{"id":175995,"date":"2026-05-20T07:54:45","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T12:54:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=175995"},"modified":"2026-05-20T07:54:45","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T12:54:45","slug":"great-blue-heron-in-my-viewfinder-at-miners-cove","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/05\/20\/great-blue-heron-in-my-viewfinder-at-miners-cove\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Blue Heron In My Viewfinder At Miner’s Cove"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cloudy and stormy weather has kept me from being in the field, so I thought I’d share this Great Blue Heron I had in my viewfinder last month at Miner’s Cove.<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Blue Heron foraging in Miner’s Cove \u2013 Canon R7, beanbag, f8, 1\/800, ISO 800, Canon RF 100-500mm at 500mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Miner’s Cove is one of the spots where I see lots of birds at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma. This Great Blue Heron had flown in while I was using my Jeep as a mobile blind at the side of the road.<\/p>\n

Great Blue Herons always look prehistoric to me. This heron was watching a school of small fish swirling around in the water at the end of the submerged log it stood on.<\/p>\n

\"RestingResting Great Blue Heron at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge \u2013 Canon R7, beanbag, f8, 1\/1250, ISO 640, -0.3 EV, Canon RF 100-500mm at 500mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The blue lores I typically see when this species is in breeding plumage had faded, an indication that the heron was going out of breeding plumage.<\/p>\n

I know these Great Blue Herons nest at the refuge, though I haven’t been able to find their nesting rookery yet. It may be on the other side of the Arkansas River and the refuge. I haven’t been over there to check it out.<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Blue Heron in repose at Miner’s Cove \u2013 Canon R7, beanbag, f10, 1\/640, ISO 640, -0.3 EV, Canon RF 100-500mm at 500mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Great Blue Herons are wading birds that I see more than the other wading birds that are found at the refuge. At times they can be quite skittish.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, this heron was cooperative and stayed at Miners Cove long enough for me to take a nice series of photos.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Great Blue Heron lifting off from Miner’s Cove \u2013 Canon R7, beanbag, f9, 1\/800, ISO 640, -0.3 EV, Canon RF 100-500mm at 472mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

When the Great Blue Heron<\/span><\/a> was ready to lift off, I wish I had zoomed back a bit more. After this photo was taken and the heron was in the air, I clipped the wings of the heron in every image I took.<\/p>\n

Still, having this Great Blue Heron in my viewfinder was a delight.<\/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":"

Cloudy and stormy weather has kept me from being in the field, so I thought I’d share this Great Blue Heron I had in my viewfinder last month at Miner’s Cove.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":175985,"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_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,166,13973,13974],"tags":[4004,4117,13984,4136,3987,627,626,4944,14047,17551,4156,13976,165,313,3996],"class_list":["post-175995","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-bottomlands","tag-foraging","tag-great-blue-heron","tag-heron","tag-herons","tag-lifting-off","tag-miners-cove","tag-repose","tag-resting","tag-slough","tag-spring","tag-wading-birds","tag-water"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/great-blue-heron-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-6505.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-JMD","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":166199,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/12\/27\/christmas-day-great-blue-heron-and-turtle-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":175995,"position":0},"title":"Christmas Day Great Blue Heron And Turtle At Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"On Christmas Day I photographed a Great Blue Heron and a turtle in Miner's Cove at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma. 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NWR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 9, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"A quick post about a Great Blue Heron hunting for breakfast in Azolla at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in June in Oklahoma.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Blue Heron at Sequoyah NWR, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/great-blue-heron-azolla-mia-mcpherson-1153.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/great-blue-heron-azolla-mia-mcpherson-1153.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/great-blue-heron-azolla-mia-mcpherson-1153.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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McPherson","date":"June 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Until a few days ago, I hadn't photographed a single Yellow-crowned Night Heron in almost fourteen years. 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