{"id":17128,"date":"2014-11-16T05:45:16","date_gmt":"2014-11-16T12:45:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=17128"},"modified":"2025-01-22T09:24:39","modified_gmt":"2025-01-22T15:24:39","slug":"a-great-blue-heron-hunkered-down-against-winters-brutal-cold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/11\/16\/a-great-blue-heron-hunkered-down-against-winters-brutal-cold\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Blue Heron hunkered down against winter’s brutal cold"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GreatGreat Blue Heron hunkered down against winter’s brutal cold – Nikon D300, f9, 1\/250, ISO 200, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400m, natural light, not baited
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Last December I photographed this Great Blue Heron as it hunkered down against the brutal cold at the edge of the water in a marsh. I never used to think of Great Blues having to endure harsh winters until I moved here to Utah. When the water freezes over the Great Blue Herons start to hunt voles through the snow and that is fascinating to watch and photograph.<\/p>\n

When I photographed this Great Blue there was still some open water for it to hunt for prey in, but not much. I felt for the heron because there was still frost on its feathers from the cold night. It made me shiver.<\/p>\n

These wading birds are tough!<\/p>\n

The official temperature at the SLC Airport this morning is 11\u00b0F so I guess it is time to pull out the gloves, hats, winter coats, boots and start layering my clothing to stay warm whenever I head out into the field. It even snowed a little in the valley yesterday and the mountains surrounding the valley are sporting white tops.<\/p>\n

Now, to find my gloves.<\/p>\n

Life is 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":"

Last December I photographed this Great Blue Heron as it hunkered down against the brutal cold at the edge of the water in a marsh.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":138930,"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":[27,1022,697,166,26],"tags":[4117,8510,5795,3983,3987,627,626,4201,4987,4064,4094,4050,4001,313,373],"class_list":["post-17128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-great-blue-herons","category-utah","tag-ardea-herodias","tag-brutal-cold","tag-cold","tag-frost","tag-great-blue-heron","tag-heron","tag-herons","tag-hoar-frost","tag-hunkered-down","tag-ice","tag-marsh","tag-snow","tag-wading-bird","tag-wading-birds","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/great-blue-heron-winter-mia-mcpherson-7604.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-4sg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":63965,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/02\/10\/great-blue-herons-seeking-shelter-from-winters-wind\/","url_meta":{"origin":17128,"position":0},"title":"Great Blue Herons Seeking Shelter From Winter’s Wind","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The Great Blue Herons were hunkered down in the rushes with the warmth of the sunlight on them but they still looked cold.","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":"Great Blue Herons seeking shelter from the wind, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/great-blue-herons-rushes-mia-mcpherson-8039.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/great-blue-herons-rushes-mia-mcpherson-8039.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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