![\"Great](\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/great-blue-heron-sally-jones-lake-mia-mcpherson-6732.jpg\" "\\"Great")
Great Blue Heron on Sally Jones Lake \u2013 Canon R7, handheld, f8, 1\/500, ISO 2000, -1.0 EV, Canon 100-500mm at 500mm, natural light <\/span><\/p>\nAnd green. Oh, so green. The green from the leaves of the nearby trees reflected on the water. Everything felt alive and vibrant.<\/p>\n
The Great Blue Heron is small in the frame, but this image isn’t just about the bird. I have plenty of close-up images of these herons, including portraits of this amazing wading bird species.<\/p>\n
No, these photos are about habitat too, wonderful, rich green habitat.<\/p>\n
It was hot when I took these images, but the view made me feel cooler. The wind rustled the leaves, and I could hear them along with the calls and songs of the birds in the area.<\/p>\n The distant heron paid no attention to me; it simply continued foraging in the lake at the edge of the vegetation.<\/p>\n Great Blue Herons can be found in varied habitats across North America, except for the driest locations. I appreciate being able to photograph them anywhere I find these herons: from city parks to coastal shorelines, mountain streams, southern swamps, rivers, and lakes. In Utah, I saw them year-round, but in colder areas, they can be migratory.<\/p>\n At Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge<\/span><\/a>, I’ve seen them on the Arkansas River, Sally Jones Lake, and at the numerous sloughs on the refuge. Great Blue Herons<\/span><\/a> continue to amaze and fascinate me.<\/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. Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more photos of Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When I was walking around Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge on Sunday, I stopped to photograph a foraging Great Blue Heron at Sally Jones Lake.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":131534,"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":[4004,4117,13985,13984,4366,4136,3987,627,626,15457,344,305,2315,4427,313,3996],"class_list":["post-131541","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-bottomland-hardwood-forests","tag-bottomlands","tag-cattails","tag-foraging","tag-great-blue-heron","tag-heron","tag-herons","tag-sally-jones-lake","tag-scenery","tag-scenic","tag-summer-3","tag-tree","tag-wading-birds","tag-water"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/great-blue-heron-sally-jones-lake-mia-mcpherson-6732.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-ydD","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":136037,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/10\/29\/great-blue-heron-on-a-gray-autumn-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":131541,"position":0},"title":"Great Blue Heron On A Gray Autumn Day","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 29, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this Great Blue Heron two days ago when the autumn sky was gray with clouds on Sally Jones Lake at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Great Blue Heron on a gray autumn day, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/great-blue-heron-gray-fall-day-mia-mcpherson-4297.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/great-blue-heron-gray-fall-day-mia-mcpherson-4297.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/great-blue-heron-gray-fall-day-mia-mcpherson-4297.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/great-blue-heron-gray-fall-day-mia-mcpherson-4297.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":156366,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/09\/17\/great-blue-heron-in-a-sycamore-from-a-distance\/","url_meta":{"origin":131541,"position":1},"title":"Great Blue Heron In A Sycamore: From A Distance","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 17, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I\u2019m sharing a photo of a Great Blue Heron perched in a sycamore over Sally Jones Lake at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Blue Heron in a sycamore tree, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/great-blue-heron-sycamore-mia-mcpherson-8791.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/great-blue-heron-sycamore-mia-mcpherson-8791.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/great-blue-heron-sycamore-mia-mcpherson-8791.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/great-blue-heron-sycamore-mia-mcpherson-8791.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":131490,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/07\/29\/subadult-green-heron-in-my-viewfinder\/","url_meta":{"origin":131541,"position":2},"title":"Subadult Green Heron In My Viewfinder","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 29, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning, I had a marvelous time with a subadult Green Heron in my viewfinder at Dockery Slough on the Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge.","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 at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/green-heron-subadult-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-7166.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-subadult-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-7166.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/green-heron-subadult-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-7166.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/green-heron-subadult-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-7166.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":139814,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/02\/13\/looking-forward-to-more-green-heron-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":131541,"position":3},"title":"Looking Forward To More Green Heron Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 13, 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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/green-heron-fluffy-mia-mcpherson-7193.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":131541,"position":4},"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":155292,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/09\/11\/great-egret-in-bottomland-hardwood-forest-habitat\/","url_meta":{"origin":131541,"position":5},"title":"Great Egret In Bottomland Hardwood Forest Habitat","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 11, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"When I photographed this Great Egret perched high in a tree at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge four days ago, I was drawn in by the habitat.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Egret perched in a tree in summer, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/great-egret-in-a-tree-mia-mcpherson-7811.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/great-egret-in-a-tree-mia-mcpherson-7811.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/great-egret-in-a-tree-mia-mcpherson-7811.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/great-egret-in-a-tree-mia-mcpherson-7811.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\/131541","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=131541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131541\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Great](\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/great-blue-heron-sally-jones-lake-mia-mcpherson-7134.jpg\" "\\"Great")
Great Blue Heron foraging on Sally Jones Lake \u2013 Canon R7, handheld, f8, 1\/500, ISO 2000, -0.7 EV, Canon 100-500mm at 238mm, natural light\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n