{"id":77531,"date":"2021-01-09T05:48:20","date_gmt":"2021-01-09T12:48:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=77531"},"modified":"2025-08-20T07:44:53","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T12:44:53","slug":"immature-great-blue-heron-on-ice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/01\/09\/immature-great-blue-heron-on-ice\/","title":{"rendered":"Immature Great Blue Heron On Ice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three days ago I photographed an immature Great Blue Heron on ice from the auto tour route at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/a><\/span>. I wasn’t able to get the young heron in my viewfinder until shortly after it landed.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Great Blue Heron after landing on ice \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/4000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I had been focused on Common Goldeneyes in some open water plus Ring-billed and Herring Gulls when I noticed the immature Great Blue Heron flying in to land on the ice that covered that section of the marsh.<\/p>\n

Whenever it is possible I will try take photos of Great Blue Herons here in northern Utah. I focused on the young heron as soon as I could after its feet touched down on the ice.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Great Blue Heron walking on ice \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/4000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The gulls, ducks, coots, eagles, and herons have been congregating in that area of the marsh because there is some open water in the location where they can still catch fish. This young heron was about fifty feet from the open water when it landed.<\/p>\n

\"FluffyFluffy immature Great Blue Heron on ice \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/4000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I hoped that the immature Great Blue Heron would walk towards the edge of the ice to hunt for its breakfast while I had it in my viewfinder.<\/p>\n

Instead it fluffed up its feathers and stood out on the ice.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Great Blue Heron at rest on ice \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/4000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Then it hunkered down to rest. I started photographing the gulls and ducks that were in front of me and the next time I looked for the young Great Blue Heron it had apparently flown off. I hope that the next time I head out onto the marshes at Bear River MBR I will be able to catch some Great Blue Herons on the ice that are catching fish.<\/p>\n

Every bird that I have in my viewfinder brings me joy.<\/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":"

Three days ago I photographed an immature Great Blue Heron on ice from the auto tour route at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":153036,"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":[4117,2450,3035,3987,627,626,4064,4067,4123,4094,9814,4156,313,4236,373,4193],"class_list":["post-77531","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-first-winter","tag-fluffy","tag-great-blue-heron","tag-heron","tag-herons","tag-ice","tag-immature","tag-landing","tag-marsh","tag-rest","tag-resting","tag-wading-birds","tag-walking","tag-winter","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-immature-on-ice-mia-mcpherson-4504.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-kav","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":100674,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/14\/young-great-blue-heron-in-front-of-the-promontory-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":77531,"position":0},"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":110788,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/03\/06\/great-blue-heron-solitude-on-the-ice\/","url_meta":{"origin":77531,"position":1},"title":"Great Blue Heron: Solitude On The Ice","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 6, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"On my last journey up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge I stopped to take photos of a majestic Great Blue Heron enjoying some solitude on the ice.","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 on the edge of ice, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/great-blue-heron-adult-phrags-edge-mia-mcpherson-5318.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/great-blue-heron-adult-phrags-edge-mia-mcpherson-5318.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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I was on my way to the auto tour loop at the refuge when I spotted this heron.","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 falling through ice on the Bear River, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/great-blue-heron-winter-bear-river-ice-mia-mcpherson-4464.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/great-blue-heron-winter-bear-river-ice-mia-mcpherson-4464.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":"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":98387,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/12\/22\/great-blue-heron-photos-taken-on-the-winter-solstice\/","url_meta":{"origin":77531,"position":4},"title":"Great Blue Heron Photos Taken on The Winter Solstice","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 22, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"To my delight I was able to take Great Blue Heron photos yesterday on the Winter Solstice that I found on the banks of the Bear River at 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":"Winter Great Blue Heron landing on a log, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/great-blue-heron-bear-river-landing-mia-mcpherson-0605.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/great-blue-heron-bear-river-landing-mia-mcpherson-0605.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/great-blue-heron-bear-river-landing-mia-mcpherson-0605.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/great-blue-heron-bear-river-landing-mia-mcpherson-0605.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":117958,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/11\/08\/great-blue-heron-photos-in-winter\/","url_meta":{"origin":77531,"position":5},"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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