Great Blue Heron at Lake Greenwood, SC
We vacationed recently along Lake Greenwood, South Carolina, where I got several opportunities to photograph birds local there during April. (Got some newbies for my bird list!)
During the past few months at home in Maryland, I haven’t seen any Great Blue Herons along our water’s edge (not the norm), basically due to the chaos of the bulkhead getting rebuilt. I’ve spotted them in different inlets along the roads, but that’s no fun when you can’t sit and enjoy them for a while. If you sit and watch one, you’ll learn what patience is all about.
While at Lake Greenwood, I spotted many Great Blue Herons flying about here and there, sometimes landing down by the local docks. I took many photos from a distance while they flew around or fished/rested by the lake, just okay shots…..and finally was at the right place right time for closer and crisper ones.
One of my favorites, the beautiful Great Blue Heron stands about 4 feet tall, with a wingspan up to 6 feet wide. Yet the adult weighs only about 5 lbs. because their bones are hollow. That surely helps to get their body up and in flight!
Great Blue Heron
The Great Blue Heron at Lake Greenwood certainly made up for my missing them at home! 🙂
Magnificent birds.
I agree!
Wow! Really nice captures of this cool bird Donna!
Cool and patient, that’s for sure!
You just take the best shots!!! Love the heron picture and what you said about patience. They move so slow not to blow their cover when hunting. Wish you were able to stop by Lake Murray as Lake Greenwood isn’t too far. We would have loved to take you for a tour on our boat and you could have taken pictures of our osprey pair(Angelo/Angie) and many others on the lake. Hope you enjoyed SC.
Linda, glad to hear from you, my site doesn’t tell me this is you, don’t know why! It was when I read Lake Murray comment and figured you out. 🙂 Email your email address to me donna@parkwayfloors.com, I can’t find yours and wanted to email you. We’re gonna be visiting Lake Greenwood more, and I realized Lake Murray was very close & remembered you lived there. Would be awesome to meet you and your family and photograph Angelo & Angie! 🙂
All are very nice Donna … but I especially like the very first shot. Great golden light, tack sharp, and a nice, simple composition with the heron in the right third of the frame and its head in profile looking toward the open area toward the left part of the frame.
Thank you very much Steve, I always appreciate your professional expertise! 🙂
Super photos!
Thanks Terry!
Very nice captures Donna! 🙂
Thanks HJ! 🙂
Beautiful captures, Donna! Great Blues are always a thrill…so incomprehensibly graceful.
Thanks Lisa, they really are. I think they are probably the bird that taught me a lot about patience more than any other too. 🙂 Now if only I could be a little more graceful, lol.
Great flight photos. If we lived closer I’d have you give me lessons!
Thanks Kathy, it’s just practice practice practice and right place right time for me. 🙂 You’re photos have been fantastic and wonderful too!
Gorgeous. Herons are among my favourite birds.
Thank you Tom, mine too, I enjoy when you share one of yours.
Speaking of patience, yours paid off in getting excellent photos of the herons!
I don’t have to tell you how many I had to toss trying to get some decent ones, lol. Patience and nature are wonderful, I know you agree Jerry! 🙂 Hope you’re so far having an awesome time on vacay!
I didn’t realise how big herons were, he is just magnificent! Loved the photos of him in flight 🙂 x