Great Blue Heron

About the Great Blue Heron

The largest and most familiar heron in North America, the Great Blue Heron is a tall, statuesque wader in soft blue-gray, marked with a black eye-stripe trailing into slender plumes and armed with a long, heavy, dagger-like bill. Standing four feet tall with a wingspan near six, it is an unmistakable presence at the water's edge.

Great Blue Herons hunt with extraordinary patience, wading slowly or standing frozen for long minutes before a lightning stab at a fish, frog, or even a snake or small mammal. In flight they fold that long neck into a tight S and beat their broad wings in slow, deliberate strokes.

In Texas the Great Blue Heron is a year-round resident of nearly any water in the state, from big lakes and rivers to marshes, bays, and roadside ditches.

A note from behind the lens: their size, patience, and tolerance of people make them a superb subject. Get low to the waterline for an eye-level angle, watch for the slow-motion tension before a strike, and use soft light on calm water for a mirror-clean reflection.