{"id":3580,"date":"2011-11-05T18:10:48","date_gmt":"2011-11-06T00:10:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=3580"},"modified":"2025-09-20T14:15:00","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T19:15:00","slug":"little-blue-heron-hunting-in-a-lagoon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/11\/05\/little-blue-heron-hunting-in-a-lagoon\/","title":{"rendered":"Little Blue Heron Hunting In A Lagoon"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-157115 size-full\" title=\"Little Blue Heron hunting in a tidal lagoon, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/little-blue-heron-green-water-mia-mcpherson-3483.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/little-blue-heron-green-water-mia-mcpherson-3483.jpg\" alt=\"Little Blue Heron hunting in a tidal lagoon, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida\" width=\"850\" height=\"607\" data-id=\"12105\" 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\/09\/little-blue-heron-green-water-mia-mcpherson-3483-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/little-blue-heron-green-water-mia-mcpherson-3483-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/little-blue-heron-green-water-mia-mcpherson-3483-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/little-blue-heron-green-water-mia-mcpherson-3483-600x428.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/little-blue-heron-green-water-mia-mcpherson-3483-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/little-blue-heron-green-water-mia-mcpherson-3483.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #888888;\">Little Blue Heron hunting in a tidal lagoon &#8211; Nikon D200, f5.6, 1\/320, ISO 500, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 185mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Little Blue Herons were a wading bird that I saw often\u00a0in Florida. The day I photographed this Little Blue Heron I was sitting quietly in the shallow water of a lagoon when this bird flew in and began to hunt.<\/p>\n<p>Nearby mangroves reflections made the water appear green and I felt that complimented the heron&#8217;s coloring nicely.<\/p>\n<p>This heron paid very little attention to me while I photographed it, maybe it just thought I was an odd looking piece of driftwood.<\/p>\n<p>No matter what the bird thought\u00a0of me sitting there clicking\u00a0my shutter button\u00a0I was able to take many images of this bird as it stalked small fish and shrimp in the lagoon that morning.<\/p>\n<p>Pretty great way to start the day. Any day really.<\/p>\n<p>Life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/little-blue-heron-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">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":"<p>Little Blue Herons were a wading bird that I saw often in Florida. The day I photographed this Little Blue Heron I was sitting quietly in the shallow water of a lagoon when this bird flew in and began to hunt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":157115,"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":[27,25,81],"tags":[4004,970,4021,4083,85,4620,4136,627,3970,3997,84,4258,4140,4001,3996],"class_list":["post-3580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-little-blue-herons","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-bird-photography","tag-birding","tag-egretta-caerulea","tag-fall","tag-foraging","tag-heron","tag-hunting","tag-lagoon","tag-little-blue-heron","tag-mangroves","tag-tidal-lagoon","tag-wading-bird","tag-water"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/little-blue-heron-green-water-mia-mcpherson-3483.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-VK","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":34847,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/01\/15\/little-blue-herons-on-the-hunt\/","url_meta":{"origin":3580,"position":0},"title":"Little Blue Herons On The Hunt","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 15, 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 &quot;Birds&quot;","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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/little-blue-heron-hunting-lagoon-mia-mcpherson-5709.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15629,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/08\/11\/little-blue-heron-in-a-florida-lagoon\/","url_meta":{"origin":3580,"position":1},"title":"Little Blue Heron In A Florida Lagoon","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I missed the Little Blue Heron in Utah but I have fond memories of the day I photographed this one as the sun began to set over the Gulf of Mexico.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Little Blue Heron at sunset, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/little-blue-heron-mia-mcpherson-5544.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-mia-mcpherson-5544.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/little-blue-heron-mia-mcpherson-5544.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/little-blue-heron-mia-mcpherson-5544.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5884,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/08\/11\/little-blue-heron-on-the-hunt\/","url_meta":{"origin":3580,"position":2},"title":"Little Blue Heron On The Hunt","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 11, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"This Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea) was photographed in Florida as it hunted for prey in a shallow lagoon the edge of a marsh in late afternoon light.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Little Blue Heron on the hunt, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/little-blue-heron-adult-mia-mcpherson-7723.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-adult-mia-mcpherson-7723.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/little-blue-heron-adult-mia-mcpherson-7723.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/little-blue-heron-adult-mia-mcpherson-7723.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7311,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/01\/28\/monday-blues-little-blue-heron-that-is\/","url_meta":{"origin":3580,"position":3},"title":"Monday Blues &#8211; Little Blue Heron That Is","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 28, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I don't know how much snow fell over night here in the Salt Lake Valley because it is still dark outside and while I am truly not \"blue\" about it I thought some images from warmer times of a blue bird might be in order for a Monday.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Little Blue Heron in a quiet lagoon, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/little-blue-heron-mia-mcpherson-5621-lagoon.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-mia-mcpherson-5621-lagoon.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/little-blue-heron-mia-mcpherson-5621-lagoon.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/little-blue-heron-mia-mcpherson-5621-lagoon.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6926,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/12\/28\/tricolored-heron-shaking-it-up-on-tip-toes\/","url_meta":{"origin":3580,"position":4},"title":"Tricolored Heron Shaking It Up On Tip Toes","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 28, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The Great Blue Heron I photographed on Christmas Day seems to have focused my attention on wading birds, yesterday it was Reddish Egrets and this morning I present a Tricolored Heron shaking its feather while on tip toes","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tricolored Heron shaking it up, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tricolored-heron-fluffing-mia-mcpherson-5891.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tricolored-heron-fluffing-mia-mcpherson-5891.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tricolored-heron-fluffing-mia-mcpherson-5891.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tricolored-heron-fluffing-mia-mcpherson-5891.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":62931,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/01\/19\/tricolored-herons-in-florida-habitats\/","url_meta":{"origin":3580,"position":5},"title":"Tricolored Herons In Florida Habitats","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 19, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"When I lived in Florida Tricolored Herons were among my favorite wading birds to photograph and I found them in many different types of habitats.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tricolored Heron at Roosevelt Wetland, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/tricolored-heron-wetlands-mia-mcpherson-2751.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/tricolored-heron-wetlands-mia-mcpherson-2751.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/tricolored-heron-wetlands-mia-mcpherson-2751.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/tricolored-heron-wetlands-mia-mcpherson-2751.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\/3580","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=3580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3580\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}