{"id":50480,"date":"2018-01-04T05:33:19","date_gmt":"2018-01-04T12:33:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=50480"},"modified":"2024-08-05T03:43:14","modified_gmt":"2024-08-05T08:43:14","slug":"yellow-crowned-night-heron-in-low-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/01\/04\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-in-low-light\/","title":{"rendered":"Yellow-crowned Night Heron In Low Light"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-131872 size-full\" title=\"Yellow-crowned Night Heron in low, silvery light\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-low-light-mia-mcpherson-5744.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-low-light-mia-mcpherson-5744.jpg\" alt=\"Yellow-crowned Night Heron in low, silvery light, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida\" width=\"640\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27640%27%20height%3D%27800%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20640%20800%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27640%27%20height%3D%27800%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-low-light-mia-mcpherson-5744-200x250.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-low-light-mia-mcpherson-5744-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-low-light-mia-mcpherson-5744-400x500.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-low-light-mia-mcpherson-5744-600x750.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-low-light-mia-mcpherson-5744.jpg 640w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Yellow-crowned Night Heron in low, silvery light &#8211; Nikon D200, handheld, f5.6, 1\/320, ISO 500, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 240mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Photographing in low light isn&#8217;t always easy but there are times that I truly enjoy the results of images taken in what might be considered less than optimal light.<\/p>\n<p>In October of 2008 I went to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.friendsofftdesoto.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Fort De Soto County Park<\/span><\/a> and although the radar indicated that there were a few clouds what it didn&#8217;t show me was the sea fog that I was going to see before I even got to the park but at the toll booth I decided to head to the north beach any way. The fog was thick and it seemed to muffle the sounds of the waves and birds. I walked out onto the beach and felt like I had it all to myself and I may have for a while because of the fog.<\/p>\n<p>The first bird I photographed that day was a Yellow-crowned Night Heron wandering in the sea fog near the dunes and shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico.\u00a0 This is my favorite photo of the night heron from that morning. I like it because of the silvery water, the pose of the bird and the moody feeling the image conveys to me.<\/p>\n<p>Even though I grumble a bit when the light isn&#8217;t optimal images like this one of the Yellow-crowned Night Heron taken in low light remind me to do my best despite the conditions.<\/p>\n<p>Life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Yellow-crowned Night Heron photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The first bird I photographed that day was a Yellow-crowned Night Heron wandering in the sea fog near the dunes and shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":131872,"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":[27,25,704,2000,93],"tags":[4004,970,4039,5229,5132,4620,4175,627,626,156,3957,4000,4065,313,3996,95],"class_list":["post-50480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-pinellas-county-florida","category-yellow-crowned-night-heron","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-beach","tag-coast","tag-coastal","tag-fall","tag-fog","tag-heron","tag-herons","tag-low-light-2","tag-night-herons","tag-nyctanassa-violacea","tag-sea-fog","tag-wading-birds","tag-water","tag-yellow-crowned-night-heron"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-low-light-mia-mcpherson-5744.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-d8c","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6048,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/09\/04\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-or-orange-eyed-day-heron\/","url_meta":{"origin":50480,"position":0},"title":"Yellow-crowned Night Heron or Orange-eyed Day Heron?","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 4, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Despite having \"Night Heron\" in their name Yellow-crowned Night Herons (Nyctanassa violacea) are not strictly denizens of the dark, they can and do stalk their prey during the daylight hours too.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Yellow-crowned Night Heron looking for breakfast, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-mia-mcpherson-7955.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-mia-mcpherson-7955.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-mia-mcpherson-7955.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-mia-mcpherson-7955.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":41656,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/09\/02\/gulf-shore-yellow-crowned-night-heron\/","url_meta":{"origin":50480,"position":1},"title":"Gulf Shore Yellow-crowned Night Heron","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I did see and photograph this adult Yellow-crowned Night Heron standing on a grassy sand dune overlooking the Gulf of Mexico in beautiful, soft light.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Yellow-crowned Night Heron and morning solitude, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-solitude-mia-mcpherson-6843.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-solitude-mia-mcpherson-6843.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-solitude-mia-mcpherson-6843.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-solitude-mia-mcpherson-6843.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2624,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/07\/02\/juvenile-yellow-crowned-night-heron\/","url_meta":{"origin":50480,"position":2},"title":"Juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 2, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"This young Yellow-crowned Night Heron moved very slowly and it seemed to do that deliberately.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Yellow-crowned Night Heron with a crab, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-juvenile-crab-florida-mia-mcpherson-4572.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-juvenile-crab-florida-mia-mcpherson-4572.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-juvenile-crab-florida-mia-mcpherson-4572.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-juvenile-crab-florida-mia-mcpherson-4572.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":396,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/08\/22\/hungry-heron\/","url_meta":{"origin":50480,"position":3},"title":"Hungry Yellow-crowned Night Heron","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 22, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"It didn't take long for the Yellow-crowned Night Heron to grab the crab and send the sand flying.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Atlantic Ghost Crabs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Atlantic Ghost Crabs","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/ghost-crabs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Yellow-crowned Night Heron tearing up a Ghost Crab, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-devouring-crab-florida-1420.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-devouring-crab-florida-1420.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-devouring-crab-florida-1420.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-devouring-crab-florida-1420.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":114019,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/06\/28\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-at-sequoyah-nwr\/","url_meta":{"origin":50480,"position":4},"title":"Yellow-crowned Night Heron At Sequoyah NWR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Until a few days ago, I hadn't photographed a single Yellow-crowned Night Heron in almost fourteen years. I photographed this one at Sequoyah NWR in Oklahoma.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Yellow-crowned Night Heron perched in a tree, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-adult-oklahoma-mia-mcpherson-3463.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-adult-oklahoma-mia-mcpherson-3463.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-adult-oklahoma-mia-mcpherson-3463.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-adult-oklahoma-mia-mcpherson-3463.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":44304,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/01\/10\/strolling-yellow-crowned-night-heron\/","url_meta":{"origin":50480,"position":5},"title":"Strolling Yellow-crowned Night Heron &#8211; Thinking Back on Brighter, Warmer Days","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 10, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning my mind drifted back to June of 2009, to a bright, warm day on the Gulf coast of Florida and a strolling Yellow-crowned Night Heron that I photographed as waves churned up behind it.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Strolling Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-beach-gulf-mia-mcpherson-4038.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-beach-gulf-mia-mcpherson-4038.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-beach-gulf-mia-mcpherson-4038.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-beach-gulf-mia-mcpherson-4038.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\/50480","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=50480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}