Sage Thrasher Portraits
Yesterday I had an immature Sage Thrasher get so close to me that I was able to take portraits of it as it perched out in the open.
Yesterday I had an immature Sage Thrasher get so close to me that I was able to take portraits of it as it perched out in the open.
This Sage Thrasher and Lark Sparrow on rabbitbrush are only two of the birds that benefit from the rabbitbrush on Antelope Island.
I didn't get to see Greater Sage Grouse on my recent trip to southern Utah but I did get a few brief looks at another sagebrush obligate when a single Sage Thrasher popped up into view.
I am always happy to photograph Swainson's Hawks no matter where I find them so I was pleased to find this one perched on a lichen covered rock yesterday in Box Elder County, Utah.
It was nice to photograph this Northern Mockingbird singing in between the clouds and rain yesterday on Antelope Island State Park.
Yesterday I had my first opportunity to photograph a Sage Thrasher with nesting materials in its bill on Antelope Island State Park.
Can the disappearance of Sagebrush Seas be stopped? Yes, it could be but we need lawmakers that believe in science and act on it.
When I lived in Florida I saw Northern Mockingbirds all the time but they are not so common here in Utah and typically I only see a pair or two during the whole breeding season.
Sage Thrashers are considered sagebrush obligates meaning that they require sagebrush for some part of their life cycle and for the Sage Thrashers in Utah that means they need it during the breeding cycle.
There are Sage Thrashers aplenty on Antelope Island State Park right now and they have been thrashing, dashing and singing their little hearts out the last three trips I have made out to the island.
A Loggerhead Shrike flew into a sagebrush and right after that I could hear a bird that sounded upset. The upset bird was this Northern Mockingbird.