Ardea herodias
Great Blue Herons are blue-gray with dark crowns and head plumes, long legs, necks and bills and the head, neck and wings give it a shaggy appearance.
On my last trip to Farmington Bay WMA ten days ago one of my birdy subjects was an adult Great Blue Heron in a light fog out on the playa in morning light.
Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge can be a great location to take winter Great Blue Heron photos out on the frozen marshes and wetlands during January.
I did get out to find and photograph birds on Christmas Day at Farmington Bay WMA and then later in the morning I found more closer to home.
These are all birds I have photographed on Christmas Day through the years and all of them were photographed at Farmington Bay WMA.
To my delight I was able to take Great Blue Heron photos yesterday on the Winter Solstice that I found on the banks of the Bear River at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
I selected this hatch year Great Blue Heron photo to share today because it showed the young bird taking a crap on the flats of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
Thirteen years ago this morning I photographed a Great Blue Heron, Belt of Venus and the Earth Shadow on the north beach of Fort De Soto County Park on the west coast of Florida.
It has been a week now since I photographed this Great Blue Heron and have been able to get out into the field because of smoke, wind, fire, and rain.
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.
Today I am sharing seven Great Blue Heron in flight photos from the marsh at Bear River MBR that I took three days ago.
Today I wanted to share an assortment of spring birds all photographed at Bear River MBR yesterday on a bright and beautiful morning.
Two days ago the second bird I photographed was a Great Blue Heron foraging in a farm pond just after sunrise in Box Elder County.
The first Great Blue Heron was quietly wading through the water in search of prey and the second heron was looking at something in the distance.
February 2nd is World Wetlands Day to raise global awareness about the critical role of wetlands for people, wildlife and our planet.
I'm keeping it simple today and sharing a single photo of a winter Great Blue Heron in flight over the marsh at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
Three days ago I photographed an immature Great Blue Heron on ice from the auto tour route at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
This is my 2020 photographic year in review. I'm selecting some of my favorite photos from 2020 and a few that just make me happy to see them.
One of my Christmas Day gifts from Mother Nature was the chance to photograph an immature Great Blue Heron in a field.
Much to my delight I was able to photograph some birds on Christmas Day at Farmington Bay WMA yesterday morning.
When I found this Great Blue Heron resting on a man made goose nest yesterday morning at Farmington Bay WMA I knew I wanted to photograph it.
Great Blue Herons are very patient hunters and there are times when they are hunting that they move so slowly that it is barely perceptible.
Three days ago I spotted an immature Great Blue Heron resting at the edge of the water at Farmington Bay WMA and couldn't resist taking photos of it.
The name "Great Blue Heron" has always seemed off to me because these large herons are much more gray than they are blue.
Is one of these immature Great Blue Heron images more visually appealing than the other? That depends on the personal tastes of the person viewing them.
I'm actually more than a touch fascinated by the Great Blue Herons I see, observe and photograph in the higher altitudes of the Wasatch Mountains.
When I found this Great Blue Heron standing on a rock surrounded by the fast moving waters of a mountain creek I knew I wanted photos of it.
This may have been my last chance this winter to photograph a Great Blue Heron on ice so I am glad I took photos of it as it landed and cautiously walked around on the ice.
The Great Blue Herons were hunkered down in the rushes with the warmth of the sunlight on them but they still looked cold.
These Great Blue Heron images also help me to "see" what this species would have looked like as they lived their lives in primordial swamps, estuaries and marshes hundreds of thousands of years ago.
These foggy Great Blue Heron photos are probably the foggiest images in my portfolio and despite that I truly like how they turned out.