{"id":17256,"date":"2014-12-03T18:30:17","date_gmt":"2014-12-04T01:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=17256"},"modified":"2025-08-19T10:33:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T15:33:14","slug":"great-blue-heron-stalking-prey-in-morning-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/12\/03\/great-blue-heron-stalking-prey-in-morning-light\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Blue Heron Stalking Prey In Morning Light"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-152884 size-full\" title=\"Great Blue Heron stalking prey in morning light, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-stalking-prey-mia-mcpherson-1994.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-stalking-prey-mia-mcpherson-1994.jpg\" alt=\"Great Blue Heron stalking prey in morning light, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah\" width=\"850\" height=\"607\" data-id=\"17255\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20850%20607%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-stalking-prey-mia-mcpherson-1994-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-stalking-prey-mia-mcpherson-1994-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-stalking-prey-mia-mcpherson-1994-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-stalking-prey-mia-mcpherson-1994-600x428.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-stalking-prey-mia-mcpherson-1994-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-stalking-prey-mia-mcpherson-1994.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Great Blue Heron stalking prey in morning light &#8211; Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4 TC, natural light, not baited<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p>As common as Great Blue Herons are throughout North America I am always happy to photograph these prehistoric looking birds.<\/p>\n<p>This Great Blue was stalking prey yesterday at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.utahbirds.org\/counties\/davis\/FarmingtonBay.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area<\/span><\/a> and for a few moments it wasn&#8217;t in the fog that hung around most of the morning.<\/p>\n<p>The heron had caught several fish successfully but seemed very interested in something in the phragmites at the water&#8217;s edge, perhaps it was vole but I will never know.<\/p>\n<p>I did take quite a few images of this heron in the fog and hope to post some of those later because I like the mood the fog gave those photos.<\/p>\n<p>Life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/great-blue-heron-images\/\">here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Great Blue Heron photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As common as Great Blue Herons are throughout North America I am always happy to photograph these prehistoric looking birds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":152884,"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":[4004,4117,970,3981,4620,3987,627,626,4094,4378,4099,4118,313,3996,4095],"class_list":["post-17256","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-adult","tag-ardea-herodias","tag-autumn","tag-davis-county","tag-fall","tag-great-blue-heron","tag-heron","tag-herons","tag-marsh","tag-morning","tag-morning-light","tag-stalking","tag-wading-birds","tag-water","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-stalking-prey-mia-mcpherson-1994.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-4uk","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":120230,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/01\/29\/great-blue-herons-at-the-farmington-bay-wma-rookery\/","url_meta":{"origin":17256,"position":0},"title":"Great Blue Herons At The Farmington Bay WMA Rookery","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 29, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning, I was surprised to find Great Blue Herons already at the nests of the rookery at Farmington Bay WMA. There were more than twenty herons.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Blue Herons on the rookery at Farmington Bay WMA in January, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/great-blue-herons-rookery-utah-mia-mcpherson-3862.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/great-blue-herons-rookery-utah-mia-mcpherson-3862.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/great-blue-herons-rookery-utah-mia-mcpherson-3862.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/great-blue-herons-rookery-utah-mia-mcpherson-3862.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":115878,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/09\/15\/late-summer-great-blue-heron\/","url_meta":{"origin":17256,"position":1},"title":"Late Summer Great Blue Heron","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 15, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this late summer, adult Great Blue Heron resting on a human-made nest box at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area a few days ago.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Late summer Great Blue Heron at Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/great-blue-heron-late-summer-mia-mcpherson-0460.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/great-blue-heron-late-summer-mia-mcpherson-0460.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/great-blue-heron-late-summer-mia-mcpherson-0460.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/great-blue-heron-late-summer-mia-mcpherson-0460.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":100076,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/02\/18\/great-blue-herons-at-the-farmington-bay-rookery\/","url_meta":{"origin":17256,"position":2},"title":"Great Blue Herons At The Farmington Bay Rookery","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 18, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The breeding season has begun for the Great Blue Herons at the Farmington Bay rookery and throughout northern Utah.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Blue Herons at the Farmington Bay rookery, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/great-blue-herons-rookery-mia-mcpherson-3757.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/great-blue-herons-rookery-mia-mcpherson-3757.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/great-blue-herons-rookery-mia-mcpherson-3757.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/great-blue-herons-rookery-mia-mcpherson-3757.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7515,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/02\/13\/great-blue-herons-in-florida-and-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":17256,"position":3},"title":"Great Blue Herons In Florida And Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 13, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Great Blue Herons are year round residents in both Florida and Utah although conditions during the winter months can be starkly different for these large wading birds in the two locations and climates.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Blue Herons nesting at Fort De Soto County Park, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/great-blue-herons-nesting-mia-mcpherson-1718.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/great-blue-herons-nesting-mia-mcpherson-1718.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/great-blue-herons-nesting-mia-mcpherson-1718.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":99105,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/01\/20\/great-blue-heron-in-fog-on-the-playa-at-farmington-bay\/","url_meta":{"origin":17256,"position":4},"title":"Great Blue Heron In Fog On The Playa At Farmington Bay","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"On my last trip to Farmington Bay WMA ten days ago one of my birdy subjects was an adult Great Blue Heron in a light fog out on the playa in morning light.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Blue Heron in fog on the playa, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/great-blue-heron-fog-playa-mia-mcpherson-6741.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/great-blue-heron-fog-playa-mia-mcpherson-6741.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/great-blue-heron-fog-playa-mia-mcpherson-6741.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/great-blue-heron-fog-playa-mia-mcpherson-6741.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":62073,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/12\/15\/great-blue-heron-in-winter-snow\/","url_meta":{"origin":17256,"position":5},"title":"Great Blue Heron In Winter Snow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 15, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"On that bright winter afternoon one of my best avian subjects was this Great Blue Heron standing in water with a bank of fresh, white snow behind it.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Winter Great Blue Heron and its shadow, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-winter-snow-creek-mia-mcpherson-9320.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-winter-snow-creek-mia-mcpherson-9320.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-winter-snow-creek-mia-mcpherson-9320.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-winter-snow-creek-mia-mcpherson-9320.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\/17256","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=17256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}