The Great Blue Heron is the largest heron in North America, approaching 132 cm (52") tall in height, 126 cm (four feet) in length, with a 213 cm (seven-foot) wingspan and a weight of up to 2.5 kg.

Adults have blue-grey wings and back and a white head with a black cap and a long black plume.
The face is white, with a black streak extending from behind the eye to the back of the head. They have a long neck, streaked with white, rust-brown, and black,
which is generally held in a s-curve while wading, and a short tail. The beak is yellow, long, and and tapers to a point. Legs are long, and greenish-yellow in color.

In flight, the head is held close to and aligned with the body by a downward bend in the long neck. The long legs trail behind. This bird flies with strong deliberate wing beats.

The males and females appear relatively similar, but males have a puffy plume of feathers behind their heads, and tend to be slightly larger than females.

This one was shot using the high speed crop mode available on the D2X.