{"id":115070,"date":"2023-08-09T04:47:22","date_gmt":"2023-08-09T10:47:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=115070"},"modified":"2023-08-09T15:29:17","modified_gmt":"2023-08-09T21:29:17","slug":"great-blue-heron-and-azolla-at-sequoyah-nwr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/08\/09\/great-blue-heron-and-azolla-at-sequoyah-nwr\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Blue Heron And Azolla at Sequoyah NWR"},"content":{"rendered":"

A quick post about a Great Blue Heron hunting for breakfast in Azolla at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge<\/span><\/a> in June in Oklahoma.<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Blue Heron at Sequoyah NWR \u2013 Canon R7, f5.6, 1\/500, ISO 200, Canon RF 100-500mm at 270mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Regulars readers may remember my recent post about a Great Egret and Azolla<\/span><\/a> at the refuge. This heron image was taken the same morning, but a few minutes earlier than the egret photo. For more information on the water fern, Azolla, please refer to that post.<\/p>\n

On that morning, I had beautiful sunshine which made the Azolla seem to glow bright red. The heron stood out well against the Azolla. As I recall, I was sitting in the front passenger seat of Steve Creek<\/span><\/a>‘s pickup. We were using his pickup as a mobile blind.<\/p>\n

It was only my second day using Steve’s Canon gear and my first trip to the refuge. I was mesmerized by the birds, animals, and scenery that I saw there. The bottomland hardwood forests, sloughs, fields, and the Arkansas River provided me with a welcome respite after my exhausting trip to Virginia.<\/p>\n

I observed Great Blue Herons in both Oklahoma and Arkansas during my visit with Steve. The Great Blue Heron I spotted in Arkansas was just a short distance from Steve’s home. I spotted it when we went to the Arkansas River to look for driftwood.<\/p>\n

I had also encountered Great Blue Herons in Virginia, both around my mom’s apartment and while driving the local roads. I saw them at my niece Kristal’s home in Virginia too. Additionally, I saw them in Texas while visiting my son, William. Seeing these herons on my long journey always brought me joy.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Great Blue Heron photos plus facts and information about this species. Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of the photos I took at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A quick post about a Great Blue Heron hunting for breakfast in Azolla at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in June in Oklahoma.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":115067,"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":[27,166,13973,13974],"tags":[4004,4117,14172,13985,13984,3987,627,626,14047,13976,165,6917,313,3996],"class_list":["post-115070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-great-blue-herons","category-oklahoma","category-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge","tag-adult","tag-ardea-herodias","tag-azolla","tag-bottomland-hardwood-forests","tag-bottomlands","tag-great-blue-heron","tag-heron","tag-herons","tag-miners-cove","tag-slough","tag-spring","tag-vegetation","tag-wading-birds","tag-water"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/great-blue-heron-azolla-mia-mcpherson-1153.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-tVY","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":115038,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/08\/06\/great-egret-portrait-at-sequoyah-nwr\/","url_meta":{"origin":115070,"position":0},"title":"Great Egret Portrait At Sequoyah NWR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 6, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I took this Great Egret portrait at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma in June while I was visiting my friend and fellow photographer, Steve Creek.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Egret portrait at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/great-egret-portrait-azolla-mia-mcpherson-7233.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/great-egret-portrait-azolla-mia-mcpherson-7233.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/great-egret-portrait-azolla-mia-mcpherson-7233.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/great-egret-portrait-azolla-mia-mcpherson-7233.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":139004,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/01\/28\/january-journey-to-sequoyah-nwr\/","url_meta":{"origin":115070,"position":1},"title":"January Journey To Sequoyah NWR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 28, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"My journeys to Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma are always wonderful, even when I don\u2019t take many photos or the weather isn\u2019t all that great.","rel":"","context":"In "Great Blue Herons"","block_context":{"text":"Great Blue Herons","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/wading-birds\/great-blue-herons\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Blue Heron hunting in a slough at Sequoyah NWR, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/great-blue-heron-slough-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-2075.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/great-blue-heron-slough-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-2075.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/great-blue-heron-slough-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-2075.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/great-blue-heron-slough-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-2075.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":114410,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/07\/16\/great-egret-and-azolla-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":115070,"position":2},"title":"Great Egret And Azolla At Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 16, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"When I visited my friend Steve Creek, I photographed this Great Egret at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge. The red vegetation floating on the water is azolla.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Egret at Sequoyah NWR, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/great-egret-red-azolla-mia-mcpherson-1337.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/great-egret-red-azolla-mia-mcpherson-1337.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/great-egret-red-azolla-mia-mcpherson-1337.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/great-egret-red-azolla-mia-mcpherson-1337.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":131073,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/07\/23\/green-heron-images-from-sequoyah-nwr\/","url_meta":{"origin":115070,"position":3},"title":"Green Heron Images From Sequoyah NWR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 23, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning, I'm sharing three Green Heron photos plus a short video that were taken at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma earlier this month.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Green Heron about to lift off from a branch, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/green-heron-miners-cove-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-9807.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/green-heron-miners-cove-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-9807.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/green-heron-miners-cove-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-9807.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/green-heron-miners-cove-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-9807.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":128090,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/04\/29\/birdscape-great-blue-heron-at-sequoyah-nwr\/","url_meta":{"origin":115070,"position":4},"title":"Birdscape: Great Blue Heron at Sequoyah NWR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 29, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"For me, I feel peaceful when I view this Great Blue Heron photo from Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge. The lush habitat plus the bird makes me feel that way.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Blue Heron habitat at Sequoyah NWR, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/great-blue-heron-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-5716.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/great-blue-heron-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-5716.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/great-blue-heron-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-5716.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/great-blue-heron-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-5716.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":167261,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/01\/21\/beaver-lodge-canada-geese-and-a-great-blue-heron-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":115070,"position":5},"title":"Beaver Lodge, Canada Geese, And A Great Blue Heron At Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 21, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Earlier this month, I stopped at Lower Scarborough Slough to photograph the beaver lodge and surrounding forest, and also got Canada Geese and a Great Blue Heron in my photos.","rel":"","context":"In "American Beavers"","block_context":{"text":"American Beavers","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/american-beavers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Beaver lodge, Canada Geese, and a Great Blue Heron at Sequoyah NWR","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/sequoyah-nwr-great-blue-heron-canada-geese-mia-mcpherson-4471.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/sequoyah-nwr-great-blue-heron-canada-geese-mia-mcpherson-4471.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/sequoyah-nwr-great-blue-heron-canada-geese-mia-mcpherson-4471.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/sequoyah-nwr-great-blue-heron-canada-geese-mia-mcpherson-4471.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115070\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}