{"id":106378,"date":"2022-09-20T05:14:31","date_gmt":"2022-09-20T11:14:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=106378"},"modified":"2023-11-03T02:09:43","modified_gmt":"2023-11-03T08:09:43","slug":"great-blue-heron-with-a-cow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/09\/20\/great-blue-heron-with-a-cow\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Blue Heron With A Cow"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GreatGreat Blue Heron in front of a cow \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/320, ISO 1600, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This morning I decided to share photos of a Great Blue Heron with a cow behind it that I photographed resting on a snag above the Bear River. I was driving to the auto tour route at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge when I spotted the heron. Because the heron was on the wrong side of my Jeep, I drove forward a bit then turned around and made my way back to the heron to capture the moment. These aren’t my best photos from yesterday but they do tell a story.<\/p>\n

The sunlight hadn’t reached the Great Blue Heron<\/span><\/a> though it had lit up the ranchlands behind and above the bird. By the time I focused on the heron a young cow was moving towards the west behind it. Those ranchlands glowed in the early morning light.<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Blue Heron with a cow behind it \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/250, ISO 1600, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

As humans, we have changed this area.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

We’ve made ranchlands out of the bottom of the ancient Lake Bonneville. We have altered the course of the Bear River. Upriver we have built dams and taken water out of the river that should be flowing through the marshes on the refuge and into the Great Salt Lake to quench the thirsts of a burgeoning, wasteful human population.<\/p>\n

Plus, we have placed nonnative, methane-belching quadrupeds into this habitat whose wastes eventually filter into the Great Salt Lake which is already in serious trouble.<\/p>\n

Have we done the best we could for this land? Personally, I don’t believe we have.<\/p>\n

Yet, this Great Blue Heron persists, adapts, and continues to thrive along with many other birds and wildlife. Despite what we have done.<\/p>\n

Those were my thoughts yesterday morning as I photographed this Great Blue Heron and this is the story behind my images of this bird.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Great Blue Heron photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This morning I decided to share photos of a Great Blue Heron with a cow behind it that I photographed resting on a snag above the Bear River.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":106371,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[124,27,1148,166,26],"tags":[4004,4117,4529,4442,3987,627,626,4104,11852,5558,8453,2315,313,4095],"class_list":["post-106378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-great-blue-herons","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-ardea-herodias","tag-bear-river","tag-cow","tag-great-blue-heron","tag-heron","tag-herons","tag-perched","tag-ranchlands","tag-river","tag-snag","tag-summer-3","tag-wading-birds","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/great-blue-heron-cow-at-sunrise-mia-mcpherson-5038.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-rFM","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":117958,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/11\/08\/great-blue-heron-photos-in-winter\/","url_meta":{"origin":106378,"position":0},"title":"Great Blue Heron Photos In Winter","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 8, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"If you want to take Great Blue Heron photos in winter, on snow and ice, then head to Bear River MBR in Utah after the marsh freezes and the snow starts to fall.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fluffed up Great Blue Heron walking on ice, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/great-blue-heron-winter-ice-mia-mcpherson-3169.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/great-blue-heron-winter-ice-mia-mcpherson-3169.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/great-blue-heron-winter-ice-mia-mcpherson-3169.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/great-blue-heron-winter-ice-mia-mcpherson-3169.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":100169,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/02\/23\/great-blue-heron-on-the-bear-river\/","url_meta":{"origin":106378,"position":1},"title":"Great Blue Heron On The Bear River","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 23, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"On my last trip up to Bear River MBR when I found a Great Blue Heron warming up on the bank of the Bear River I considered not taking any images of it.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Blue Heron warming up on the bank of the Bear River, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/great-blue-heron-warming-up-mia-mcpherson-4720.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/great-blue-heron-warming-up-mia-mcpherson-4720.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/great-blue-heron-warming-up-mia-mcpherson-4720.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/great-blue-heron-warming-up-mia-mcpherson-4720.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":120400,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/02\/03\/great-blue-heron-and-reflection-on-the-bear-river\/","url_meta":{"origin":106378,"position":2},"title":"Great Blue Heron And Reflection On The Bear River","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Today, I'm sharing a simple Great Blue Heron photo I took late last month at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. I liked the heron's reflection on the Bear River.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":", Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/great-blue-heron-river-near-rocks-brmbr-mia-mcpherson-4634.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/great-blue-heron-river-near-rocks-brmbr-mia-mcpherson-4634.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/great-blue-heron-river-near-rocks-brmbr-mia-mcpherson-4634.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/great-blue-heron-river-near-rocks-brmbr-mia-mcpherson-4634.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":108065,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/11\/15\/great-blue-heron-on-driftwood\/","url_meta":{"origin":106378,"position":3},"title":"Great Blue Heron On Driftwood","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 15, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I drove up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge early yesterday morning where the first bird I photographed was a Great Blue Heron standing on driftwood.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Morning Great Blue Heron standing on driftwood, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/great-blue-heron-marsh-mia-mcpherson-4079.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/great-blue-heron-marsh-mia-mcpherson-4079.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/great-blue-heron-marsh-mia-mcpherson-4079.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/great-blue-heron-marsh-mia-mcpherson-4079.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":110398,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/02\/20\/great-blue-heron-on-ice-small-in-frame\/","url_meta":{"origin":106378,"position":4},"title":"Great Blue Heron On Ice – Small In Frame","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 20, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week I had the opportunity to photograph a Great Blue Heron on the ice at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, where the heron was small in the frame.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Blue Heron and its winter shadow - 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