Smokey skies and a Great Blue Heron in flight
On a clear day this Great Blue Heron image would have shown the Promontory Mountains in the distant background instead of the dull gray seen here.
On a clear day this Great Blue Heron image would have shown the Promontory Mountains in the distant background instead of the dull gray seen here.
I headed up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge yesterday morning and I am very glad I did because of the wonderful birds I saw.
I picked this Great Blue Heron image to post today because when I took the photo it was bright and sunny.
Maybe when the weather clears tomorrow I'll be able to get back out Farmington Bay to photograph more birds.
Photographing this bird brought back memories of a day I spotted a Great Blue Heron struggling because it was caught in a trotline in the Chattahoochee River in Georgia
So, is this the year that the Grinch stole winter?
As common as Great Blue Herons are throughout North America I am always happy to photograph these prehistoric looking birds.
Last December I photographed this Great Blue Heron as it hunkered down against the brutal cold at the edge of the water in a marsh.
This Great Blue Heron landed briefly on a willow that was along the road at Farmington Bay but before I could get my exposure set correctly it took flight.
Yesterday I focused on a few wading birds I saw at Glover Pond near the Great Salt Lake Nature Center and that include Great Blue Herons and White-faced Ibis.
Great Blue Herons are wading birds that I photographed quite often at Fort De Soto County Park's north beach while I lived in Florida.
These Great Blue Heron photos were taken of the same bird, photographed at same location on the same day just one minute apart.
In January in Florida the Great Blue Herons are already going into breeding plumage and have begun courtship displays and have started building their nests.
It might look like this Great Blue Heron is hacking up some type of fluid seen in between and to the left of its bill but that is actually a hunk of ice attached to the heron's breast feathers.
Great Blue Herons are year round residents at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area here in northern Utah which means they deal with bitter cold, snow covered ground and icy water.
Back in March of 2009 while I was photographing a Great Blue Heron on the north beach of Fort De Soto County Park in Florida a Great Egret flew in and walked close to the Great Blue Heron and me.
One December morning in 2008 I was sitting in the sand at Fort De Soto County Park's north beach in Florida when a Great Blue Heron came up and perched on a driftwood stump that had washed up onto the shore.
Some days I find myself missing Fort De Soto so much it hurts, the birds I found there and the entire experience of just being there. It is just such an amazing place, how could I not miss it?
In Florida I found it easy to get close up images of Great Blue Herons because quite often they are used to the presence of humans but here in Utah that isn't the case and Great Blue Herons are sort of skittish.
Last week I was Thinking Pink so this week I thought I would focus on the shades of blues found in wildflowers, birds, the sky and seas.
Great Blue Herons are year round residents in both Florida and Utah although conditions during the winter months can be starkly different for these large wading birds in the two locations and climates.
A wonderful fun-filled day with great companionship and plenty of birds. I can't ask for more.
I spotted this Great Blue Heron yesterday at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area and loved the setting with the fresh snow blanketing the steep creek bank.
These two "Great" images were taken two minutes apart of two different "Great" wading birds in Florida.
Christmas Day of 2012 turned out to be as beautiful as I hoped at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge because of bright skies, snow on the ground, birds and the expansive views.
This image has always cracked me up, I wonder if the Great Blue Heron even realized its toenails were dragging in the water.
As I write this the first snow of winter is falling outside my living room window. For the past week I have seen the snow on the mountain tops and I had been looking forward to seeing the snow covering the Salt Lake Valley.
It seems I have always had a fondness for Great Blue Herons although I don't recall the first time I ever saw one. Great Blues are large wading birds that have a prehistoric look to them and even their calls; more like a croak, sound like something from the long distant past.
This Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) got up close and personal with me a few years ago in Florida, it largely ignored my presence altogether as it stalked prey on shore of the Gulf of Mexico.
Recently KSL.com; a Utah news station, had an article about a vole (a small rodent) infestation In Farmington, specifically in the neighborhood of Foxboro Community. While I sympathize with the residents about the damage being done to their yards I am disturbed by the advice many of the people commenting have left on the story.