{"id":20998,"date":"2025-04-02T00:01:24","date_gmt":"2025-04-02T05:01:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/?p=20998"},"modified":"2025-04-01T10:23:30","modified_gmt":"2025-04-01T15:23:30","slug":"great-blue-herons-nestbuilding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/great-blue-herons-nestbuilding\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Blue Herons Nestbuilding"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A pair of Great Blue Herons nestbuilding in a rookery located in the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. I observed this couple for a long time as one of the birds went out looking for sticks while the other took the payload and positioned it strategically in the nest. Not sure how these sticks build a comfortable place to raise their young, so, I looked into it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Come to find out, Great Blue Herons construct their nests from medium to large twigs as you see in this photo, but they line the interior with moss, leaves, grass, and other softer materials. If not damaged by the storms, Herons tend to reuse their nesting grounds for many years and maintain them carefully throughout the breeding season. They are also colonial nesters. This rookery is a testament to that. Truly a sight to see.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250319-aransas-national-wildlife-refuge-0802-edit.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1125\" height=\"1500\" data-attachment-id=\"20997\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/blue-herons-nestbuilding\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250319-aransas-national-wildlife-refuge-0802-edit.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1125,1500\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;8&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Terry B. Kahler&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;ILCE-7RM5&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;Blue Herons Nestbuilding&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1742397871&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;\\u00a9 Terry B. Kahler 2024&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;600&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;800&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.000625&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Blue Herons Nestbuilding&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Blue Herons Nestbuilding\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;Blue Herons Nestbuilding&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Blue Herons Nestbuilding&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250319-aransas-national-wildlife-refuge-0802-edit-563x750.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250319-aransas-national-wildlife-refuge-0802-edit.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250319-aransas-national-wildlife-refuge-0802-edit.jpg\" alt=\"Blue Herons Nestbuilding\" class=\"wp-image-20997\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250319-aransas-national-wildlife-refuge-0802-edit.jpg 1125w, https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250319-aransas-national-wildlife-refuge-0802-edit-563x750.jpg 563w, https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250319-aransas-national-wildlife-refuge-0802-edit-375x500.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1125px) 100vw, 1125px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Blue Herons Nestbuilding<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>This image was taken with my <a href=\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Sony-A7R-V.png\">Sony A7R V<\/a> using a Sony 600mm f\/4 lens I rented from Lens Rentals. The camera was set on Manual mode with the aperture set at f\/8, shutter speed at 1\/1600th of a second, and the ISO set at 800. I used a tripod for stability. This is a single image processed in Lightroom and completed in Photoshop using Topaz AI to reduce the noise and Nik Color Efex 7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can view my Birds of Texas collection by clicking <a href=\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/texas-birds\/\">here<\/a>. Please use the section below to post your comments, questions, or suggestions.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"177\" height=\"49\" data-attachment-id=\"18306\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/2022\/01\/coyote-hunting\/t-kahler-logo-white-no-c-mini-e1490323340853\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/T-Kahler-Logo-White-No-C-Mini-e1490323340853.png\" data-orig-size=\"177,49\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"T Kahler Logo White No C Mini E1490323340853\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/T-Kahler-Logo-White-No-C-Mini-e1490323340853.png\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/T-Kahler-Logo-White-No-C-Mini-e1490323340853.png\" src=\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/T-Kahler-Logo-White-No-C-Mini-e1490323340853.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-18306\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">T. Kahler Photography<br \/>\u00a9 2025 T. Kahler Photography, All Rights Reserved<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A pair of Great Blue Herons nestbuilding in a rookery within the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. Photographed in the spring of 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20997,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","neve_meta_reading_time":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[149],"tags":[603,480,1654,859,1655,1476],"class_list":["post-20998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wildlife","tag-aransas-national-wildlife-refuge","tag-birding","tag-blue-heron","tag-nest","tag-nestbuilding","tag-rookery","post_format-post-format-image"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Great Blue Herons Nestbuilding - T. Kahler Photography<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A pair of Great Blue Herons nestbuilding in a rookery within the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. Photographed in the spring of 2025.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/great-blue-herons-nestbuilding\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"TK\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/great-blue-herons-nestbuilding\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/great-blue-herons-nestbuilding\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"TK\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2f762865012b61aeb324bae72368bf31\"},\"headline\":\"Great Blue Herons Nestbuilding\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-02T05:01:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/great-blue-herons-nestbuilding\/\"},\"wordCount\":255,\"commentCount\":5,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/great-blue-herons-nestbuilding\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250319-aransas-national-wildlife-refuge-0802-edit.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Aransas National Wildlife Refuge\",\"Birding\",\"Blue Heron\",\"Nest\",\"Nestbuilding\",\"Rookery\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Wildlife\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/great-blue-herons-nestbuilding\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/great-blue-herons-nestbuilding\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/great-blue-herons-nestbuilding\/\",\"name\":\"Great Blue Herons Nestbuilding - T. Kahler Photography\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/great-blue-herons-nestbuilding\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/great-blue-herons-nestbuilding\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250319-aransas-national-wildlife-refuge-0802-edit.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-02T05:01:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2f762865012b61aeb324bae72368bf31\"},\"description\":\"A pair of Great Blue Herons nestbuilding in a rookery within the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. Photographed in the spring of 2025.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/great-blue-herons-nestbuilding\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/great-blue-herons-nestbuilding\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/great-blue-herons-nestbuilding\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250319-aransas-national-wildlife-refuge-0802-edit.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250319-aransas-national-wildlife-refuge-0802-edit.jpg\",\"width\":1125,\"height\":1500,\"caption\":\"Blue Herons Nestbuilding\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/great-blue-herons-nestbuilding\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Great Blue Herons Nestbuilding\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"T. Kahler Photography\",\"description\":\"Exploring the world one photograph at a time.\",\"alternateName\":\"Terry Kahler Photography\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2f762865012b61aeb324bae72368bf31\",\"name\":\"TK\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cab8373ed1efd0ecfc3e63a6b6d66bdbad3307bc54ff2e1d7a90298618b95716?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cab8373ed1efd0ecfc3e63a6b6d66bdbad3307bc54ff2e1d7a90298618b95716?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"TK\"},\"description\":\"A photographer with an interest in landscape, black &amp; white, macro, wildflower and bird photography.\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Great Blue Herons Nestbuilding - T. Kahler Photography","description":"A pair of Great Blue Herons nestbuilding in a rookery within the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. Photographed in the spring of 2025.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/great-blue-herons-nestbuilding\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"TK","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/great-blue-herons-nestbuilding\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/great-blue-herons-nestbuilding\/"},"author":{"name":"TK","@id":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2f762865012b61aeb324bae72368bf31"},"headline":"Great Blue Herons Nestbuilding","datePublished":"2025-04-02T05:01:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/great-blue-herons-nestbuilding\/"},"wordCount":255,"commentCount":5,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/great-blue-herons-nestbuilding\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250319-aransas-national-wildlife-refuge-0802-edit.jpg","keywords":["Aransas National Wildlife Refuge","Birding","Blue Heron","Nest","Nestbuilding","Rookery"],"articleSection":["Wildlife"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/great-blue-herons-nestbuilding\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/great-blue-herons-nestbuilding\/","url":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/great-blue-herons-nestbuilding\/","name":"Great Blue Herons Nestbuilding - T. Kahler Photography","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/great-blue-herons-nestbuilding\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/great-blue-herons-nestbuilding\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250319-aransas-national-wildlife-refuge-0802-edit.jpg","datePublished":"2025-04-02T05:01:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2f762865012b61aeb324bae72368bf31"},"description":"A pair of Great Blue Herons nestbuilding in a rookery within the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. Photographed in the spring of 2025.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/great-blue-herons-nestbuilding\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/great-blue-herons-nestbuilding\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/great-blue-herons-nestbuilding\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250319-aransas-national-wildlife-refuge-0802-edit.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250319-aransas-national-wildlife-refuge-0802-edit.jpg","width":1125,"height":1500,"caption":"Blue Herons Nestbuilding"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/great-blue-herons-nestbuilding\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Great Blue Herons Nestbuilding"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/","name":"T. Kahler Photography","description":"Exploring the world one photograph at a time.","alternateName":"Terry Kahler Photography","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2f762865012b61aeb324bae72368bf31","name":"TK","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cab8373ed1efd0ecfc3e63a6b6d66bdbad3307bc54ff2e1d7a90298618b95716?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cab8373ed1efd0ecfc3e63a6b6d66bdbad3307bc54ff2e1d7a90298618b95716?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"TK"},"description":"A photographer with an interest in landscape, black &amp; white, macro, wildflower and bird photography."}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250319-aransas-national-wildlife-refuge-0802-edit.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6prL2-5sG","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20998"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20998\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21001,"href":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20998\/revisions\/21001"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tkahler.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}