{"id":34847,"date":"2016-01-15T06:15:21","date_gmt":"2016-01-15T13:15:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=34847"},"modified":"2025-09-20T16:51:35","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T21:51:35","slug":"little-blue-herons-on-the-hunt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/01\/15\/little-blue-herons-on-the-hunt\/","title":{"rendered":"Little Blue Herons On The Hunt"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Little Little Blue Heron searching for prey – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/800, ISO 160, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light, not baited
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I’ve been feeling a bit blue because of gray skies and the rotten situation at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge so I thought I would post some blue birds, Little Blue Herons.<\/p>\n

These Little Blue Herons on the hunt were both taken at Fort De Soto<\/span><\/a> in two different tidal lagoons.<\/p>\n

This first image was taken in the tidal lagoon near the concession stand at the north beach in bright light while I laid on my belly in the sand right next to the edge of the shoreline.<\/p>\n

After this image was taken the Little Blue caught a pipefish<\/span><\/a> and devoured it. I shared the morning photographing with two friends and we all had a great time.<\/p>\n

\"LittleLittle Blue Heron stalking prey in a dark lagoon – Nikon D200, handheld, f4.8, 1\/250, ISO 400, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 86mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

This image of a Little Blue Heron<\/span><\/a> stalking prey was also taken at Fort De Soto but in a different lagoon that had mangroves on the edge of it which reflected on the water.<\/p>\n

For this image I was sitting still in the lagoon photographing birds as they came close to me and this Little Blue Heron came so close to me that I could barely fit it in the frame.<\/p>\n

Because I sat so still I don’t think the heron saw me as a threat at all but it took a great deal of patience and sitting still in the lagoon for a long time to get this photo.<\/p>\n

I like both of these images because of the hunting poses of the herons but also because of the different water colors.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Little Blue Heron photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

These Little Blue Herons on the hunt were both taken at Fort De Soto in two different tidal lagoons. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":157165,"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_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,25,704,81,2000],"tags":[4004,970,14752,85,4620,173,627,626,3970,3997,84,4246,4106,6620,4118,313,373],"class_list":["post-34847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-little-blue-herons","category-pinellas-county-florida","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-coastal-island","tag-egretta-caerulea","tag-fall","tag-gulf-coast","tag-heron","tag-herons","tag-hunting","tag-lagoon","tag-little-blue-heron","tag-nonbreeding-plumage","tag-prey","tag-searching","tag-stalking","tag-wading-birds","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t