Friday morning, a Great Blue Heron was standing in the water at the refuge, looking left then right. As the light was near perfect, I started to photograph it. When it decided to take off and fly away, I just kept pressing the shutter.
Great Blue Heron standing in water at Edwin B Forsythe NWR.
Great Blue Heron at start of flight.
Great Blue Heron flying.
Great Blue Heron flying and turning.
Great Blue Heron flying and turning.
Great Blue Heron flying.
Great Blue Heron in classic flying pose.
neihtn 
What I love about this series is the way it shows how truly awkward and then truly graceful these birds can look, from one moment o the next. It’s great the way you caught the water streaming from his feet, but that 3rd photo – so crazy looking, I love it. Also, the wingtip just a hair from the water in the 45th photo, very nice!
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Thank you Lynn! Another adjective for them is “lanky”. These herons are larger and taller than many birds, and sometimes not as graceful. But I like to photograph them. 🙂
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Yes, they’re certainly big guys! 😉 Did I tell you there’s a Great blue heron rookery near me that had 757 nests at last count, in November? Of course they’re not using the nests now, but they’ll be back, and it will be fun to try to see them, at least flying back and forth, The rookery is off limits.
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It must be wonderful to watch these birds .. and even better to be able to photograph them 🙂
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Thank you Julie! This year I went to the refuge many times, and had some good opportunities to photograph these herons.
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Awesome flight series, Hien!
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Thank you Donna!
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So majestic and beautiful.
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Thank you Takami! These herons always fascinate me. 🙂
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It really is a feat that these guys attain lift-off, isn’t it? Great series, Hien.
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Thank you Eliza! They look big but they actually weight only about 5 lbs when fully grown.
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An optical illusion!
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I am so happy that you kept pressing the shutter–what great shots, Hien. What really fascinates me are his feet! That one photo with the tip of his wing almost touching the water–fabulous!
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Isn’t it amazing how the heron knew exactly how much to turn to avoid dipping into the water? Thank you Lois!
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Summertime, we enjoy sitting on our porch evenings watching the occasional heron fly across the valley.
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That must be quite a sight! You are lucky!
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Excellent images of the great blue heron in flight! That’s especially true of the take-off, something that I manage to miss all the time.
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Thank you very much Jerry!
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One of my absolute favorite birds. They almost look prehistoric when they fly. I only learned a few years ago they roost and nest in trees.
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It’s a favorite of mine also. They are bigger than most birds and easier to photograph.
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Great shots 🙂
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Thank you Vicki!
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Amazing series.
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Thank you Rabirius!
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Wonderul captures of the blue heron, Hien. Perfect timing with the quick clicks to capture it’s flight. Great clarity and good timing, sharp skills. Bird take off so fast and a lot of the time it’s either you are in the right place, right time to take the shots or you don’t take one at all. Great work as usual and hope you are having a good end to the year 🙂
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Thank you Mabel! Happy year end for you too!
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