{"id":63965,"date":"2020-02-10T05:38:10","date_gmt":"2020-02-10T12:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=63965"},"modified":"2024-08-11T03:52:14","modified_gmt":"2024-08-11T08:52:14","slug":"great-blue-herons-seeking-shelter-from-winters-wind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/02\/10\/great-blue-herons-seeking-shelter-from-winters-wind\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Blue Herons Seeking Shelter From Winter’s Wind"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"WinterWinter Great Blue Heron in flight in front of the Wasatch Range – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/2500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

It wasn’t all that “birdy” yesterday morning at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> and if it hadn’t been for some Great Blue Herons taking shelter from the biting, winter wind I may have come home with only one long distance, documentary photo of a gull I wanted to identify.<\/p>\n

The Great Blue Herons were in the rushes that line the bank of the Bear River near the beginning of the auto tour route. I have no idea what the actually temp was at the time but the wind made my bare fingers and hands hurt within a minute so I can only imagine how the herons felt.<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Blue Heron on a windy winter day – Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/3200, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The sun was shining and I had birds in front of me so I was happy but it didn’t take long for me to realize I either needed to put gloves on to protect them from the icy wind or continue until my hands and fingers screamed for mercy. I continued photographing the herons.<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Blue Herons seeking shelter from the wind – Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The Great Blue Herons were hunkered down in the rushes with the warmth of the sunlight on them but they still looked cold. These herons are tough birds though, tougher than I am because it only took a few more minutes before I decided my hands were hurting too much and that the wind was just plain awful.<\/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 were hunkered down in the rushes with the warmth of the sunlight on them but they still looked cold.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":132161,"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":[4004,4117,5795,4052,8622,6926,3987,627,626,4094,8623,8624,4018,4050,313,4095,1193,373],"class_list":["post-63965","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-adult","tag-ardea-herodias","tag-cold","tag-flight","tag-flying-wasatch-range","tag-frozen","tag-great-blue-heron","tag-heron","tag-herons","tag-marsh","tag-shelter","tag-sheltering","tag-sky","tag-snow","tag-wading-birds","tag-wetlands","tag-windy","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/great-blue-herons-rushes-mia-mcpherson-8039.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-gDH","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":117958,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/11\/08\/great-blue-heron-photos-in-winter\/","url_meta":{"origin":63965,"position":0},"title":"Great Blue Heron Photos In Winter","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 8, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"If you want to take Great Blue Heron photos in winter, on snow and ice, then head to Bear River MBR in Utah after the marsh freezes and the snow starts to fall.","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":"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, 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19, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"On my last trip up to Bear River MBR, I stopped to take a video on the auto tour loop, and a Great Blue Heron surprised me by flying into view over the 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":"Riverbank Great Blue Heron adult, 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-above-the-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-4839.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-above-the-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-4839.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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