{"id":23823,"date":"2015-05-16T05:55:51","date_gmt":"2015-05-16T11:55:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=23823"},"modified":"2025-08-19T11:04:42","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T16:04:42","slug":"preening-great-blue-heron","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/05\/16\/preening-great-blue-heron\/","title":{"rendered":"Preening Great Blue Heron"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PreeningPreening Great Blue Heron – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/1000, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 260mm, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I picked this Great Blue Heron image to post today because when I took the photo it was bright and sunny on the north beach of Fort De Soto<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

That is something I haven’t seen in a while.<\/p>\n

The skies here have been gray for the most part,\u00a0 there has been plenty of rain and the forecast looks horrible for days to come. I’m going to be suffering withdrawals and yearning for brighter weather so I’ll have to enjoy the sunshine in my images.<\/p>\n

Maybe that will help.<\/p>\n

Maybe not.<\/p>\n

We need the moisture but I wish the Rain Gods would provide it only in the afternoons. That would certainly make me happy.<\/p>\n

Life is good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Image taken in March of 2009 at Fort De Soto’s north beach.<\/p>\n

Click 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":"

I picked this Great Blue Heron image to post today because when I took the photo it was bright and sunny. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":152895,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_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":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,25,704,166,2000],"tags":[4004,4117,4021,3987,4077,627,626,4019,313],"class_list":["post-23823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-great-blue-herons","category-pinellas-county-florida","tag-adult","tag-ardea-herodias","tag-bird-photography","tag-great-blue-heron","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-heron","tag-herons","tag-preening-2","tag-wading-birds"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-preening-mia-mcpherson-8053.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-6cf","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":46872,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/05\/21\/preening-great-blue-heron-in-the-gulf-of-mexico\/","url_meta":{"origin":23823,"position":0},"title":"Preening Great Blue Heron In The Gulf Of Mexico","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 21, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"This photo of a preening Great Blue Heron on an old stump in the water of the Gulf of Mexico is far from perfect but I still like it for the behavior that it shows.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Preening Great Blue Heron on an old stump, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-preening-mia-mcpherson-6233.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-preening-mia-mcpherson-6233.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Heron, Belt of Venus and the Earth Shadow on the north beach of Fort De Soto County Park on the west coast of Florida.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Blue Heron walking in front of the Belt of Venus and Earth Shadow, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/great-blue-heron-belt-of-venus-mia-mcpherson-6470.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/great-blue-heron-belt-of-venus-mia-mcpherson-6470.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/great-blue-heron-belt-of-venus-mia-mcpherson-6470.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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2016","format":false,"excerpt":"These Little Blue Herons on the hunt were both taken at Fort De Soto in two different tidal lagoons.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Little Blue Heron searching for prey in a blue lagoon at Fort De Soto County Park, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/little-blue-heron-hunting-lagoon-mia-mcpherson-5709.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/little-blue-heron-hunting-lagoon-mia-mcpherson-5709.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/little-blue-heron-hunting-lagoon-mia-mcpherson-5709.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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