{"id":71287,"date":"2020-06-27T06:17:05","date_gmt":"2020-06-27T12:17:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=71287"},"modified":"2025-11-07T06:35:20","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T12:35:20","slug":"crouching-sage-thrasher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/06\/27\/crouching-sage-thrasher\/","title":{"rendered":"Crouching Sage Thrasher"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CrouchingCrouching Sage Thrasher adult on a metal post \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

About two weeks ago while I was up north photographing a trio of Short-eared Owls<\/span><\/a> another bird caught my eyes and tickled my auditory senses.<\/p>\n

As I photographed one of the owls I could hear a Sage Thrasher singing<\/span><\/a> nearby but I kept my focus on the owl in front of me.<\/p>\n

I hoped the Sage Thrasher would come closer so that I could photograph it and just about the time the Short-eared Owl lifted off the thrasher popped up on a nearby metal post.<\/p>\n

Granted, the metal post isn’t the most aesthetically appealing perch but I was happy the thrasher was within range. I was able to take just 29 images of the Sage Thrasher before it flew off.<\/p>\n

I was delighted to have a Sage Thrasher in my viewfinder again but it also made me a touch sad too.<\/p>\n

Because of the Coronavirus pandemic I missed out on photographing the Sage Thrashers returning to Antelope Island this year during spring migration.<\/p>\n

Antelope Island has a healthy population of Sage Thrashers and I’ve found that it is one of the best locations for photographing them right after they return on spring migration.<\/p>\n

However; the island at that time was only accessible to people who lived in Davis County by order of the governor which meant I couldn’t get out there.<\/p>\n

Because the island was inaccessible to me I also missed photographing the Sage Thrashers displaying and gathering nesting materials which is always great fun to see and photograph.<\/p>\n

The thrashers don’t display for very long. By the time I could go to the island the no-see-ums (biting gnats) were out and I had to stay away because I have severe reactions to their bites.<\/p>\n

That meant I missed out on seeing the Sage Thrasher fledglings learning how to fly and forage on their own.<\/p>\n

I adore photographing Sage Thrashers during their breeding season and this pandemic has sure messed that up for me this spring. It ruined my plans up for other spring birds too which has at times made me feel a little blue.<\/p>\n

On the upside though, I have avoided catching the virus (as much as I can be certain) and I know of a few locations where I should be able to photograph the “Mountain Mockingbirds” and their young before they migrate and leave Utah for the year.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good. Stay safe.<\/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 hoped the Sage Thrasher would come closer so that I could photograph it and just about the time the Short-eared Owl lifted off the thrasher popped up on a nearby metal post.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":163023,"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":[4004,6076,2533,4506,4098,6613,6391,4164,9387,10125,4003,4613,735],"class_list":["post-71287","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-blue","tag-crouched","tag-crouching","tag-desert","tag-metal-post","tag-mountain-mockingbirds","tag-oreoscoptes-montanus","tag-pandemic","tag-sad","tag-sage-thrasher","tag-thrasher","tag-thrashers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-adult-mia-mcpherson-3307.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-ixN","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":104808,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/08\/07\/sage-thrasher-in-riparian-habitat\/","url_meta":{"origin":71287,"position":0},"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. A lot.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sage Thrasher in riparian habitat, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/sage-thrasher-riparian-habitat-mia-mcpherson-6554.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/sage-thrasher-riparian-habitat-mia-mcpherson-6554.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/sage-thrasher-riparian-habitat-mia-mcpherson-6554.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/sage-thrasher-riparian-habitat-mia-mcpherson-6554.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":71287,"position":1},"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":73634,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/09\/10\/adult-sage-thrasher-portrait-in-box-elder-county\/","url_meta":{"origin":71287,"position":2},"title":"Adult Sage Thrasher Portrait In Box Elder County","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I was busy photographing six species of sparrows when I noticed this adult Sage Thrasher pop up in a sumac bush that was close enough for me to take portraits of it.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Sage Thrasher portrait, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-adult-portrait-mia-mcpherson-3805.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-portrait-mia-mcpherson-3805.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-adult-portrait-mia-mcpherson-3805.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-adult-portrait-mia-mcpherson-3805.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":459,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/08\/23\/sage-thrashers\/","url_meta":{"origin":71287,"position":3},"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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McPherson","date":"September 3, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The Sage Thrashers on Antelope Island State Park are busy getting ready for migration and the thrashers hatched this year appear to be almost ready to go.","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 fluttering its wings on a branch, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-juvenile-september-mia-mcpherson-3579.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-september-mia-mcpherson-3579.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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