{"id":96299,"date":"2021-10-15T05:08:51","date_gmt":"2021-10-15T11:08:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=96299"},"modified":"2021-10-15T05:08:51","modified_gmt":"2021-10-15T11:08:51","slug":"great-blue-heron-belt-of-venus-and-earth-shadow-memories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/10\/15\/great-blue-heron-belt-of-venus-and-earth-shadow-memories\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Blue Heron, Belt of Venus and Earth Shadow Memories"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GreatGreat Blue Heron preening in front of the Earth Shadow and Belt of Venus \u2013 Nikon D200, handheld, f5.6, 1\/320, ISO 640, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Thirteen years ago this morning I photographed a Great Blue Heron, Belt of Venus<\/span><\/a> and the Earth Shadow<\/span><\/a> on the north beach of Fort De Soto County Park on the west coast of Florida. The Earth Shadow is the bluish hue near the feet of the heron and the sand dune and the Belt of Venus is the pinkish hue above that. I arrived at the beach before dawn or what is also called civil twilight<\/span><\/a> and when I found the heron with those colors behind it I was over the moon.<\/p>\n

There was a stiff wind was blowing the sand on the beach at about 30-35 knots (35-40 mph) and the tiny grains stung my exposed skin. The stinging sand didn’t matter to me at the time because I felt so delighted to photograph this heron with such a beautiful sky behind it.<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Blue Heron walking in front of the Belt of Venus and Earth Shadow \u2013 Nikon D200, handheld, f5.6, 1\/400, ISO 640, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 330mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the years I have taken thousands and thousands of Great Blue Heron photos in Florida, Utah, Montana, and Idaho and whenever I think of these large, prehistoric looking wading birds the morning I took these photos always rises to the top of my memories. I had this heron and the beach to myself, I was relaxed and excited at the same time, and life was good.<\/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":"

Thirteen years ago this morning I photographed a Great Blue Heron, Belt of Venus and the Earth Shadow on the north beach of Fort De Soto County Park on the west coast of Florida.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":96294,"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":[27,25,704,166,2000],"tags":[4004,4117,12491,7890,5229,5132,9822,4198,3987,627,626,156,6204,11392,4019,4017,4018,313,4236,5361,1193],"class_list":["post-96299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-great-blue-herons","category-pinellas-county-florida","tag-adult","tag-ardea-herodias","tag-atomospheric-conditions","tag-belt-of-venus","tag-coast","tag-coastal","tag-dune","tag-earth-shadow","tag-great-blue-heron","tag-heron","tag-herons","tag-low-light-2","tag-pre-dawn","tag-predawn-light","tag-preening-2","tag-sand","tag-sky","tag-wading-birds","tag-walking","tag-wind","tag-windy"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/great-blue-heron-belt-of-venus-mia-mcpherson-6470.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-p3d","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":61038,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/10\/27\/photographing-the-earths-shadow-with-a-great-blue-heron\/","url_meta":{"origin":96299,"position":0},"title":"Photographing The Earth’s Shadow With A Great Blue Heron","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 27, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Because I arrived at twilight that morning and had a clear sky I knew that I could take photos of the Great Blue Heron with the blue colored Earth's Shadow and pink Belt of Venus behind it.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Earth Shadow with a Great Blue Heron, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/great-blue-heron-earth-shadow-vibrant-mia-mcpherson-8826.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/great-blue-heron-earth-shadow-vibrant-mia-mcpherson-8826.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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"Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Blue Heron with the Earth's Shadow, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-low-light-earth-shadow-mia-mcpherson-6466.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-low-light-earth-shadow-mia-mcpherson-6466.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-low-light-earth-shadow-mia-mcpherson-6466.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-low-light-earth-shadow-mia-mcpherson-6466.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Great Blues are large wading birds that have a prehistoric look to them and even their calls; more like a croak, sound like something from the long\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Blue Heron portrait - Warm morning light, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-portrait-mia-mcpherson-6455.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-portrait-mia-mcpherson-6455.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-portrait-mia-mcpherson-6455.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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horizon when I photographed this Great Blue Heron as it hunted in the shallow waters on the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Blue Heron in pre-dawn light, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-pre-dawn-mia-mcpherson-4050.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-pre-dawn-mia-mcpherson-4050.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-pre-dawn-mia-mcpherson-4050.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":46872,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/05\/21\/preening-great-blue-heron-in-the-gulf-of-mexico\/","url_meta":{"origin":96299,"position":5},"title":"Preening Great Blue Heron In The Gulf Of Mexico","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 21, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"This photo of a preening Great Blue Heron on an old stump in the water of the Gulf of Mexico is far from perfect but I still like it for the behavior that it shows.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Preening Great Blue Heron on an old stump, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, 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