This past week I have seen a few Sage Thrashers (Oreoscoptes montanus) 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. Seeing them reminded me of an encounter with a Sage Thrasher a few years ago that appeared to be fearless.

Fearless Sage ThrasherA fearless Sage Thrasher – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1/1000, ISO 250, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light

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, 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.

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. 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. 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!

Life is good.

Mia

Click here to see more of my Sage Thrasher photos plus facts and information about this species.