{"id":62970,"date":"2020-01-20T05:27:54","date_gmt":"2020-01-20T12:27:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=62970"},"modified":"2025-01-29T08:47:48","modified_gmt":"2025-01-29T14:47:48","slug":"concentrating-on-great-blue-herons-in-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/01\/20\/concentrating-on-great-blue-herons-in-winter\/","title":{"rendered":"Concentrating On Great Blue Herons In Winter"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AdultAdult Great Blue Heron resting on ice in a frozen marsh – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 320, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

There were plenty of Great Blue Herons to photograph yesterday morning at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> and I was more than happy to take photos of them. The coldest temp I saw on the way out to the auto tour route was 10\u00b0F, the sky was mostly clear and in some locations I could feel a slight breeze blowing.<\/p>\n

Many of the Great Blue Herons were standing on the ice in the frozen marsh. Some of the herons were very approachable.<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Blue Heron lifting off from ice – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

While other herons took off before I could get close enough to photograph them. I liked how the wings of this Great Blue Heron were raised and both of its feet were still on the frosted ice.<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Blue Heron on ice – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This Great Blue Heron was trying to catch prey through the thin ice as I photographed it, the heron wasn’t successful while I had it in my viewfinder. I imagine that if the heron had seen a small fish through the very thin ice it could have punctured the ice with its dagger-like bill.<\/p>\n

\"RestingResting Great Blue Heron adult on ice – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

After a few minutes of hunting the heron hunkered down for a few seconds before another heron flew over and this heron started to chase after it.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Great Blue Heron and the wintry marsh of Bear River MBR – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Off in the distance I could see yet another Great Blue Heron standing on thin ice in the wintry marsh. I just had to take a photo of it even though it was far away because of the great marshy habitat that I could see along with the bird.<\/p>\n

\"WinterWinter Great Blue Heron in flight over the marsh at Bear River MBR – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 400, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

A few of the herons were chasing each other in flight so I locked onto one of the closest herons. I loved the blue sky, the snow-covered mountains in the distance and the flight pose of the heron.<\/p>\n

I also noticed the small pieces of ice that were dangling down from the lower chest feathers of this heron. Those pieces of ice probably formed on the feathers overnight as the heron slept with its feet in water. At least the pieces of ice on this heron were small, I’ve seen Great Blue Herons here in Utah have to deal with much larger chunks of ice<\/span><\/a> on bitter cold mornings.<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Blue Heron in winter at Bear River MBR – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 400, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I took a few more images of this Great Blue Heron as it flew out of range and before I started to head home.<\/p>\n

It wasn’t my most birdy day at the refuge but it wasn’t the worst either because of the Great Blue Herons that I was able to photograph yesterday.<\/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":"

There were plenty of Great Blue Herons to photograph yesterday morning at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and I was more than happy to take photos of them. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":139048,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[124,27,1148,166,26],"tags":[4117,4052,4122,3983,6926,3987,627,626,4064,4282,4944,4094,4069,4156,4050,313,373,5499],"class_list":["post-62970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-great-blue-herons","category-utah","tag-ardea-herodias","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-frost","tag-frozen","tag-great-blue-heron","tag-heron","tag-herons","tag-ice","tag-lift-off","tag-lifting-off","tag-marsh","tag-mountains","tag-resting","tag-snow","tag-wading-birds","tag-winter","tag-wintry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/great-blue-heron-frozen-marsh-flight-mia-mcpherson-4283.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-gnE","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":62505,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/01\/08\/photographing-great-blue-herons-on-the-frozen-marshes-of-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":62970,"position":0},"title":"Photographing Great Blue Herons On The Frozen Marshes Of Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 8, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I spent time focusing on photographing Great Blue Herons on the frozen marshes of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.","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":"Great Blue Heron and the frozen marsh at Bear River MBR, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/great-blue-heron-frozen-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0568.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/great-blue-heron-frozen-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0568.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fluffed up Great Blue Heron walking on ice, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/great-blue-heron-winter-ice-mia-mcpherson-3169.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/great-blue-heron-winter-ice-mia-mcpherson-3169.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/great-blue-heron-winter-ice-mia-mcpherson-3169.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/great-blue-heron-winter-ice-mia-mcpherson-3169.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/great-blue-heron-lifting-off-from-ice-mia-mcpherson-0627.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/great-blue-heron-lifting-off-from-ice-mia-mcpherson-0627.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/great-blue-heron-lifting-off-from-ice-mia-mcpherson-0627.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/great-blue-heron-lifting-off-from-ice-mia-mcpherson-0627.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":110398,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/02\/20\/great-blue-heron-on-ice-small-in-frame\/","url_meta":{"origin":62970,"position":3},"title":"Great Blue Heron On Ice – Small In Frame","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 20, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week I had the opportunity to photograph a Great Blue Heron on the ice at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, where the heron was 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":"Great Blue Heron and its winter shadow - Small in frame, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/great-blue-heron-winter-ice-mia-mcpherson-3071.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/great-blue-heron-winter-ice-mia-mcpherson-3071.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/great-blue-heron-winter-ice-mia-mcpherson-3071.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/great-blue-heron-winter-ice-mia-mcpherson-3071.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":75235,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/11\/10\/great-blue-herons-arent-really-blue-so-whats-up-with-their-name\/","url_meta":{"origin":62970,"position":4},"title":"Great Blue Herons Aren’t Really Blue – So What’s Up With Their Name?","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The name \"Great Blue Heron\" has always seemed off to me because these large herons are much more gray than they are blue.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird 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2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":120400,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/02\/03\/great-blue-heron-and-reflection-on-the-bear-river\/","url_meta":{"origin":62970,"position":5},"title":"Great Blue Heron And Reflection On The Bear River","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Today, I'm sharing a simple Great Blue Heron photo I took late last month at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. I liked the heron's reflection on the Bear River.","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":", Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/great-blue-heron-river-near-rocks-brmbr-mia-mcpherson-4634.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/great-blue-heron-river-near-rocks-brmbr-mia-mcpherson-4634.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/great-blue-heron-river-near-rocks-brmbr-mia-mcpherson-4634.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/great-blue-heron-river-near-rocks-brmbr-mia-mcpherson-4634.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\/62970","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=62970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62970\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}