This bird was sporting its own icy “charm” in flight.
1/4000, f/7.1, ISO 320, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
This series was taken in warm morning light six days ago at Bear River MBR. The bird was flying loosely with several other herons over one of the canals and I managed to get about a half dozen shots of “him” with the snow covered Promontory Mountains in the lower background.
While herons are fishing in the near-freezing water and even colder air (it had been 10° F. not long before I took these shots) they often collect ice on their pectoral plumes and this bird had a gob of it hanging down from his upper belly. For some reason it reminds me of an icy charm hanging from a charm bracelet. It can be seen best in this shot because of the dark shadow on the wing behind it.
1/5000, f/7.1, ISO 320, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
In the next shot in the burst I almost clipped the tip of his left wing while it was in a vertical position. I didn’t expect this flight posture because this species doesn’t often raise its wings this high in flight. I’m not particularly fond of this composition but it was my best option considering the room I had in the frame and my hesitancy to add canvas to the image.
The flip side of the less than ideal composition is the raised wing position that allows us to see tremendous feather detail on the wing’s ventral surface. The wing is sharp and it seems as if each primary, secondary, axillary and underwing covert feather is well defined. The flared tail only adds to the effect. Notice that in the previous shot taken only 1/10th of a second earlier we can barely see any of the tail.
1/5000, f/7.1, ISO 320, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
Three frames later I got the last shot before the heron began to turn slightly away from me.
As I type this at 4:40 AM it’s looking like we might (“might” is the operative word here) have some nice morning light today for the first time since I took these photos six days ago so I hope to get out in the field. Just because we have light doesn’t mean I’ll find any cooperative birds…
but it’s half the battle.
Ron
Note: I’m now about to publish this post at 5:35 AM and in the last few minutes thick fog has rolled in so I may be stuck at home after all. The curses of bird photography are myriad. And aggravating as hell!
I would do my GBH “Happy Dance,” but my new foster Mama and puppies have finally settled down in the x-pen, so I don’t want to get Mama going again. You’ll just have to imagine it. 😉
🙂
;hopefully I will be up in your area the end of next week and see some big birds! I always love your pics and comments.
Try both Farmington and Bear River if you can. Good luck, Linda. Hope you have some good weather.
Beautiful photos. I am fond of the analogous colors with a few warm highlights on the heron. My usual luck is bad weather weekends and good weather weekdays when I am at work. I think I will hang around home today and try to photograph my mystery bird in the yard.
Good luck with your mystery bird, April. I used to have the same luck with weather when I was teaching.
It is 4.30 our time and I am hoping your fog has lifted. Your images so often clear away the fog in my head.
And this is no exception.
Love that charm, and the details of the plumage are exceptional.
Thank you.
Yup, the fog is mostly gone but it’s too late to go shooting now. So darned frustrating. Thanks, EC.
Smoke again/still here this morning. Which I suspect has similar photographic challenges.
Yes, they’re similar.
Thanks very much for your photos. I always see details that i would never see if you didn’t post your photos. There’s something I’m really drawn to about great blue herons… the languid movement, the beauty of their sedate plumage. They are peaceful. I have some fond memories of seeing a great blue standing so still in the morning mist of the shallow creeks around here. The only thing i wish you could add to your post is a recording of their calls, which makes me think of a raven’s call played at slow speed.
They’re great birds, Nina – no question about it. Occasionally I do include links to the call of the species in the post.
Ron, I love your pictures and feel you on the weather. I’m an amateur photographer and astronomer. I really love astrophotography, but similar to your last few days, for the type of astronomy I prefer, there can be no moon out. This limits the available time to less than half the month, and then on those days there can’t be a cloud in the sky, must be warm enough that you can feel your hands, and can’t have too much humidity in the air. I end up with about 6 days a year that are really “good” for viewing. Anyway, I look at your blog every day and learn almost as often. I appreciate your work and look at you as an inspiration. Thanks for sharing with us, even when you have to go into the archives for content.
David, I guess I shouldn’t complain – your situation sounds much more frustrating than mine. I’d go crazy with only a half dozen days of good shooting per year.
We have thick fog this morning over here on the left coast too.
The great blue heron (GBH) appears to be in breeding plumage, and they are here. Interesting. I had read that breeding plumage is stimulated by amount of light – your country is colder, darker, further north than here, latitude 38. . .
Martha, our herons at Farmington begin spending time on the rookery very early in the year. I guess their early breeding plumage tells them it’s time… 🙂
Herons are are such beautiful birds in flight, looking so effortless as their wings languidly rise and fall as those long legs trail behind. The icy accouterments and underwing feather display add so much interest.
I agree, they’re beautiful even though they’re primitive looking. Thanks, Lyle.
Beautiful photographs as always. If I hadn’t read the posts heading a quick glance could have confused it with our Grey Heron here in the UK
Yes, they do look quite similar. Thanks, David.
Glad you mentioned the ice because that was the first thing I saw and wondered what the heck it was. Great shots. And now at 7:38 am I hope that you have gotten that nice early morning light you were hoping for.
Nope, still socked in, Everett. Not too thick on the ground but I can’t even see the nearby mountains so that doesn’t speak well for light when the sun comes up.
Beautiful bird and love the detail on the ventral side of the wing….. Always interesting to me that though they are called “blue” it looks “grey” to me most of the time… 😉 I wonder if the “charms” are a distraction to them? Hopefully the fog is isolated and clears before the sun is too high and plentiful birds appear! 37 and breezy but clear for the moment here…..
“I wonder if the “charms” are a distraction to them? ”
Judy, sometimes those chunks of ice clinging to their plumes are much larger than this but I’ve never seen a heron bother with trying to remove them or even fidget with them. They’re mostly ignored. On the other hand they may be more reluctant to fly when the ice chunks are large. I know I would be…