Great Blue Herons, Courting, Mating, Nesting

These two great blue herons were getting ready for the breeding season. The male would bring in a stick and together they would figure out how to place it. He just kept bringing in stick after stick. Every few trips the male would mate with the female. The evening light and the pastel clouds against the blue sky really made the perfect background for this photograph.

Great Blue Heron

This Great Blue Heron was at the top of the island trying to attract a mate to his well built nest. Watching the breeding behavior was fascinating. He would clack his bill and raise his hear and neck and was trying to hard to appear "attractive" and dominant. You can see the bits of feathers in the air around him from his antics.

Great Blue Heron, Artistic rendition

I took hundreds of photographs of this Great Blue Heron at Wakodahatchee. The lighting and the blue pastel sky near sunset just urged me to process one artistically. I love the way the wind was blowing his feathers and plume.