Hi Irus and welcome to TP. I will keep it simple
I am far from being an expert but I really got no reason to doubt the authenticty of the picture, based on the facts that.
a) It is not impossible to get close to any animal if it so wishes to let you.
b) The fact it has raised it`s head feathers is again not unusual to most bird`s when it feels threatened.
c)The mention of the clouds around the feathers could easily be an anomalie
( any occurrence or object that is strange, unusual, or unique. )
d) As far as I can make out from pictures of a Herons tongue, it seems quite rigid apart from the end bit. There is also a bit of motion blurr around that area, and I would assume that when the bird was in this agressive pose the tongue would go down flat in the mouth, so imo there is nothing strange about the fact it is hard to make out.
Lastly I would have thought that if anybody had that much time on their hands, they wouldnt spend it doctoring a picture of a bloody Heron just to post it on TP :shrug: