{"id":9246,"date":"2013-08-24T03:30:14","date_gmt":"2013-08-24T09:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=9246"},"modified":"2024-07-22T14:37:11","modified_gmt":"2024-07-22T19:37:11","slug":"a-green-heron-reacts-to-a-broad-winged-hawk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/08\/24\/a-green-heron-reacts-to-a-broad-winged-hawk\/","title":{"rendered":"Green Heron reacts to a Broad-winged Hawk"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-129725 size-full\" title=\"Green Heron at Sawgrass Lake Park\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/green-heron-florida-mia-mcpherson-6983.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/green-heron-florida-mia-mcpherson-6983.jpg\" alt=\"Green Heron at Sawgrass Lake Park, Pinellas County, Florida\" width=\"850\" height=\"607\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20850%20607%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/green-heron-florida-mia-mcpherson-6983-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/green-heron-florida-mia-mcpherson-6983-250x179.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/green-heron-florida-mia-mcpherson-6983-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/green-heron-florida-mia-mcpherson-6983-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/green-heron-florida-mia-mcpherson-6983-600x428.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/green-heron-florida-mia-mcpherson-6983-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/green-heron-florida-mia-mcpherson-6983-800x571.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/green-heron-florida-mia-mcpherson-6983.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Green Heron at Sawgrass Lake Park &#8211; Nikon D200, handheld, f5.6, 1\/320, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>One morning in 2008 I photographed this Green Heron at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pinellascounty.org\/park\/16_sawgrass.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Sawgrass Lake Park<\/span><\/a> in Pinellas County, Florida as it perched and preened on broken branch that was laying in the water. The Green Heron seemed oblivious of me as I photographed it from the boardwalk. In fact It didn&#8217;t often even look in my direction. The people walking past me as I laid flat on my stomach on the boardwalk with my lens poking through the slats paid me far more attention than the bird. Of course they were probably wondering what I was doing period.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-129726 size-full\" title=\"Very alert Green Heron\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/green-heron-florida-mia-mcpherson-7052.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/green-heron-florida-mia-mcpherson-7052.jpg\" alt=\"Very alert Green Heron, Sawgrass Lake Park, Pinellas County, Florida\" width=\"640\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27640%27%20height%3D%27800%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20640%20800%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27640%27%20height%3D%27800%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/green-heron-florida-mia-mcpherson-7052-200x250.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/green-heron-florida-mia-mcpherson-7052-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/green-heron-florida-mia-mcpherson-7052-400x500.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/green-heron-florida-mia-mcpherson-7052-600x750.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/green-heron-florida-mia-mcpherson-7052.jpg 640w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Very alert Green Heron &#8211; Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/200, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 260mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Suddenly the Green Heron stood up, stretched out its neck, raised the feathers on its head and appeared to stare up into the sky. It really struck a chord in me because the bird looked funny but I kept\u00a0photographing it and watched as it hunkered down on the branch. I was curious about what the heron was looking at so I raised my lens to the sky.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/broad-winged-hawk-florida-mia-mcpherson-7105.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter size-full wp-image-9247\" title=\"Juvenile Broad-winged Hawk\" src=\"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/broad-winged-hawk-florida-mia-mcpherson-7105.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/broad-winged-hawk-florida-mia-mcpherson-7105.jpg\" alt=\"Juvenile Broad-winged Hawk\" width=\"800\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27800%27%20height%3D%27640%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20800%20640%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27800%27%20height%3D%27640%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/broad-winged-hawk-florida-mia-mcpherson-7105-150x120.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/broad-winged-hawk-florida-mia-mcpherson-7105-300x240.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/broad-winged-hawk-florida-mia-mcpherson-7105-400x320.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/broad-winged-hawk-florida-mia-mcpherson-7105.jpg 800w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Juvenile Broad-winged Hawk\u00a0&#8211; Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/640, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>High overhead I could make out the shape of a raptor that had flown over the Green Heron and realized that the bird was a juvenile Broad-winged Hawk. It is a terrible photo but I kept it so I could remind myself why the heron struck some odd looking poses.<\/p>\n<p>When I go out photographing I go with the thought that I never know what amazing things I might see and those wonderful moments happen more than I can keep track of.<\/p>\n<p>Life<em> is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/green-heron-images\/\">here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Green Heron photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One morning in 2008 I photographed this Green Heron at Sawgrass Lake Park in Pinellas County, Florida as it perched and preened on broken branch that was laying in the water.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":129725,"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":[27,25,2330,2000,883],"tags":[4004,4226,2332,2331,5547,627,626,9465,4104,11823,11822,11824,9464,313,4095],"class_list":["post-9246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-green-herons","category-pinellas-county-florida","category-sawgrass-county-park","tag-adult","tag-behavior","tag-broad-winged-hawk","tag-butorides-virescens","tag-green-heron","tag-heron","tag-herons","tag-maple-swamp","tag-perched","tag-predator","tag-reacting","tag-reacts","tag-swamp","tag-wading-birds","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/green-heron-florida-mia-mcpherson-6983.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-2p8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":49352,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/11\/08\/stretching-green-heron-at-sawgrass-lake-park\/","url_meta":{"origin":9246,"position":0},"title":"Stretching Green Heron at Sawgrass Lake Park","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 8, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"This Green Heron was photographed from and elevated boardwalk at Sawgrass Lake Park, it had been preening when I walked slowly up to it and when it stretched its wing I took this image.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Green Heron stretching, Sawgrass Lake Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/green-heron-stretching-mia-mcpherson-7068.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/green-heron-stretching-mia-mcpherson-7068.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/green-heron-stretching-mia-mcpherson-7068.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/green-heron-stretching-mia-mcpherson-7068.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":43846,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/12\/10\/green-heron-at-sawgrass-lake-park\/","url_meta":{"origin":9246,"position":1},"title":"Green Heron at Sawgrass Lake Park &#8211; From My Early Days of Being a Bird Photographer","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this Green Heron at Sawgrass Lake Park in Pinellas County, Florida with my first DSLR, a Nikon D70, when I was just getting into bird photography.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Green Heron with reflection, Sawgrass Lake Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/green-heron-sawgrass-mia-mcpherson-1894.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/green-heron-sawgrass-mia-mcpherson-1894.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/green-heron-sawgrass-mia-mcpherson-1894.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/green-heron-sawgrass-mia-mcpherson-1894.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":67753,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/04\/01\/green-heron-in-a-maple-swamp-at-saw-grass-lake-park\/","url_meta":{"origin":9246,"position":2},"title":"Green Heron In A Maple Swamp At Saw Grass Lake Park","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 1, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"This Green Heron was photographed not long after I first started focusing on and photographing birds while I still lived in Florida.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Green Heron in a swamp, Sawgrass Lake Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/green-heron-hunting-low-light-mia-mcpherson-1851.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/green-heron-hunting-low-light-mia-mcpherson-1851.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/green-heron-hunting-low-light-mia-mcpherson-1851.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/green-heron-hunting-low-light-mia-mcpherson-1851.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":62931,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/01\/19\/tricolored-herons-in-florida-habitats\/","url_meta":{"origin":9246,"position":3},"title":"Tricolored Herons In Florida Habitats","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 19, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"When I lived in Florida Tricolored Herons were among my favorite wading birds to photograph and I found them in many different types of habitats.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tricolored Heron at Roosevelt Wetland, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/tricolored-heron-wetlands-mia-mcpherson-2751.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/tricolored-heron-wetlands-mia-mcpherson-2751.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/tricolored-heron-wetlands-mia-mcpherson-2751.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/tricolored-heron-wetlands-mia-mcpherson-2751.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":109471,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/01\/09\/sawgrass-lake-park-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":9246,"position":4},"title":"Sawgrass Lake Park Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 9, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I am traveling back in time via my archives to revisit Sawgrass Lake Park in Pinellas County, Florida.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Anhingas&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Anhingas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/cormorants-and-anhingas\/anhingas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Golden morning light at Sawgrass Lake Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/sawgrass-lake-park-morning-mist-mia-mcpherson-1265.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/sawgrass-lake-park-morning-mist-mia-mcpherson-1265.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/sawgrass-lake-park-morning-mist-mia-mcpherson-1265.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/sawgrass-lake-park-morning-mist-mia-mcpherson-1265.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":37685,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/03\/31\/great-blue-herons-expelling-bile\/","url_meta":{"origin":9246,"position":5},"title":"Great Blue Herons Expelling Bile? (Graphic)","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 31, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I have only seen and photographed these two Great Blue Herons expelling bile in Florida and Utah. I wonder how often this occurs.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","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":"Retching Great Blue Heron, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/great-blue-heron-regurgitating-mia-mcpherson-8059.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/great-blue-heron-regurgitating-mia-mcpherson-8059.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/great-blue-heron-regurgitating-mia-mcpherson-8059.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/great-blue-heron-regurgitating-mia-mcpherson-8059.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\/9246","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=9246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9246\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}