Allow me to introduce you to Mr Persistent Heron, Mr I-know-there-are-fish-down-here-somewhere Heron, Mr pain-in-the-backside Heron. Who, if nothing else, is providing me with distraction this past few days and keeping the weepies away.He is beautiful close to, huge close to, and if it weren't for the fact he seems to have eyes in the back, front and sides of his head then I could get a closer picture of him, for he is usually no more than three metres away from the conservatory. Yesterday I looked out of the window and found him in the pond, not only do I fear for the fish, but as one dear friend pointed out, they can pierce the liner with that beak.
Anyway, I hastily threw some netting back over the pond and will have to look to securing it properly this weekend, with the Arctic blasts heading our way here in the East of England. But this morning, there he was again, now taken to try and hide in a spiky tall grass, and then when that failed he came back and sat blatantly on one of the slates edging the pond, for all the world as if he had every right to be there. I just feel so sorry for the poor little fish, cowering away at the very bottom of the pond, hidden (hopefully) amongst the oxygenating plants, no doubt cuddling up to the frogs for comfort.
But how to get rid of him permanently seems beyond me, Mr I'll-be-back-later Heron.
7 comments:
I know this bird well. He's always round my way, standing on my neighbours roof, looking down, just in aces...
Oops!I meant 'Just in case.'
I was told that herons like to wade into the water so that if you are able to stretch a wire around the circumference of the pond about a foot high that stops them. We tried this and it seemed to work.
Also in our pond the fish have a shelter where the heron can't reach. We designed a decking path that laps over one end of the pond where the fish can hide.
This fellow has a huge territory, as he is often to be found at the edge of my ponds. The poor Great Dane is at his wit's end - keeps on stocking the ponds and the heron keeps on fishing.
We had many visits from the heron when we lived on Bodmin Moor. They seemed to be paticularly attracted to ponds holding Koi carp (a bigger lunch box I guess).
One morning my father noticed an EXTRA fish in his pond (a trout)...and could only come up with the theory that a heron must have dropped it in there!!).
I love to see herons on the riverbanks...they look so majestic and non-indigenous some how....perhaps because we are on the whole used to smaller birds in the UK.
We have a heron's nest downstream. They wade up our river and fly past the cottage, I do love them.
I can understand your pond worries though, I have heard that wire over it may work.
We have several herons locally to be seen standing 'frogging' or fishing or, perhaps more likely, 'crabbing' at the edges of the loch. I love watching them fly, so prehistoric looking, rather like pteradactyls (sp?!!)
I had heard - because they are incredibly terratorial that if you stand a plasic one at the side of the pond, another one won't come down at the same time. No idea if it works though!
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