Week 29 – Sage Thrasher

 

Fledgling Sage Thrasher. Photograph by Neil Paprocki.

It is that time of year when we see young birds galore. As many northern songbirds begin to think about migration, some are just finishing their broods and will head south a little later. This past week while filming for Bluebird Man, I had an encounter with one of these naive young birds.

While sitting in the blind I had a fledgling Sage Thrasher come and perch in a tall sagebrush directly to my right. This inquisitive bird wanted to see what this madman was doing sitting in this camouflage-covered camp-chair and proceeded to perch directly on top of my blind for a few moments!

Soon after hopping down it landed on a fence post trying to see inside the blind to determine just what I was. After peering in for a few moments, the fledgling finally saw me and took off like a bolt into the surrounding brush.

I guess that’s one way to learn about avoiding humans!