The Howland Picture Pages: Great Blue Heron

Page by Deb & Royce
Last update: $Date: 2004/01/13 04:53:35 $ (UTC)

The Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) is the largest North American Heron, typically hunting solitarily for fish while wading or standing motionless in shallow waters. We get this species at home in Calgary, and have encountered it in many other places during our travels, including the Bosque del Apache. Whether flying slowly along or standing tall, a Great Blue Heron is always a majestic sight. And because Herons often stand motionless for long stretches of time, you can expect a goodly number of photos on this page.

Resources where you can find out more:

• Great Blue Heron bio at weaselhead.org
• Great Blue Heron profile at CLO including sound sample
• Great Blue Heron profile at the USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
• We saw many herons at Bosque del Apache NWR, a famous national wildlife refuge in New Mexico

(click image for larger photo)	On our first visit to the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge (see our Bosque del Apache page), one of the first things we saw once we got out walking along the main loop were some Great Blue Herons. This one cruised in like some kind of stealth bomber and landed on the far bank of a water way, where it stood for a photo op. Of course we had seen Great Blue Herons many times before, but I don't think we ever had one fly so close by. It was quite impressive. EXIF 2.2 photo info:   320 x 614 true color Exposure time: 1/1633.90 F-stop: 7.4 ISO speed: 400 Focal length: 71.2000 (plus 1.5X teleconverter) Exposure mode: Auto White balance: Auto Exposure bias: 0.0000 Metering mode: Center Weighted Exposure program: Normal Gain control: Low gain up Contrast: Normal Saturation: Normal Sharpness: Normal Camera make: NIKON Camera model: E5700 Larger photo info:   640 x 1228 true color 338KB
	Here we have the above Great Blue Heron posing for a few shots from the admiring public. EXIF 2.2 photo info:   320 x 507 true color Exposure time: 1/1179.20 F-stop: 7.4 ISO speed: 400 Focal length: 71.2000 (plus 1.5X teleconverter) Exposure mode: Auto White balance: Auto Exposure bias: 0.0000 Metering mode: Center Weighted Exposure program: Normal Gain control: Low gain up Contrast: Normal Saturation: Normal Sharpness: Normal Camera make: NIKON Camera model: E5700
(click image for larger photo)	On our way out on November 16, 2002 to view the evening return of Sandhill Cranes, we spotted this heron posing for us (and 20 other people with all their complicated camera equipment) right by the exit of Bosque del Apache. This Heron seem rather unconcerned at the whir of the cameras, and the hushed sounds of awe. The lowering sun resulted in some spectacular, saturated color and reflections in the water. We had seen some earlier in the day, feeding in the ditches and edges of the water, but they were farther away and more skittish. In one day, we had seen more kinds of birds than we had seen anywhere else. We were at Bosque to see Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese, but had no complaints about seeing herons too. EXIF 2.2 photo info:   320 x 614 true color Exposure time: 1/1633.90 F-stop: 7.4 ISO speed: 400 Focal length: 71.2000 (plus 1.5X teleconverter) Exposure mode: Auto White balance: Auto Exposure bias: 0.0000 Metering mode: Center Weighted Exposure program: Normal Gain control: Low gain up Contrast: Normal Saturation: Normal Sharpness: Normal Camera make: NIKON Camera model: E5700 Larger photo info:   640 x 1228 true color 338KB
(click image for larger photo)	Here is the same bird again, more from the side -- staring us down, not about to budge from that log. EXIF 2.2 photo info:   320 x 428 true color Exposure time: 1/1466.20 F-stop: 7.4 ISO speed: 400 Focal length: 71.2000 (plus 1.5X teleconverter) Exposure mode: Auto White balance: Auto Exposure bias: 0.0000 Metering mode: Center Weighted Exposure program: Normal Gain control: Low gain up Contrast: Normal Saturation: Normal Sharpness: Normal Camera make: NIKON Camera model: E5700 Larger photo info:   640 x 857 true color 296KB
(click image for larger photo)	Same bird, slightly different angle and a bit more ruffled in the breeze. Notice how it's standing on one leg, the other leg tucked up in its feathers. EXIF 2.2 photo info:   320 x 656 true color ISO speed: 400 Focal length: 71.2000 (plus 1.5X teleconverter) Exposure mode: Auto White balance: Auto Exposure bias: 0.0000 Metering mode: Center Weighted Exposure program: Normal Gain control: Low gain up Contrast: Normal Saturation: Normal Sharpness: Normal Camera make: NIKON Camera model: E5700 Larger photo info:   640 x 1312 true color 155KB

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Unless stated otherwise, all photos and other content on these pages is copyright © 2002 - 2004 by Royce Howland.

Please don't steal anything for your own purposes, in particular if you have a plan for making fabulous stacks of cash in so doing. If you would like to use a photo or other content you find here, or just want to contact us about something, please send email to royce@3ge.com.