Utah we are almost at the uppermost northern range in this area of North America for breeding Northern Mockingbirds, above us their range only goes into far southern Idaho and I don’t see these songsters all that often. When I do see them I get excited and when they land out in the open on a picture perfect perch my excitement is amplified!<\/p>\n

\"RoseRose hips and a Northern Mockingbird – Nikon D500, f9, 1\/1000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I saw three of these mockingbirds in this same area on the 19th but couldn’t get back to where they were so I was even more delighted when this one came in and landed right in front of me on the rose bush.<\/p>\n

Before I took my photos of this mockingbird I saw it perched on another bush in the distance at the time I even pleaded out loud for it to land on the rose bush so imagine my surprise when it actually did! It chased off a Sage Thrasher that had been perched in the same spot. I believe it was scolding the thrasher when I took this photo.<\/p>\n

\"PuffedPuffed up Northern Mockingbird on a Wild Rose – Nikon D500, f9, 1\/1250, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The Northern Mockingbird soon puffed up its feathers then it took off. I felt wonderful after getting these photos because I don’t have many opportunities with them.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult White-crowned Sparrow peeking out of a Wild Rose – Nikon D500, f9, 1\/800, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

There were also several White-crowned Sparrows that came and perched on the wild rose, this one had been perched near the top of the bush when a Northern Harrier flew over so the sparrow buried itself in the thorny bush for a little while for protection. After a bit it peeked out to see if the harrier had moved on and I couldn’t resist taking this photo of the sparrow surrounded by the leaves and rose hips.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Sage Thrasher perched on a Wild Rose – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Then there were the Sage Thrashers… I won’t presume to call the Sage Thrashers I saw and photographed a “family” even though I saw both adults and immature birds because this time of the year is when Sage Thrashers are migrating and these birds could be unrelated migrants passing through, what I do know for certain is that they were plentiful, active and a great deal of fun to photograph on the wild rose bushes.\u00a0 This thrasher was the first one I photographed yesterday while there was still a bit of golden light.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Sage Thrasher, Wild Rose hips and morning light – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/2000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I spotted another Sage Thrasher on a smaller wild rose bush a distance away from the larger bush and it looked so great in that setting that I had to take photos of it too. This adult’s plumage looked especially fresh.<\/p>\n

\"SageSage Thrasher fluffing its feathers on a Wild Rose – Nikon D500, f10, 1\/1000, ISO 640, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This adult Sage Thrasher is perched in nearly the exact same spot as my first photo of the Northern Mockingbird above so I felt I had to include it. When I place these photos side by side on my monitor it almost looks as if I swapped out one bird for the other which of course I didn’t do. What I can say is that both these species seemed to like that that spot for whatever reason.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Sage Thrasher with fruit on a Wild Rose – Nikon D500, f9, 1\/1250, ISO 640, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Then there was this immature Sage Thrasher<\/span><\/a> who came into the wild rose bush, I can tell it is immature because of its plumage and because I can see the gape of an immature bird. I’m not certain exactly what the fruit or berry is that the young thrasher has in its bill.<\/p>\n

It could be the fruit from nearby Fragrant Sumac or it could be from the inside of the wild rose hips, whatever it was the thrasher swallowed it whole within two frames of this image.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Sage Thrasher with a fruit pit hanging from its bill by saliva – Nikon D500, f10, 1\/1000, ISO 640, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

And I had to post this photo because of the fruit pit dangling from the Sage Thrasher’s bill from what appears to be a thread of saliva as delicate as a spider web.<\/p>\n

The thrasher had regurgitated the pit and as it dropped towards the ground it looked like a pendulum to me. Shades of Poe, right?<\/p>\n

\"SageSage Thrasher sitting pretty in a Wild Rose – Nikon D500, f9, 1\/1600, ISO 640, 0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I took photos of other birds that were in or on other bushes yesterday morning but the green leaves in these photos is such a nice contrast to the desert area around these roses that these were at the top of my favorites. Of course the pop of red and orange from the rose hips is quite pleasing to my eyes as well, the birds of course were what held my focus.<\/p>\n

\"AlertAlert Sage Thrasher with Wild Rose hips – Nikon D500, f9, 1\/2000, ISO 640, 0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I filled my 64 GB XQD card yesterday with all the photos I took of the birds I saw and I have hours of culling to do but when the subjects are so cooperative why not take as many photos as you desire? After all I might not be so fortunate in this spot ever again so I did what I always do, I made the best of it.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my bird photos in their galleries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The birds I photographed on the wild rose bushes were adult and immature Sage Thrashers, an adult White-crowned Sparrow and one beautiful Northern Mockingbird.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":126990,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1148,818,103,26,356],"tags":[6667,821,820,6814,5719,4192,4164,6813,4749,4003,855,4195,4613,735,4327,4507,4256],"class_list":["post-54254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-northern-mockingbird","category-sage-thrashers","category-utah","category-white-crowned-sparrows","tag-fruit","tag-mimids-2","tag-mimus-polyglottos","tag-mockingbird","tag-mockingbirds","tag-northern-mockingbird","tag-oreoscoptes-montanus","tag-pit","tag-rose-hips","tag-sage-thrasher","tag-sparrow","tag-sparrows","tag-thrasher","tag-thrashers","tag-white-crowned-sparrow","tag-wild-rose","tag-zonotrichia-leucophrys"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/northern-mockingbird-rose-hips-mia-mcpherson-3734.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-e74","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5257,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/06\/28\/birds-of-antelope-island-a-mix-of-feathered-friends\/","url_meta":{"origin":54254,"position":0},"title":"Birds of Antelope Island – A Mix of Feathered Friends","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 28, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I photographed a mixture of the birds of Antelope Island State Park and had great fun while doing it.","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":"Immature Sage Thrasher on Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-mia-mcpherson-1006.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-mia-mcpherson-1006.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/white-crowned-sparrow-rose-hips-mia-mcpherson-2393.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/white-crowned-sparrow-rose-hips-mia-mcpherson-2393.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/white-crowned-sparrow-rose-hips-mia-mcpherson-2393.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/white-crowned-sparrow-rose-hips-mia-mcpherson-2393.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14794,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/04\/20\/sage-thrashers-mockingbirds-of-the-sagebrush\/","url_meta":{"origin":54254,"position":2},"title":"Sage Thrashers – Mockingbirds of the Sagebrush","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 20, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I spent some time yesterday on Antelope Island State Park photographing and listening to a very cooperative and melodious Sage Thrasher.","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":"Singing Sage Thrasher in low light, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, 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, 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hips, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/white-crowned-sparrow-rosehips-mia-mcpherson-2849.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/white-crowned-sparrow-rosehips-mia-mcpherson-2849.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/white-crowned-sparrow-rosehips-mia-mcpherson-2849.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/white-crowned-sparrow-rosehips-mia-mcpherson-2849.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":100621,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/13\/looking-for-my-first-of-year-sage-thrasher\/","url_meta":{"origin":54254,"position":4},"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":54744,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/10\/24\/immature-white-crowned-sparrows-up-in-box-elder-county\/","url_meta":{"origin":54254,"position":5},"title":"Immature White-crowned Sparrows Up In Box Elder County","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 24, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been collecting images of immature White-crowned Sparrows that I have taken over the past month or so up in Box Elder County because of all the different settings I have photographed them in.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pair of immature White-crowned Sparrows on a dead branch, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrows-immature-dead-branch-mia-mcpherson-2782.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrows-immature-dead-branch-mia-mcpherson-2782.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrows-immature-dead-branch-mia-mcpherson-2782.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrows-immature-dead-branch-mia-mcpherson-2782.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}