{"id":54397,"date":"2018-10-02T05:59:41","date_gmt":"2018-10-02T11:59:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=54397"},"modified":"2025-11-07T05:35:31","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T11:35:31","slug":"sage-thrasher-with-fragrant-sumac-berry-in-mid-air-in-dawns-golden-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/10\/02\/sage-thrasher-with-fragrant-sumac-berry-in-mid-air-in-dawns-golden-light\/","title":{"rendered":"Sage Thrasher With Fragrant Sumac Berry In Mid Air In Dawn’s Golden Light"},"content":{"rendered":"

In late September I posted a bunch of Sage Thrasher photos where the birds were perched on wild roses<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The day I took those images I was also able to photograph the Sage Thrashers perched on Fragrant Sumacs but didn’t include those photos because my focus for that post was birds on the roses.<\/p>\n

I’d almost forgotten that I had edited some of the photos of the thrashers on the sumac so today I wanted to share one of those images. Actually this is probably my favorite image of the series I took with this particular thrasher.<\/p>\n

\"SageSage Thrasher with Fragrant Sumac berry in mid air – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

It was early in the morning and the sun had just risen above the mountains to the east when a Sage Thrasher landed on a Fragrant Sumac. The Sage Thrasher seemed like it was bathed in golden light when suddenly I saw that it had a sumac berry which it tossed it into the air and proceeded to swallow it whole.<\/p>\n

When I viewed this photo on my camera LCD I was delighted to see strands of saliva connecting the berry to the bird’s tongue and upper mandible. The chances of getting a shot like this are pretty slim so I almost squealed with joy as I viewed it on my screen.<\/p>\n

\"CloseClose up of Sage Thrasher showing tongue, saliva and a Fragrant Sumac berry in mid air – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This is the same photo but I cropped it more so the saliva is a touch more visible than it is in the original image. The saliva connecting the berry to the upper mandible is more visible than the strand connecting it to the tongue of the thrasher but hopefully it can be seen.<\/p>\n

Right after this photo was taken the Sage Thrasher<\/span><\/a> swallowed the berry and it disappeared down the throat of the bird. I continued to photograph the thrasher afterwards as it fluffed, preened, posed, and looked around.<\/p>\n

Photos like this one than can make this bird photographer want to jump for joy and I am sure I would have had I not been stuck inside a mobile blind.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

The Sage Thrasher seemed like it was bathed in golden light when suddenly I saw that it had a sumac berry which it tossed it into the air and proceeded to swallow it whole.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":162988,"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":[27,1148,103,26],"tags":[4004,6666,4098,6767,4254,6305,4164,6826,6768,4003,4849,6827,4613,735],"class_list":["post-54397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-sage-thrashers","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-berry","tag-desert","tag-fragrant-sumac","tag-golden-light","tag-mid-air","tag-oreoscoptes-montanus","tag-promontory","tag-rhus-aromatica","tag-sage-thrasher","tag-saliva","tag-swallowed","tag-thrasher","tag-thrashers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-berry-mid-air-mia-mcpherson-2218.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-e9n","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":73824,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/09\/17\/adult-sage-thrasher-regurgitating-a-sumac-seed\/","url_meta":{"origin":54397,"position":0},"title":"Adult Sage Thrasher Regurgitating A Sumac Seed","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 17, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Eleven days ago I photographed an adult Sage Thrasher regurgitating the seed of a sumac berry that was so close I could barely fit the thrasher in the frame.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sage Thrasher after regurgitating a sumac seed, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-sumac-mia-mcpherson-3914.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-sumac-mia-mcpherson-3914.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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McPherson","date":"March 9, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The comparisons I have made between juvenile, immature and adult Sage Thrashers are basic, there are more ways to determine their age but I wanted to keep the comparisons simple.","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":"Juvenile Sage Thrasher on Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sage-thrasher-juvenile-on-rock-mia-mcpherson-5075.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sage-thrasher-juvenile-on-rock-mia-mcpherson-5075.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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"Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Northern Mockingbird perched on a wild rose, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/northern-mockingbird-rose-hips-mia-mcpherson-3734.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/northern-mockingbird-rose-hips-mia-mcpherson-3734.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/northern-mockingbird-rose-hips-mia-mcpherson-3734.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/northern-mockingbird-rose-hips-mia-mcpherson-3734.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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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":104808,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/08\/07\/sage-thrasher-in-riparian-habitat\/","url_meta":{"origin":54397,"position":5},"title":"Sage Thrasher In Riparian Habitat","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 7, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Towards the end of last month I found a Sage Thrasher high in the mountains in riparian habitat which surprised me. 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