{"id":86556,"date":"2021-05-01T05:58:54","date_gmt":"2021-05-01T11:58:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=86556"},"modified":"2024-02-18T09:23:37","modified_gmt":"2024-02-18T16:23:37","slug":"great-blue-heron-in-flight-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/05\/01\/great-blue-heron-in-flight-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Blue Heron In Flight Photos"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today I am sharing seven Great Blue Heron in flight photos from the marsh at Bear River MBR<\/span><\/a> that I took three days ago. I spotted the heron in a marshy area on the last leg of the auto tour route and pointed it out.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Great Blue Heron flying low over the marsh at Bear River MBR \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

These photos are the seven that I liked the most from the forty-nine images I took of the heron as it flew past me on the south side of the auto tour route at the refuge.<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Blue Heron on the wing in Utah \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The background behind the heron may look like sky but it is actually the distant Promontory Mountain range<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"FlyingFlying adult Great Blue Heron \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

What I liked most about these Great Blue Heron in flight photos is the great views I had of the top side , or dorsal side, of the heron’s wings, the colors of the heron’s plumage, and that I was able to maintain eye contact with the heron throughout the entire series of photos that I took of it.<\/p>\n

\"SpringSpring Great Blue Heron \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though it was nearly 10 a.m. in the morning the light was nice when I took these photos because a high, thin layer of clouds diffused the sunlight.<\/p>\n

\"HighHigh thin clouds over Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge on an April morning – Nikon D810, f10, 1\/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 18mm, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Without the clouds diffusing the sunlight my Great Blue Heron images may have looked more contrasty so I am grateful that those clouds were there. Some people grumble about clouds but there are times this bird photographer welcomes them. Then again, there are some people who aren’t happy if they aren’t<\/em> grumbling. I am definitely not that type of person.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Great Blue Heron flying by on a spring morning \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

As the heron continued its flight it turned ever so slightly towards me over the marsh next to the road.<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Blue Heron with wings fully spread in flight \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

And the large heron banked a tiny bit which gave me a great view of the dorsal aspect of the heron’s fully spread wings.<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Blue Heron in flight on a bright spring morning \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Then the heron turned even more and it seemed like it was going to come even closer to me than it already was. Just two frames later I lost focus on the heron because it was too close to me.<\/p>\n

I enjoyed taking this series of the Great Blue Heron flying past me at the refuge and the rest of the birds that I photographed that morning.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Great Blue Heron photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today I am sharing seven Great Blue Heron in flight photos from the marsh at Bear River MBR that I took three days ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":121453,"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":[4004,4117,11569,4101,8124,11570,4052,4122,3987,627,626,11567,4094,4378,6384,4528,9642,165,6326,11568,313,4095,5498],"class_list":["post-86556","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-banked","tag-clouds","tag-diffused-light","tag-dorsal-aspect","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-great-blue-heron","tag-heron","tag-herons","tag-high","tag-marsh","tag-morning","tag-on-the-wing","tag-promontory-mountains","tag-spread","tag-spring","tag-sunlight","tag-thin","tag-wading-birds","tag-wetlands","tag-wings"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/great-blue-heron-wetlands-mia-mcpherson-2145.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-mw4","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":62970,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/01\/20\/concentrating-on-great-blue-herons-in-winter\/","url_meta":{"origin":86556,"position":0},"title":"Concentrating On Great Blue Herons In Winter","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 20, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","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 in winter 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-flight-mia-mcpherson-4283.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-flight-mia-mcpherson-4283.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/great-blue-heron-frozen-marsh-mia-mcpherson-3990.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-frozen-marsh-mia-mcpherson-3990.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/great-blue-heron-frozen-marsh-mia-mcpherson-3990.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/great-blue-heron-frozen-marsh-mia-mcpherson-3990.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":121522,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/02\/19\/my-video-with-a-surprise-great-blue-heron\/","url_meta":{"origin":86556,"position":3},"title":"My Video With A Surprise Great Blue Heron","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 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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