{"id":166199,"date":"2025-12-27T06:24:26","date_gmt":"2025-12-27T12:24:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=166199"},"modified":"2026-05-04T05:28:55","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T10:28:55","slug":"christmas-day-great-blue-heron-and-turtle-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/12\/27\/christmas-day-great-blue-heron-and-turtle-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas Day Great Blue Heron And Turtle At Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GreatGreat Blue Heron and turtle on Christmas Day at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge \u2013 Canon R7, beanbag, f8, 1\/3200, ISO 1000, -1.3 EV, Canon RF 100-500mm at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

On Christmas Day I photographed a Great Blue Heron and a turtle in Miner’s Cove at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.<\/p>\n

Yes, a turtle in winter!<\/p>\n

I knew about the heron being at Miner’s Cove because my dear friend and wildlife photographer, Steve Creek<\/span><\/a>, called and let me know it was there. I drove my Jeep in front of Steve’s pickup and started to photograph the immature heron right away.<\/p>\n

You never know when the herons at the refuge will fly off. They can be rather skittish.<\/p>\n

Something up the road in front of me caught my eye, and I realized that a bicyclist was heading right toward us. I quickly texted Steve to let him know about the man on the bicycle and took a few more stills before switching over to video.<\/p>\n

I was fairly certain the bicyclist would cause the heron to fly off, and he did, as you will see in the video below.<\/p>\n

<\/lite-youtube><\/div><\/div>\n

The sound in the background of this video<\/span><\/a> is the bicyclist who came down the gravel road. I didn’t even notice the turtle in the video until the next day while reviewing my photos and videos of the heron.<\/p>\n

The record breaking temp reached 80\u00b0F on Christmas Day, which is probably why the turtle appeared. Can you see it?<\/p>\n

\"TurtleTurtle at Miner’s Cove on Christmas Day at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma \u2013 Canon R7, beanbag, f8, 1\/3200, ISO 1000, -1.3 EV, Canon RF 100-500mm at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The photo above is a blown up version of the first image. I wanted to show the turtle closer up. I believe it is a Red-eared Slider. On Christmas Day! Because the temperature was so warm.<\/p>\n

The weather here has been weirdly warm for December. It is supposed to be 81\u00b0F today. That is freaky!<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good. Birds and wildlife make it totally fascinating.<\/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":"

On Christmas Day I photographed a Great Blue Heron and a turtle in Miner’s Cove at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma. Yes, a turtle in winter!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":166197,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,166,13973,13974,5362],"tags":[4117,13984,3987,627,626,4067,4962,14047,14021,7948,14020,13976,7945,313,3996,4095,373,4193],"class_list":["post-166199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-great-blue-herons","category-oklahoma","category-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge","category-video","tag-ardea-herodias","tag-bottomlands","tag-great-blue-heron","tag-heron","tag-herons","tag-immature","tag-log","tag-miners-cove","tag-oklahoma","tag-red-eared-slider","tag-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge","tag-slough","tag-turtle","tag-wading-birds","tag-water","tag-wetlands","tag-winter","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t