Great Blue Heron and Mountain Goldenbanner

Great Blue Heron and Mountain Goldenbanner – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

Yesterday I wrote about a Golden Eagle in the Wasatch Mountains. Today I am writing about “golden” again. Blooming Mountain Goldenbanner and a Great Blue Heron.

Yesterday morning this Great Blue Heron caught my eyes from a long ways away high in the Wasatch Mountains so I scoped it with my lens and took four images of it. Even though the Great Blue Heron is small in the frame I liked the wading bird’s pose and the setting.

The heron was standing next to a pond covered in filamentous algae with a willow thicket behind it and in the foreground there were grasses along with Mountain Goldenbanner which is blooming profusely in some areas of the mountains right now. I knew when I took this heron photo that I wanted to take close up photos of blooming Mountain Goldenbanner and I knew exactly where I could do just that a few miles up the road.

Mountain Goldenbanner in bloom close up – Nikon D500, f10, 1/1000, ISO 500, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

I’ve photographed Mountain Goldenbanner in a mountain meadow that is right next to a creek several years in a row now and I look forward to seeing these sunny yellow wildflowers annually. Mountain Goldenbanner is a perennial wildflower in the pea family.

Close up of blooming Mountain Goldenbanner – Nikon D500, f10, 1/2000, ISO 500, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

I was pleased that the Mountain Goldenbanner I photographed in that mountain meadow yesterday morning were in wonderful condition since they have just started to bloom.

This time of the year it is easy for me to weave my dual passions for bird and wildflower photography together. I only need to open my eyes.

Life is good.

Mia

Click here to see more of my Great Blue Heron photos plus facts and information about this species. Click here to see more of my flower, shrub and tree photos.