Great Blue Heron flying in front of Mount OlympusGreat Blue Heron flying in front of the Wasatch Mountains – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

It isn’t everyday I get to see and photograph a Great Blue Heron in flight with the Wasatch Mountains in the background but I had that opportunity two afternoons ago at a pond close to home. I saw the heron flying in from the south and I hoped it would turn towards the pond where the light would be better and it did.

The afternoon light was beautiful on both the bird and the mountains and even though the bird was further away from me than I would have liked I simply couldn’t resist taking photos of it. It seemed to be moving in slow motion which gave me time to lock on to the bird as it flew up towards the top of the willow.

Great Blue Heron landing on a WillowGreat Blue Heron landing on a Willow – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

I regrettably missed six frames just before the Great Blue landed because of some unexpected movement which caused me to lose focus but I was able to very quickly lock back on to the heron and continued to photograph it as it landed on the leafless willow.

Since it was late afternoon I wondered if the Great Blue Heron uses the willow to roost on during the night, one morning before sunrise I should drive down to the pond and see if it does. I doubt if it is there this morning though because the wind is howling outside due to a weather front coming in that is supposed to bring snow to the valley floor this afternoon. We’ll see, the weather forecasters here are wrong more often than they are right. If it does snow, and that is a big “if”, I hope to be able to go down to the pond and see what I can photograph with falling snow in the frame. Maybe the Great Blue Heron will show up, who knows!

Life is good.

Mia

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