{"id":109125,"date":"2022-12-30T03:11:55","date_gmt":"2022-12-30T10:11:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=109125"},"modified":"2023-09-15T05:45:37","modified_gmt":"2023-09-15T11:45:37","slug":"great-blue-heron-on-ice-at-farmington-bay-wma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/12\/30\/great-blue-heron-on-ice-at-farmington-bay-wma\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Blue Heron On Ice At Farmington Bay WMA"},"content":{"rendered":"

I had some fun photographing a Great Blue Heron on ice along with its shadow yesterday morning on a pond at Farmington Bay WMA. I almost missed seeing this heron. I am glad that I didn’t.<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Blue Heron on ice at Farmington Bay WMA \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I pulled my Jeep over to the side of the road and reached for my camera to photograph the Great Blue Heron. The ice was either covered with frost or a light layer of fresh snow. The heron was hunched down probably because it was cold.<\/p>\n

\"YawningYawning Great Blue Heron on ice \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Not long after I started photographing the heron it yawned. I had several images of it yawning. I selected this photo because the heron’s bill was open the widest in this particular frame.<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Blue Heron and shadow at Farmington Bay WMA \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

In every image that I took of this Great Blue Heron I enjoyed seeing its shadow on the ice. Several vehicles passed by. The heron seemed to turn its head in response to the traffic.<\/p>\n

\"WideWide angle view of Great Blue Heron on ice \u2013 Nikon D810, f11, 1\/1600, ISO 640, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 200mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Before I left the Great Blue Heron I decided to take a wider angle view of it and grabbed my backup Nikon D810 with a 18-200mm lens attached to it. I wanted to show more of the habitat that the heron was in than I could with my bird gear setup. The heron looked tiny in the marshy landscape.<\/p>\n

Bonus photo of me photographing a Great Blue Heron in 2004<\/h2>\n

\"MiaMia McPherson photographing a Great Blue Heron at Gandy Beach in 2004 – \u00a9 Patty Ritter
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I photographed a Great Blue Heron almost 18 years ago on December 31, 2004 when I lived in Florida. My best friend Patty took a photo of me photographing that heron at Gandy Beach<\/span><\/a> in Pinellas County, Florida. I thought I’d share this photo because I was a budding bird photographer at the time. The heron is to the right of the Brown Pelican.<\/p>\n

I also think the comparison in garments worn eighteen years ago and with what I wore yesterday here in Utah is remarkable. I had on shorts that day in Florida and I wasn’t chilly at all. Yesterday I dressed in multiple layers. I also had a polar fleece vest and jacket over all those layers.<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Blue Heron at Gandy Beach \u2013 Nikon E8800, f5.2, 1\/230, ISO 50, 89mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

And this is the Great Blue Heron I photographed on that hazy New Year’s Eve in 2004. Patty and I always had a great time exploring the birds and critters in many locations in Florida. I miss exploring with her!<\/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":"

I had some fun photographing a Great Blue Heron on ice along with its shadow yesterday morning on a pond at Farmington Bay WMA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":109110,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,1022,697,25,3848,166,2000,26],"tags":[4004,4117,4039,5132,3987,627,626,4064,4094,13410,6928,8301,1984,4470,1994,13589,13588,30,6917,313,3996,4095,373,340],"class_list":["post-109125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-florida","category-gandy-beach","category-great-blue-herons","category-pinellas-county-florida","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-ardea-herodias","tag-beach","tag-coastal","tag-great-blue-heron","tag-heron","tag-herons","tag-ice","tag-marsh","tag-mia-mcpherson","tag-oysters","tag-photograph","tag-pond","tag-rocks","tag-shadow","tag-taking","tag-tampa-bay","tag-utah-2","tag-vegetation","tag-wading-birds","tag-water","tag-wetlands","tag-winter","tag-yawning"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t