Great Blue Heron, Bosque del Apache NWR, Socorro NM

The Great Blue Heron is not my favorite bird…and not even my favorite bird at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge…but I have always thought that if you want to turn someone on to birding…there is no better way than to give them a good close up view of a GBH in the field! The combination of feather texture, subtle colors, and the not-subtle-at-all yellow eye, make the GBH a knock-out bird. And they are likely to stand still long enough so anyone can get a good look. This specimen was in one of the water channels between the tour loop and the fields and brought us to an abrupt stop. It waited patiently while we got out and took way too many images, and was still there when we drove on. The low morning angle of the light brings out all the detail.

Nikon P900 at 2000mm equivalent field of view. 1/500th @ ISO 100 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom.