I still don’t know if his aggression was directed at me, or his reflection, or both.
1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 640, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
Sage Thrashers are usually very shy birds but three days ago in the west desert this presumed male came from out of nowhere and landed on a bush unusually close to me. I immediately had the impression that he was either challenging me or he was intensely curious about me because he just stood there and stared at me for a long time.
I got all the photos I wanted similar to this one.
1/5000, f/6.3, ISO 640, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
After quite a while he seemed to relax a little and spent some time preening and rousing. Eventually he turned 90° on his perch and took off to my left. I tried for takeoff and flight shots but I was a little too slow on the trigger and only got one shot where only half of him was in the frame.
For several minutes I could see him hopping around in the bushes close to me but I couldn’t get any clear shots of him. And then he just seemed to disappear.
1/5000, f/6.3, ISO 640, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
But soon he was back and this time he landed almost too close to me. While he was here he seemed to be laser-focused on me, to the point that I began to wonder if he could see his own reflection in my lens. I’ve had that happen before, with similar behavioral results.
The following four sequential photos are as soft as mush but I’m including them in an attempt to document what happened next.
He took off straight at me.
Accelerating. With him coming head-on as fast as he was, my active focus point didn’t even try to keep him in focus.
Still coming straight at me.
At this point I was beginning to wonder if he was going to land on, or strike, the end of my lens. Or me.
He was only about a foot from the end of my lens when he veered off to his right and landed on the bed-rail of my pickup right behind me. I could hear his little feet on my bed-rail but I couldn’t see him because the front and rear head-rests were in the way and my side mirror was pushed forward, as it always is when I’m photographing birds.
Suddenly he landed on my passenger’s side, side mirror. I had that window down because it was beginning to get hot so it was almost like he was inside my pickup with me. I actually thought he might join me inside but he didn’t. While he was on the mirror he paid no attention at all to the mirror or his reflection in it, he just stared at me. He was so close I could almost have reached out and touched him.
At that point I decided to try to photograph him with my phone, which was on my lens caddy right next to me. But what I expected to happen, did happen. While I was raising my phone he took off and I never saw him again.
I’m still not sure if his aggressive behavior was directed at me, or his reflection(s) or both. But either way it was a memorable experience for this bird photographer, especially from a Sage Thrasher.
Ron
Wonderful!
Thanks, Kathryn.
Wow! Your blog is always interesting and informative. I never know what I’ll learn. Ain’t life grand….
Thanks, Gail. It usually is but I’ve known moments when I’ve wondered…
So interesting. When the bird is looking at you (if that is what is happening) the bird is sideways and just using one eye – monocular vision. But when the bird is flying directly at you or their reflection they must have swiveled their eyes to look forwards and then is using binocular vision. Do I have that right? And I have trouble seeing with or without my glasses …. Thanks Ron!
noeing with or without my glasses. Thanks Ron!
Yes, that’s right Frances. Birds have both binocular and monocular vision.
Whole new meaning to the statement. Yur gunna get a thrashen.
🙂
I’ll join the chorus of “Wows.” Those moments are unforgettable.
Thank you, Kent.
Wow. What an experience.
Those sort of temperatures make me bad tempered (and sad and soggy). I wonder…
Stay as cool as you can.
It’s brutal hot out there right now, EC. At least it cools down significantly at night. So far at least.
No follow up comments. Still. Huge sigh.
I wish I knew how to fix it.
Very neat experience and great photos. Perhaps you were by a nest? My camera will not lock focus on birds flying directly at me. I have lost so many great opportunities. It will at an angle.
“It will at an angle.”
So will mine, April. I think it’s because at an angle it can recognize and lock onto the eye better.
Wow! The soft shots really made me feel like I was there. Or rather – like he was coming out of the computer screen right at me. And I love the moment afterwards where he just hung out on your mirror for a while.
Like Michael and Kathleen said, I’m amazed you stayed still that whole time. The red-winged blackbirds are very aggressive right now in Wisconsin, and I’ve been chased by two in the last month (I committed the crime of trying to share a bike path with them).
Thank you, Melanie. Interesting experience you had with the two blackbirds. I’ve never had a blackbird act aggressive toward me, not that I remember.
I think these are the best Sage Thrasher photos I’ve seen and the action shots help tell the story. I’m seldom in Sage Thrasher country but when I am, they are very good at staying out of sight. But even out of sight they are so much fun to listen to with their incredible mimicry. I once would have included Brewer’s Sparrow and Sora on my list if I hadn’t watched a Sage Thrasher in the brush doing a perfect imitation of their songs. A fun series.
I’m delighted you like them that much, Dan. Thanks.
And yes, normally they’re serious skulkers, unless the males are displaying and singing on territory. Which this guy definitely wasn’t doing.
Fabulous! That is a very beautiful bird. The fuzziness actually increases the intensity of the attack for me – and capturing the whole series, from take off to that bullet-like last one, just WOW! So interesting.
Then I’m glad I included the soft shots. Thanks very much, Carolyn.
What an amazing experience and story!! I love the soft photos of the Thrush headed straight towards you. I would never have guessed that the bird would have made a beeline toward you and your lens. Fantastic.
“I would never have guessed that the bird would have made a beeline toward you and your lens.”
Melanie, I was really surprised by it too. Occasionally a close bird will take off toward me but usually they veer off almost immediately. This guy just kept on coming…
Always ‘danger’ in the wild, despite their size! Fantastic images with entertaining stories to remember always! 😆 Great way to begin the day.
Thank you, Janis.
Beautiful and WOW! I’d have been doing the OMG concerning the camera lens! 😉 Pretty poses for what is considered a “plain” bird. 🙂
Doing the heat thing here (probably going to break 100 in this hole today and tomorrow). Sure miss the spruce that died and had to be taken out for shade!
Thanks, Judy. We’re supposed to get to 103 today and 105-106 for the three days after that. Brutal.
As Michael said – how did you not flinch, duck, or some other automatic defensive move?! Thanks for including the soft photos, they tell the story so well! What an experience! 🙂
Kathleen, As I suspect you know, it’s hard for me to let photos as soft as those see the light of day. But sometimes it’s necessary. And worth the pain… 🙂
That is wild! Never seen this kind of boldness and aggression from a Thrasher. Do you suppose there might have been a nest or young nearby?
How did you suppress the urge to duck down? Just looking at these photos I felt like I needed to hit the deck.
Got to think it was a refection of himself in the lens that prompted this behavior.
This is an amazing post. Just love it!
Thanks, Michael. Yes, I had an impulse to duck but over the years I’ve learned to ignore such impulses. Miss too many interesting shots when I don’t.
There could have been a nearby nest but if there was I didn’t see it.
“over the years I’ve learned to ignore such impulses”
Just as long as you don’t take up large predator photography.
Good point.
Great photos of a beautiful bird! And very interesting behavior! I especially like the standing portrait. Gorgeous.
Glad you enjoyed them, Joanne. Thanks.