{"id":43346,"date":"2016-12-04T06:29:34","date_gmt":"2016-12-04T13:29:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=43346"},"modified":"2023-03-06T04:48:37","modified_gmt":"2023-03-06T11:48:37","slug":"pair-of-immature-great-blue-herons-in-a-nest-in-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/12\/04\/pair-of-immature-great-blue-herons-in-a-nest-in-florida\/","title":{"rendered":"Pair of immature Great Blue Herons in a nest in Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PairPair of immature Great Blue Herons in a nest – Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1\/250, ISO 800, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

It might seem difficult for those of us in northern climates to believe but nesting season in Florida for Great Blue Herons and other birds has begun. The Great Blue Herons here in Utah are dealing with ice, snow and bitter cold temperatures now but the Great Blue Herons in Florida they have started courting and building their nests.<\/p>\n

There will be nests that fail in Florida if they get a prolonged cold snap but the herons that lose their first clutch will often re-nest. The immature Great Blue Herons in my image were in a nest high in a pine tree at John Chesnut Sr. Park<\/span><\/a> in Pinellas County, Florida near the end of their breeding season. I photographed them on a dreary day while I walked through the park in 2008, the dreariness and low light is why I used a high ISO and even then I did not have much for shutter speed.<\/p>\n

The two young herons were certainly old enough to have left the nest but I did watch the parents bring food into them once. I left the young herons soon after they fed because the skies got darker and it looked like it might rain.<\/p>\n

Next time I see a Great Blue Heron here in Utah covered in frost, trying to hunt through snow or hunched over trying to stay warm I will probably think of the herons in Florida who are already nesting there. Birds are amazing.<\/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":"

The Great Blue Herons here in Utah are dealing with ice, snow and bitter cold temperatures now but the Great Blue Herons in Florida they have started courting and building their nests. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43348,"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":[27,25,166,5539,2000],"tags":[4117,3987,627,626,4067,4071,156,4075,5540,313,4193],"class_list":["post-43346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-great-blue-herons","category-john-chesnut-sr-park","category-pinellas-county-florida","tag-ardea-herodias","tag-great-blue-heron","tag-heron","tag-herons","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-low-light-2","tag-nest","tag-pine","tag-wading-birds","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/great-blue-heron-fledglings-thumbnail-mia-mcpherson-4093.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-bh8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":100076,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/02\/18\/great-blue-herons-at-the-farmington-bay-rookery\/","url_meta":{"origin":43346,"position":0},"title":"Great Blue Herons At The Farmington Bay Rookery","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 18, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The breeding season has begun for the Great Blue Herons at the Farmington Bay rookery and throughout northern Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Blue Herons at the Farmington Bay rookery, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/great-blue-herons-rookery-mia-mcpherson-3757.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/great-blue-herons-rookery-mia-mcpherson-3757.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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photographed this late summer, adult Great Blue Heron resting on a human-made nest box at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area a few days ago.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Late summer Great Blue Heron at Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/great-blue-heron-late-summer-mia-mcpherson-0460.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/great-blue-heron-late-summer-mia-mcpherson-0460.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/great-blue-heron-late-summer-mia-mcpherson-0460.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/great-blue-heron-utah-winter-mia-mcpherson-0522.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/great-blue-heron-utah-winter-mia-mcpherson-0522.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/great-blue-heron-utah-winter-mia-mcpherson-0522.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/great-blue-heron-utah-winter-mia-mcpherson-0522.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":100674,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/14\/young-great-blue-heron-in-front-of-the-promontory-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":43346,"position":4},"title":"Young Great Blue Heron In Front Of The Promontory Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 14, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I liked this image of an immature Great Blue Heron flying in front of the snow covered Promontory Mountains even though the heron is small in the frame.","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":"Immature Great Blue Heron flying in front of snow covered mountains, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, 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Farmington Bay WMA Rookery","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 29, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning, I was surprised to find Great Blue Herons already at the nests of the rookery at Farmington Bay WMA. 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