Yesterday morning, I had a marvelous time with a subadult Green Heron in my viewfinder at Dockery Slough on the Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge.
Preening subadult Green Heron – Canon R7, handheld, f8, 1/400, ISO 2000, +0.7 EV, Canon 100-500mm at 500mm, natural light
I was wandering on foot, taking scenery photos when the heron caught my eye. I wasn’t about to pass up the chance to photograph a Green Heron, so I found a break in the roadside vegetation and started taking pictures.
The heron was busy preening and seemed to be either unaware of my presence or simply decided to ignore me.
Just in case you are wondering, the heron’s head is completely upside down in the photo above.
Subadult Green Heron on a downed tree – Canon R7, handheld, f8, 1/400, ISO 2000, +0.7 EV, Canon 100-500mm at 500mm, natural light
In this photo, we can see the white feathers under the heron’s bill, with no white feathers on its crown as seen in the first photo.
I guess twisting its head upside down gave the heron the ability to scratch whatever was itchy!
Subadult Green Heron at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge – Canon R7, handheld, f8, 1/640, ISO 2000, +0.3 EV, Canon 100-500mm at 500mm, natural light
A little bit later, the Green Heron moved up the downed tree until it reached the highest point. From up there, I had a great view of this heron. I took scores of photos of it.
I was happy with the images I took, and I would have taken a lot more.
Subadult Green Heron shaking their feathers – Canon R7, handheld, f8, 1/640, ISO 2000, +0.3 EV, Canon 100-500mm at 500mm, natural light
Around that time, the heron stretched, shook its feathers, and lifted off. I’m quite satisfied to have taken these photos on foot, hand-held, while dealing with poor light conditions, and I still produced high-quality images.
I couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear.
Late July view of Sally Jones Lake – Canon R7, handheld, f8, 1/500, ISO 2000, -0.7 EV, Canon 100-500mm at 100mm, natural light
Across the causeway road from where I focused on the heron is Sally Jones Lake. I took this photograph between my sessions with the subadult Green Heron. It looked so lush and green for July that I couldn’t ignore it. I was compelled to have this scenery in my viewfinder too.
Despite the unexpected cloud cover and winds, I had a grand time exploring the refuge with my friend Steve Creek, and I learned even more about the area.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Green Heron photos plus facts and information about this species. Click here to see more photos of Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.
Wonderful series of shots. The Lake pic is beautiful. It looks like you’ve found your wildlife Shangri-la. Thanks Mia.
How beautiful – both the heron and its surrounds. Thank you.