{"id":47830,"date":"2017-07-30T06:31:54","date_gmt":"2017-07-30T12:31:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=47830"},"modified":"2025-08-19T13:15:35","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T18:15:35","slug":"gray-windy-day-great-blue-heron-portrait","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/07\/30\/gray-windy-day-great-blue-heron-portrait\/","title":{"rendered":"Gray & Windy Day Great Blue Heron Portrait"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CloseClose up Great Blue Heron on a gray day – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/1500, ISO 400, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I’ve been pretty busy this week, probably too busy. I woke early this morning and have been plugging away at another project which is why this post is going out so late today.<\/p>\n

This Great Blue Heron wandered past me one December morning at Fort De Soto County Park’s<\/span><\/a> north beach on a gray, windy day and because it was close I simply had to take a photo of the large wading bird. It was close enough for a portrait, why not take the photo?<\/p>\n

I know they are fairly common throughout the U.S. but I love these big birds. I love how prehistoric they look, their behaviors, their colors and their big yellow eyes. I wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to photograph them, ever. But some folks do because they are so “common”.<\/p>\n

Not me.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good. Even when your plate is too full.<\/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":"

This Great Blue Heron wandered past me one December morning at Fort De Soto County Park’s north beach on a gray, windy day and because it was close I simply had to take a photo of the large wading bird. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":152947,"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":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,25,704,166,2000],"tags":[4117,4142,5132,2813,3987,4077,627,626,4046,313,3996,1193],"class_list":["post-47830","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-ardea-herodias","tag-close-up","tag-coastal","tag-gray-day","tag-great-blue-heron","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-heron","tag-herons","tag-portrait","tag-wading-birds","tag-water","tag-windy"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-portrait-mia-mcpherson-8008.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-crs","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9281,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/08\/26\/great-blue-heron-up-close-and-not-so-close\/","url_meta":{"origin":47830,"position":0},"title":"Great Blue Heron Up Close And Not So Close","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 26, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"One December morning in 2008 I was sitting in the sand at Fort De Soto County Park's north beach in Florida when a Great Blue Heron came up and perched on a driftwood stump that had washed up onto the shore.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Blue Heron portrait at the north beach of Fort De Soto, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-blue-heron-portrait-mia-mcpherson-6492.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-blue-heron-portrait-mia-mcpherson-6492.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-mia-mcpherson-8077.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-mia-mcpherson-8077.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-mia-mcpherson-8077.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-mia-mcpherson-8077.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":34847,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/01\/15\/little-blue-herons-on-the-hunt\/","url_meta":{"origin":47830,"position":2},"title":"Little Blue Herons On The Hunt","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 15, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"These 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Great Blues are large wading birds that have a prehistoric look to them and even their calls; more like a croak, sound like something from the long\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Blue Heron portrait - Warm morning light, 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-portrait-mia-mcpherson-6455.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-portrait-mia-mcpherson-6455.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-portrait-mia-mcpherson-6455.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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