{"id":110536,"date":"2023-02-26T03:12:45","date_gmt":"2023-02-26T10:12:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=110536"},"modified":"2023-02-26T03:13:06","modified_gmt":"2023-02-26T10:13:06","slug":"golden-hour-urban-great-blue-heron","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/02\/26\/golden-hour-urban-great-blue-heron\/","title":{"rendered":"Golden Hour: Urban Great Blue Heron"},"content":{"rendered":"

The last time I photographed at a local park I found a Great Blue Heron resting in the water at the edge of a pond in the golden light found just after dawn. I focused on the heron and took a series of images of it before the light changed.<\/p>\n

\"UrbanUrban Great Blue Heron in golden light \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I had seen two herons at this pond a few weeks earlier, but a man startled those birds, and they lifted off before I could fire even a single shot. The man was running around, scaring the birds while he attempted to feed them. He seemed like he was in such a terrible rush to hurl food at the ducks and geese that he failed to consider that he was terrifying them.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, the morning I found this heron, that man didn’t show up at the pond, and the heron stuck around.<\/p>\n

I am glad that I live where I can see and photograph birds so close to home, at local parks and along the Jordan River. Within just a few minutes, I am able to find and photograph birds that live and thrive in urban habitats.<\/p>\n

I’ve wondered if the Great Blue Herons I have found and photographed at local ponds nest in the trees that line the Jordan River. As strange as it might sound, the Great Blue Herons<\/span><\/a> here in northern Utah have already started building their nests ahead of laying their eggs despite the snow and freezing temps.<\/p>\n

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\n
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I probably should take longer walks along the river trail to find out if they do nest in those trees when it warms up after spring arrives. Lately, it has been too cold and snowy to do much exploring on foot for any length of time. I’m tough, I just don’t like freezing!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\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":"

The last time I photographed at a local park I found a Great Blue Heron resting in the water at the edge of a pond in the golden light found just after dawn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":110533,"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":[27,166,709,26],"tags":[4117,7476,6692,4254,3987,627,626,10698,1984,1994,4891,8018,313,3996,373],"class_list":["post-110536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-great-blue-herons","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-ardea-herodias","tag-bank","tag-early-morning-light","tag-golden-light","tag-great-blue-heron","tag-heron","tag-herons","tag-park","tag-pond","tag-shadow","tag-shore","tag-urban","tag-wading-birds","tag-water","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/great-blue-heron-local-pond-mia-mcpherson-4255.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-sKQ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":85388,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/04\/22\/great-blue-heron-foraging-in-a-farm-pond\/","url_meta":{"origin":110536,"position":0},"title":"Great Blue Heron Foraging In A Farm Pond","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 22, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Blue Heron in a farm pond, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/great-blue-heron-farm-pond-sunrise-mia-mcpherson-7226.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/great-blue-heron-farm-pond-sunrise-mia-mcpherson-7226.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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McPherson","date":"September 15, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this late summer, adult Great Blue Heron resting on a human-made nest box at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area a few days ago.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Late summer Great Blue Heron at Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/great-blue-heron-late-summer-mia-mcpherson-0460.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/great-blue-heron-late-summer-mia-mcpherson-0460.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/great-blue-heron-late-summer-mia-mcpherson-0460.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Center","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 21, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this Great Blue Heron in low light last week at the Arkansas River Valley Nature Center. 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