{"id":14742,"date":"2014-04-12T06:18:35","date_gmt":"2014-04-12T12:18:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=14742"},"modified":"2025-08-19T10:09:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T15:09:10","slug":"surf-side-sentinel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/04\/12\/surf-side-sentinel\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Blue Heron Surf-side Sentinel"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GreatGreat Blue Heron as a Surf-side Sentinel – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/1500, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Great Blue Herons are wading birds that I photographed quite often at Fort De Soto County Park’s north beach<\/span><\/a> while I lived in Florida.<\/p>\n

I have so many images of them in my archives that I haven’t opened to process so this morning I found this one to share.<\/p>\n

The Great Blue Heron was resting on the wrack line with the Gulf of Mexico’s waves in the background and the sea breeze had lifted it occipital plume.<\/p>\n

For some reason I just thought of the heron as a surf-side sentinel watching everything around it.<\/p>\n

The image brings back memories of the sugar\u00a0sand beneath my feet, the warmth of the sun on my skin and the smell of the sea.<\/p>\n

For me\u00a0my passion for bird photography\u00a0isn’t always about the images I create but is also about\u00a0being there<\/em>, soaking up my surroundings, savoring the sights, sounds, and smells.<\/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":"

Great Blue Herons are wading birds that I photographed quite often at Fort De Soto County Park’s north beach while I lived in Florida. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":152873,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,25,704,166],"tags":[4004,4117,4039,3987,4077,627,626,4017,9085,4901,11438,3996],"class_list":["post-14742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-great-blue-herons","tag-adult","tag-ardea-herodias","tag-beach","tag-great-blue-heron","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-heron","tag-herons","tag-sand","tag-sentinel","tag-surf","tag-surf-side","tag-water"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-portrait-mia-mcpherson-8069.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-3PM","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16024,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/10\/02\/tricolored-heron-hunting-the-gulf-of-mexicos-shoreline\/","url_meta":{"origin":14742,"position":0},"title":"Tricolored Heron Hunting The Gulf Of Mexico’s Shoreline","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 2, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Tricolored Herons are smaller than Great Blue Herons and larger than Snowy Egrets and all three of these wading birds hunt in many of the same locations along the Gulf Coast.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tricolored Heron hunting the Gulf of Mexico\u2019s shoreline, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/tricolored-heron-foraging-mia-mcpherson-2893.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/tricolored-heron-foraging-mia-mcpherson-2893.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/tricolored-heron-foraging-mia-mcpherson-2893.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/tricolored-heron-foraging-mia-mcpherson-2893.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":37685,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/03\/31\/great-blue-herons-expelling-bile\/","url_meta":{"origin":14742,"position":1},"title":"Great Blue Herons Expelling Bile? (Graphic)","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 31, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I have only seen and photographed these two Great Blue Herons expelling bile in Florida and Utah. I wonder how often this occurs.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Retching Great Blue Heron, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/great-blue-heron-regurgitating-mia-mcpherson-8059.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/great-blue-heron-regurgitating-mia-mcpherson-8059.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/great-blue-heron-regurgitating-mia-mcpherson-8059.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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2020","format":false,"excerpt":"When I lived in Florida Tricolored Herons were among my favorite wading birds to photograph and I found them in many different types of habitats.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tricolored Heron at Roosevelt Wetland, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/tricolored-heron-wetlands-mia-mcpherson-2751.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/tricolored-heron-wetlands-mia-mcpherson-2751.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/tricolored-heron-wetlands-mia-mcpherson-2751.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This Great Blue Heron was in flight over the north beach of Fort De Soto with dark Australian Pines in the background on a foggy morning.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Blue Heron in flight with trees in the background, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-flight-dark-mia-mcpherson-3996.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-flight-dark-mia-mcpherson-3996.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-flight-dark-mia-mcpherson-3996.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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