{"id":130240,"date":"2024-07-06T03:03:55","date_gmt":"2024-07-06T08:03:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=130240"},"modified":"2024-07-05T13:04:21","modified_gmt":"2024-07-05T18:04:21","slug":"great-blue-heron-and-bog-smartweed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/07\/06\/great-blue-heron-and-bog-smartweed\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Blue Heron And Bog Smartweed"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a great session photographing young Barred Owls at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge<\/span><\/a>, I also took some Great Blue Heron photos in a slough nearby.<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Blue Heron in Bog Smartweed \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 800, -0.7 V, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This Great Blue Heron was foraging for prey in a slough, as I mentioned, and is surrounded by Bog Smartweed.<\/p>\n

Bog Smartweed, Persicaria setacea<\/em><\/span><\/a>, is commonly found in wet habitats, such as bogs, swamps, and other wetland areas, which is reflected in its common name “bog smartweed”.<\/p>\n

I selected the image above because the smartweed was crossing in front of the bill and neck of this heron and it shows how tiny and delicate the flowers are.<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Blue Heron foraging in Bog Smartweed \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 800, -0.7 V, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I didn’t see this Great Blue capture anything to eat while I had the heron in my viewfinder but it was fun watching it move through the smartweed.<\/p>\n

Great Blue Herons are excellent hunters even when the vegetation is as thick as this Bog Smartweed is at this spot on the refuge. I hope to get closer images of this native plant one day soon.<\/p>\n

It was a very busy morning at the refuge. Click to read Steve’s account about our 4th of July morning spent at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge<\/span><\/a>.<\/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":"

After a great session photographing young Barred Owls at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, I also took some photos of a Great Blue Heron in a nearby slough.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":130237,"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":[27,15294,166,13973,13974],"tags":[4004,4117,6098,7353,15295,13985,13984,4142,6518,3987,627,626,14047,4302,15296,4046,13976,13042,313,5065,4307],"class_list":["post-130240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-bog-smartweed","category-great-blue-herons","category-oklahoma","category-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge","tag-adult","tag-ardea-herodias","tag-blooming","tag-blossoms","tag-bog-smartweed","tag-bottomland-hardwood-forests","tag-bottomlands","tag-close-up","tag-flowering","tag-great-blue-heron","tag-heron","tag-herons","tag-miners-cove","tag-native","tag-persicaria-setacea","tag-portrait","tag-slough","tag-summer","tag-wading-birds","tag-white-wildflowers","tag-wildflowers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/great-blue-heron-bog-smartweed-oklahoma-ma-mcpherson-9075.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-xSE","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"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":130240,"position":0},"title":"Beaver 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Smartweed","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 23, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I spotted a Horse Guard Wasp nectaring on Water Smartweed at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, and of course I had to photograph the wasp.","rel":"","context":"In "Horse Guard Wasps"","block_context":{"text":"Horse Guard Wasps","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/horse-guard-wasps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Horse Guard Wasp nectaring on a Water Smartweed, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/horse-guard-wasp-water-smartweed-mia-mcpherson-7015.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/horse-guard-wasp-water-smartweed-mia-mcpherson-7015.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The last week or so has been too gray and wet to get out and photograph birds, but it has given me time to think about taking more Green Heron photos in Oklahoma.","rel":"","context":"In "Green Herons"","block_context":{"text":"Green Herons","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/wading-birds\/green-herons\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Subadult Green Heron on a late July morning, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/green-heron-fluffy-mia-mcpherson-7193.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/green-heron-fluffy-mia-mcpherson-7193.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/green-heron-fluffy-mia-mcpherson-7193.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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