{"id":73634,"date":"2020-09-10T05:36:27","date_gmt":"2020-09-10T11:36:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=73634"},"modified":"2025-11-07T06:44:30","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T12:44:30","slug":"adult-sage-thrasher-portrait-in-box-elder-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/09\/10\/adult-sage-thrasher-portrait-in-box-elder-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Adult Sage Thrasher Portrait In Box Elder County"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AdultAdult Sage Thrasher portrait \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I had an obnoxiously long and tedious Windows update yesterday which limited my access to my image files and stifled my productivity so this morning I am keeping things short and sweet.<\/p>\n

I had hoped to share a series of images of Sage Thrashers I had photographed in Box Elder County in northern Utah but for now I will share just one.<\/p>\n

I noticed that there were about 6 to 8 Sage Thrashers in the area and hopefully that means they had a successful breeding season.<\/p>\n

These Sage Thrashers will be leaving on migration soon and I’m very happy that I was able to photograph them because earlier in the year the Covid-19 messed up my plans to photograph them displaying on Antelope Island State Park<\/span><\/a> since the governor ordered that park closed to people outside of Davis County for several weeks and I live in Salt Lake County.<\/p>\n

It was disappointing to not be able to photograph these thrashers displaying and by the time the governor lifted the closure they had stopped their breeding displays and the biting gnats had appeared.<\/p>\n

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. I don’t mind the out of focus sumac leaves that surround the thrasher, in fact I quite like how they softly frame this bird.<\/p>\n

I don’t have many Sage Thrasher portraits in my portfolio and I’m thrilled to add one more.<\/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

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":163028,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_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":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,1148,103,26],"tags":[4004,4142,4098,6767,6583,4164,4046,6768,4003,4613,735],"class_list":["post-73634","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-close-up","tag-desert","tag-fragrant-sumac","tag-leaves","tag-oreoscoptes-montanus","tag-portrait","tag-rhus-aromatica","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-portrait-mia-mcpherson-3805.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-j9E","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":73634,"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":104808,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/08\/07\/sage-thrasher-in-riparian-habitat\/","url_meta":{"origin":73634,"position":1},"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 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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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-sumac-mia-mcpherson-3914.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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