Great Blue Heron Fly-By
Great Blue Herons are year-round residents of the Chesapeake Bay region, as long as there is a source of water and food. Once the water freezes, they’ll move around until they find another area that offers their needs.
With the changing of the seasons, it had been a couple months since I’d seen a Great Blue Heron on Cambridge Creek.
That changed recently. Two times on two different days last week, I watched one fly towards and past me from the watermen’s public marina/ramp where it had been hanging out.
A Great Blue Heron doing a fly-by….
Great Blue Heron
When they fly this close, you can hear the ‘whoosh’ of their wings’ strong, graceful stride.
Great Blue Heron
Their wingspan can reach up to 6 1/2 feet wide.
“Gorgeous Wings”
How nice to have a Great Blue Heron stop by the creek for a visit during these cold, January days!
Photos by Donna 
Beautiful photos Donna! Your place must be very close to the water. ❤️😎
Thank you, John! My balcony is at a third floor height and the water is about 20 ft from our building. I think that’s pretty close! 😉 ❤️
Yes it is! You can do lots with a solid set of lenses from that vantage point. ❤️
I never tire of watching the GBH’s. Wonderful captures!
Thank you, Ingrid, me either!
Beautiful photos, Donna! I love the different colors in the wings of a GBH – so much more noticeable in flight. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, Susan! They do have quite a few colors that are seldom seen well! 🙂
Lovely photos. How wonderful it must be to hear them as they fly past you!
Thank you, Belinda! It is!
Wonderful flight shots of this hardy bird. They seem almost prehistoric.
Thank you, Stephen! Seeing them standing in snow really shows their hardiness! 🙂
Great images of the heron in flight, and your “perch” gives us a perspective that we’re seldom able to get in the wild.
Sorry that I’ve gotten behind in your posts, I updated the operating software on my computer and it doesn’t play nicely with either WordPress or my Email system.
Thank you, Jerry! I am loving shooting from this different perspective. Oh no, computer OS updating issuing! Yikes! I go into panic mode when my computer isn’t performing correctly….then I call my son for help. 😊
They are gloomy looking birds at rest but a wonder of elegance in flight.
Perfectly described, Tom!
That’s a handsome GBH, you captured a super sharp photo from above. 🙂
Thank you, HJ! 🙂
Terrific shots, Donna, I love the detail!
Thank you, Eliza!
Great captures. they remind me of pterodactyl dinosaurs.
Thank you, Jane, they do to me too!
Beautiful flight captures Donna! I find when there is a period of a month or more when birds are not present it is because they are nesting. This happened recently with our Rainbow Lorikeets disappearing for a couple of months and then suddenly reappearing. As you saw in a recent post of mine, an adult with a juvenile. Herons are very secretive nesters similar to spoonbills.
Thank you, Ashley! The Great Blue Herons around our Chesapeake Bay/Mid-Atlantic region begin their nesting towards late February and all of March. They primarily nest in rookeries. And you are right, their nests are usually well hidden! 🙂
Beautifully captured shots, from perspectives that most photographers can’t get! The water is a nice background which does not distract the eyes away from the Great Blue Heron.
Thank you, Hien! 🙂
Wonderful sequence!
Thank you Terry!
Wow! They are such awesome creatures. Wonderful captures looking down on them flying. That’s a pretty amazing vantage point you have there.
Thank you, Gunta! I love their feathers on their back, so pretty! 🙂
Nice Donna! Interesting to see them from slightly above! A different perspective!
Thank you, Reed! It’s been a fun perspective this past year!
Beautiful series! These pictures would make a great GIF of GBH flight!
Thank you, Helen! As you know, GBHs give us awesome photo ops! 🙂
Beautiful captures, Donna! I love to hear that whoosh!
Thank you, Ellen, we know it is pretty cool!