Great Blue Heron Gallery #1

A great blue heron yawns on a cold winter morning at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Hey You Voles! Get Off My Lawn!

Appearing to do its best cranky old man impersonation, this heron was just yawning on a cold winter morning. You can see frost on its shoulder and the frozen waters of Rest Lake behind it. You really don't want to know how long I sat there waiting for it to yawn.

Great blue heron at sunset at Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge

(Almost) Missed Opportunity

It was near sunset at Baskett Slough as I waited to see if black-tailed deer would emerge into the golden light, but none were forthcoming so I headed back to the car to try my luck at one of the ponds before the light slipped away. By the time I got there, I was disappointed to see that the direct light was already blocked from the pond and thought my chances of getting a good picture were over. Then I noticed this great blue heron against the brilliant orange reflection of the sunset and shot a whole sequence as he slowly moved around.

It was one of my earliest pictures after getting a digital camera and remains one of my favorites.

Where Did Everybody Go?

A great blue heron stands alone in a meadow recently vacated by a large flock of Canada geese at Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge. The flock noisily took to the air en masse, leaving behind a bunch of white feathers, droppings, and one lonely heron. This environmental portrait has remained one of my favorite heron pictures, a little bit comical and a little bit sad.

Brown

As the heron slowly stalked its prey through the tall brown grasses, mostly obscured from sight, it paused and stood upright for a moment. When it glanced over in my direction, a gust of wind blew out its neck feathers and I had my picture.

The shadow of a great blue heron lies across a green channel at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Shadow of a Hunter

A heron perches on a downed tree as its shadow is cast over the green water. Even though it was actively scanning and listening for movement in the water below, its perch seemed too high to have a chance at capturing any frogs or fish, so it may have been in reconnaissance mode. It eventually started hunting closer to the water.

Great blue heron and great egrets hunt for voles in a meadow at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

The Killing Fields

At the end of the auto tour route at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge's River S Unit, there are several large fields that provide a close view of a variety of the northwest's marsh predators. Most commonly seen are the large waders (like the great blue heron and four great egrets seen here) and birds of prey like red-tailed hawks, northern harriers, and American kestrels. But you can also see coyotes, bald eagles, and rough-legged hawks plying the fields. In fact, on a good day, you might see almost all of them sharing the large fields as they each hunt in their own distinctive ways.

Great blue heron on a snowy day at Baskett Slough National Wildlife Reuge

Another attempt at creating something other than the typical static heron portrait. This one was hunting in some fields not far from where the sunset picture above was taken. This day, however, was heavily overcast and often raining heavily. At the moment, however, it was actually snowing which you can see pretty clearly on the larger picture. I wasn't totally happy with the picture since the snow isn't very visible around the heron's level, but I still like the mood the picture conveys.

Juvenile great blue heron at sunset at Ridgefield National Wildlife Reuge

Young Blue at Sunset

It's hard to get a sense of how small this young heron is from the picture, but it was noticeably smaller than an adult heron (but still larger than many of the smaller herons like a green heron or the night herons). The dead giveaway that this is not an adult, though, is in the head: young herons lack the white stripe that runs the length of the adult's head. This one is young enough that the feathers at the top of its head aren't really blue.

Great blue heron takes flight on a rainy dat at Baskett Slough National Wildlife Reuge

A great blue heron takes flight on a rainy day in Oregon.

Close-up view of a great blue heron's head and long neck at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Great blue heron staring at its reflection in a saltwater marsh

Self Reflection

I took this picture a few days after my step-father’s funeral. I arrived at dawn at Huntington Beach State Park to find solace in the birds of the park. The tide was in but starting to recede, the heron a silent sentinel as the waters slowly drifted past. It wasn’t in the mood to hunt, but did look down at something in the water for a moment. From my vantage point I could see nothing under the water, only the heron gazing intently on its own reflection.

Close-up view of a great blue heron's head at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Eyes

I came across this great blue heron on the same morning I watched a group of bald eagles scavenging a nutria carcass. I pulled out the big telephoto as I wanted to focus in on just the hunter’s face and highlight its mesmerizing yellow eyes. It wasn’t moving much in the rain, so I eased the car forwards and backwards until I both got the background I wanted and a good direct view of its face.

I took several pictures at different apertures, this one has a rather shallow depth of field which blurs the background nicely but unfortunately leaves the bill and feathers of the body blurred as well. I have some with more depth of field but a less blurred background, and like both approaches for this subject.

A great blue heron flies from its perch on a foggy and frosty morning at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Early Departure

A heron flies from its perch on a foggy and frosty morning along Ridgefield’s auto tour.

A great blue heron with the feathers on its head puffed out at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Bouffant

You only thought this hairstyle died out with the 60's! This heron was scratching its right eye with its clawed foot and ended up with this poofy do.

Close-up view of the feathers of a great blue heron

Who Am I?

Given that this is a page of great blue heron pictures, it shouldn't be too hard to guess who owns this feathery back.

I took the picture of the feathers while the heron hunted for fish in the shallows of the lake, then focused on its face when it wheeled around to listen for voles in the grasses on the shoreline.

Blue

Many of my heron pictures from Ridgefield show them hunting in the fields, which they do frequently, but they do also hunt in the more conventional sense of working the waters of the refuge. This heron was slowly traversing a pond when it raised its head to check out the surroundings before lowering its head again and resuming the hunt.

Treed

I was a bit shocked when I moved to Oregon and saw herons and egrets in the trees. It turns out to not be all that unusual, in fact they nest and raise their young in trees, just something I hadn't seen before. This heron wasn't choosing a nest site, it was late fall and it was just enjoying this dry vantage point above the marsh.

A great blue heron in a tree at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

An environmental portrait of a great blue heron in a tree at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

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March 21, 2011

	Hey You Voles! Get Off My Lawn! Appearing to do its best cranky old man impersonation, this heron was just yawning on a cold winter morning. You can see frost on its shoulder and the frozen waters of Rest Lake behind it. You really don't want to know how long I sat there waiting for it to yawn.
	(Almost) Missed Opportunity It was near sunset at Baskett Slough as I waited to see if black-tailed deer would emerge into the golden light, but none were forthcoming so I headed back to the car to try my luck at one of the ponds before the light slipped away. By the time I got there, I was disappointed to see that the direct light was already blocked from the pond and thought my chances of getting a good picture were over. Then I noticed this great blue heron against the brilliant orange reflection of the sunset and shot a whole sequence as he slowly moved around. It was one of my earliest pictures after getting a digital camera and remains one of my favorites.
	Where Did Everybody Go? A great blue heron stands alone in a meadow recently vacated by a large flock of Canada geese at Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge. The flock noisily took to the air en masse, leaving behind a bunch of white feathers, droppings, and one lonely heron. This environmental portrait has remained one of my favorite heron pictures, a little bit comical and a little bit sad.
	Brown As the heron slowly stalked its prey through the tall brown grasses, mostly obscured from sight, it paused and stood upright for a moment. When it glanced over in my direction, a gust of wind blew out its neck feathers and I had my picture.
	Shadow of a Hunter A heron perches on a downed tree as its shadow is cast over the green water. Even though it was actively scanning and listening for movement in the water below, its perch seemed too high to have a chance at capturing any frogs or fish, so it may have been in reconnaissance mode. It eventually started hunting closer to the water.

	Eyes I came across this great blue heron on the same morning I watched a group of bald eagles scavenging a nutria carcass. I pulled out the big telephoto as I wanted to focus in on just the hunter’s face and highlight its mesmerizing yellow eyes. It wasn’t moving much in the rain, so I eased the car forwards and backwards until I both got the background I wanted and a good direct view of its face. I took several pictures at different apertures, this one has a rather shallow depth of field which blurs the background nicely but unfortunately leaves the bill and feathers of the body blurred as well. I have some with more depth of field but a less blurred background, and like both approaches for this subject.
	Early Departure A heron flies from its perch on a foggy and frosty morning along Ridgefield’s auto tour.
	Bouffant You only thought this hairstyle died out with the 60's! This heron was scratching its right eye with its clawed foot and ended up with this poofy do.