{"id":1763,"date":"2011-01-08T18:33:41","date_gmt":"2011-01-09T01:33:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=1763"},"modified":"2026-04-28T07:22:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T12:22:55","slug":"gray-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/01\/08\/gray-days\/","title":{"rendered":"Gray Days"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GreatClose Great Blue Heron fly by – D200, f5.6, 1\/1600, ISO 500, 80-400mm VR at 260mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

It seems there is always something to do even when the weather thwarts plans for going out to find birds to photograph because I know I’ll find something wonderful or fulfilling to do.<\/p>\n

I’ve been busy cooking today, I made two kinds of homemade soup. It smelled wonderful at home with the savory aromas of simmering soup wafting through my apartment.<\/p>\n

I also prepared the fixings for Chicken Monterey so I could wrap them up and freeze them for an easy meal when the weather does open up for bird photography.<\/p>\n

\"RoyalRoyal Tern preening on the Gulf shoreline –\u00a0 D200, f6.3, 1\/1600, ISO 200, 80-400mm VR, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Gray days sometimes force me to slow down, to take a deep breath and they allow me the luxury of leisurely looking through my older image files one folder at a time.<\/p>\n

I’m often busy out in the field taking images of birds, so busy that there are days when I only get to edit a few files in a folder on the day I take the photos.<\/p>\n

So on gray days I revisit those folders and say hello to\u00a0my “old friends”, the birds in the files. I swear I’m not hyper but I can’t seem to resist selecting pictures to edit that I had not processed earlier.<\/p>\n

\"LongLong & Lean Great Blue Heron – D200, f5.6, 1\/1500, ISO 400, 80-400mm VR, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I’m not sure how or why I ended up looking at images from the folder that contained all of the images in this post but I’m glad I opened the folder up again.<\/p>\n

I can once again feel the wet sand under my body as I wiggle through it trying to get the best possible angles for the shots. I can smell the salt water, watch the feathers of the birds flutter in the sea breeze and feel the warmth of the sun caress me as I focus on my subjects.<\/p>\n

While it is gray outside it doesn’t feel that way inside my mind.<\/p>\n

There are quite a few images in this folder I had not edited yet but today because the of the grayness outdoors, I have time.<\/p>\n

\"RoyalRoyal Tern preening wing feathers – D200, f6.3, 1\/1250, ISO 200, 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The soups are done and stored away. It’s getting dark and I’m waiting for the snow to start falling from this storm. Despite it being a gray day it has been fulfilling.<\/p>\n

Got to go, there are more older bird images I want to edit.<\/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.\u00a0Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Royal Tern photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gray days sometimes force me to slow down, to take a deep breath and they allow me the luxury of liesurely looking through my older image files<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":110819,"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":[25,704,166,407],"tags":[4117,4021,4083,408,3987,627,626,4376,2090,629,4267,313],"class_list":["post-1763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-great-blue-herons","category-royal-terns","tag-ardea-herodias","tag-bird-photography","tag-birding","tag-gray-days","tag-great-blue-heron","tag-heron","tag-herons","tag-royal-tern","tag-tern","tag-terns","tag-thalasseus-maximus","tag-wading-birds"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/great-blue-heron-flight-close-mia-mcpherson-5800.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-sr","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":136037,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/10\/29\/great-blue-heron-on-a-gray-autumn-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":1763,"position":0},"title":"Great Blue Heron On A Gray Autumn Day","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 29, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this Great Blue Heron two days ago when the autumn sky was gray with clouds on Sally Jones Lake at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Great Blue Heron on a gray autumn day, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/great-blue-heron-gray-fall-day-mia-mcpherson-4297.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/great-blue-heron-gray-fall-day-mia-mcpherson-4297.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/great-blue-heron-gray-fall-day-mia-mcpherson-4297.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/great-blue-heron-gray-fall-day-mia-mcpherson-4297.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7443,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/02\/06\/some-of-the-birds-i-love-at-bear-river-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":1763,"position":1},"title":"Some of the Birds I Love at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"One of my favorite locations to photograph birds in northern Utah is Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. I've selected some of the birds there that delight and entertain me while I observe and photograph them.","rel":"","context":"In "American Avocets"","block_context":{"text":"American Avocets","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/shorebirds\/american-avocets\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Calling Eastern Kingbird on a barbed wire fence, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eastern-kingbird-mia-mcpherson-5986.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eastern-kingbird-mia-mcpherson-5986.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eastern-kingbird-mia-mcpherson-5986.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eastern-kingbird-mia-mcpherson-5986.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":75235,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/11\/10\/great-blue-herons-arent-really-blue-so-whats-up-with-their-name\/","url_meta":{"origin":1763,"position":2},"title":"Great Blue Herons Aren’t Really Blue – So What’s Up With Their Name?","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The name \"Great Blue Heron\" has always seemed off to me because these large herons are much more gray than they are blue.","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":"Adult Great Blue Heron resting on ice in a frozen marsh, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/great-blue-heron-frozen-marsh-mia-mcpherson-3990.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/great-blue-heron-frozen-marsh-mia-mcpherson-3990.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/great-blue-heron-frozen-marsh-mia-mcpherson-3990.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/great-blue-heron-frozen-marsh-mia-mcpherson-3990.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":53351,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/08\/04\/stormy-sky-with-a-great-blue-heron-in-flight-over-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":1763,"position":3},"title":"Stormy Sky With A Great Blue Heron In Flight Over Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 4, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Two years ago when I photographed this stormy sky with a Great Blue Heron in flight I also photographed loads of other birds from the auto tour route including wading and shorebirds, geese, ducks, ibis, terns, gulls, rails, pelicans and coots.","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":"Stormy sky with a Great Blue Heron in flight, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/great-blue-heron-stormy-sky-mia-mcpherson-8248.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/great-blue-heron-stormy-sky-mia-mcpherson-8248.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/great-blue-heron-stormy-sky-mia-mcpherson-8248.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/great-blue-heron-stormy-sky-mia-mcpherson-8248.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":45708,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/03\/22\/age-related-color-morphs-of-little-blue-herons\/","url_meta":{"origin":1763,"position":4},"title":"Age Related Color Morphs of Little Blue Herons","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 22, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Little Blue Herons start off their lives with white plumage, then look piebald with blue and white fathers and finally look more \"blue\" as adults.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"First year Little Blue Heron, Roosevelt Wetland, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/little-blue-heron-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-4921.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/little-blue-heron-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-4921.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/little-blue-heron-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-4921.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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(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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/great-blue-heron-regurgitating-mia-mcpherson-8059.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\/1763","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=1763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1763\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}