{"id":7515,"date":"2013-02-13T06:43:57","date_gmt":"2013-02-13T13:43:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=7515"},"modified":"2025-08-19T08:39:34","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T13:39:34","slug":"great-blue-herons-in-florida-and-utah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/02\/13\/great-blue-herons-in-florida-and-utah\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Blue Herons In Florida And Utah"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GreatGreat Blue Heron flying over the Gulf of Mexico – Nikon D200, handheld, f5.6. 1\/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 260mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Great Blue Herons are year round residents in both Florida and Utah although conditions during the winter months can be\u00a0starkly different for these large wading birds in the two\u00a0locations and climates. Florida during the winter can be\u00a0cool but comfortable.<\/p>\n

The Great Blue Heron above was photographed as it flew over the Gulf of Mexico in Florida.<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Blue Heron stalking voles in winter – Nikon D200, f7.1, ISO 400, 1\/2000, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Winters in Utah can be harsh, bitter cold and the ground can stayed covered in snow for weeks. Some times the freshwater freezes and the Great Blue Herons can no longer find food from the marshes, ponds and\u00a0streams so they hunt for voles instead. The Great Blue Heron shown above was stalking voles near snow-covered vegetation at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area. I remember having numb hands when I took this image, it was that cold!<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Blue Herons nesting – Nikon D200, handheld, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 320, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This photo was taken at the end of December of 2008 at Fort De Soto County Park in Florida where\u00a0the Great Blue Herons\u00a0were already building nests by that time, can’t imagine that happening here in Utah. Note the blue lores that both of these birds have, that is a sign that they are in breeding plumage. The setting sun gave this image that golden glow of “sweet light”.<\/p>\n

By the way, I unknowingly stepped into a fire ant hill when I took this image, thankfully I realized it right away, moved, brushed off the ants and continued shooting images.<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Blue preening in the snow – Nikon D300, f7.1, ISO 400, 1\/2500, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Great Blue Herons in Utah do seem to have a tougher life but they appear to deal with it quite well. I spotted this heron a few weeks ago as it preened on the snowy banks of a small stream. We’d had lots of snow that week and there was over a foot of it at Farmington Bay WMA.<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Blue Heron in pursuit – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/1500, ISO 400, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 98mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Great Blue Herons in Florida have to deal with extreme weather too because tropical storms and hurricanes can batter all of the birds with high winds, driving rains, pounding waves and loss of habitat. This Great Blue Heron was chasing off a rival for some prime fishing grounds in a territorial pursuit.<\/p>\n

Great Blue Herons survive in both locations because they are adaptable and\u00a0if they can’t locate their normal prey they will find another.<\/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":"

Great Blue Herons are year round residents in both Florida and Utah although conditions during the winter months can be starkly different for these large wading birds in the two locations and climates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":130264,"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":[27,1022,697,25,704,166,2000,26],"tags":[4004,4117,4053,4052,4122,3987,627,626,3970,3976,4019,4050,6275,1647,313,373],"class_list":["post-7515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-great-blue-herons","category-pinellas-county-florida","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-ardea-herodias","tag-breeding-plumage","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-great-blue-heron","tag-heron","tag-herons","tag-hunting","tag-nesting","tag-preening-2","tag-snow","tag-territorial-pursuit","tag-voles","tag-wading-birds","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/great-blue-herons-nesting-mia-mcpherson-1718.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1Xd","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":115878,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/09\/15\/late-summer-great-blue-heron\/","url_meta":{"origin":7515,"position":0},"title":"Late Summer Great Blue Heron","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 15, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I 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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/great-blue-heron-late-summer-mia-mcpherson-0460.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":100076,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/02\/18\/great-blue-herons-at-the-farmington-bay-rookery\/","url_meta":{"origin":7515,"position":1},"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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/great-blue-herons-rookery-mia-mcpherson-3757.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/great-blue-herons-rookery-mia-mcpherson-3757.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":7515,"position":2},"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, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-blue-heron-immature-flight-mountains-mia-mcpherson-1398.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-blue-heron-immature-flight-mountains-mia-mcpherson-1398.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-blue-heron-immature-flight-mountains-mia-mcpherson-1398.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-blue-heron-immature-flight-mountains-mia-mcpherson-1398.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":7515,"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":49739,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/12\/09\/december-for-utah-and-florida-great-blue-herons-what-a-difference\/","url_meta":{"origin":7515,"position":4},"title":"December for Utah and Florida Great Blue Herons – What a Difference","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The lives of these Great Blue Herons sure are different when you compare December in Utah to December in Florida.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"One very cold Great Blue Heron, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, 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":108065,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/11\/15\/great-blue-heron-on-driftwood\/","url_meta":{"origin":7515,"position":5},"title":"Great Blue Heron On Driftwood","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 15, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I drove up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge early yesterday morning where the first bird I photographed was a Great Blue Heron standing on driftwood.","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":"Morning Great Blue Heron standing on driftwood, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/great-blue-heron-marsh-mia-mcpherson-4079.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/great-blue-heron-marsh-mia-mcpherson-4079.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/great-blue-heron-marsh-mia-mcpherson-4079.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/great-blue-heron-marsh-mia-mcpherson-4079.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\/7515","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=7515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}