Elevated Bog Pond

[dustboy]

Our Great Egret of Regret (distant cousin to the Bluebird of Happiness) has returned, she seems to have our pond on her schedule at 7:00 AM sharp. The goldies have been laying low so I haven’t got a good headcount recently but I fear the big bird nabbed a few.
The horsetail roots and string algae provide a lot of good hiding area, any other suggestions to discourage this admittedly gorgeous bird? If it comes to big ugly nets and wires, I’ll just take my chances.

 

[TheFishGuy]

Our Great Egret of Regret (distant cousin to the Bluebird of Happiness) has returned, she seems to have our pond on her schedule at 7:00 AM sharp. The goldies have been laying low so I haven’t got a good headcount recently but I fear the big bird nabbed a few.
The horsetail roots and string algae provide a lot of good hiding area, any other suggestions to discourage this admittedly gorgeous bird? If it comes to big ugly nets and wires, I’ll just take my chances. View attachment 136775

Cant really offer advice on the egret problem, but I saw this in the recently posted in, read through the thread, and DANG you got yourself a nice pond!

 

[GBBUDD]

The pond is small enough to make a good looking netted cover

 

[Solar guy]

Have you considered one of those motion detector controlled water guns. I hear they work great for Herons.

 

[j.w]

Yep and you can use it year round where you live! The motion detector.

 

[dustboy]

Yep and you can use it year round where you live! The motion detector.

Was wondering if those worked. Really glad I put that spigot behind the pond when I was digging trenches, didn’t know what it was for then but I do now!

This guy did it the hard way, he’s also hilarious.

 

[dustboy]

I’m looking for suggestions to liven up our pond a bit this spring. I would love to have some bigger fish, and my goldies are not growing. I am afraid to add any expensive fish due to our visiting Egret. I have a connection for free Koi but our pond is too small.

Is there any way to encourage the goldies to grow? Or other fish/critters to consider? The larger Shubunkins and Comets at my LPS are quite expensive.

 

[Lisak1]

Goldfish and shubunkins will eventually get 6 or 8 inches long, but they are admittedly slower growing than koi. Maybe just get more of them! (I do think you'll be shopping for fish, judging by the regular visits from old long legs up there!)

 

[dustboy]

Two days ago I picked up 20 starter goldfish from the LPS. Some larger fish would have been nice but they start at about $15 and go up from there. The 2” starter goldies are only $1. I find the Egret pretty entertaining so I don’t mind giving her a snack now and then.

This morning our Egret landed near the pond and began stalking the fish. I watched for a moment to see what would happen and she grabbed what looked like one of my two remaining calico comets. After shooing her away, I found a sort of waxy deposit spread over the surface where she had plunged.

I have heard that Herons will regurgitate a bit of food to chum the surface of the water. I don’t know if Egrets do that so maybe the deposit came from her feathers.

Going to try leaving the waterfall on 24/7 rather than turning it off at night. The ripples may make it more difficult for the bird to see the fish, and if she chums the water it will dissipate too quickly to be effective.

 

[brokensword]

Two days ago I picked up 20 starter goldfish from the LPS. Some larger fish would have been nice but they start at about $15 and go up from there. The 2” starter goldies are only $1. I find the Egret pretty entertaining so I don’t mind giving her a snack now and then.

This morning our Egret landed near the pond and began stalking the fish. I watched for a moment to see what would happen and she grabbed what looked like one of my two remaining calico comets. After shooing her away, I found a sort of waxy deposit spread over the surface where she had plunged.

I have heard that Herons will regurgitate a bit of food to chum the surface of the water. I don’t know if Egrets do that so maybe the deposit came from her feathers.

Going to try leaving the waterfall on 24/7 rather than turning it off at night. The ripples may make it more difficult for the bird to see the fish, and if she chums the water it will dissipate too quickly to be effective.

View attachment 137025

without a net, you're sure to lose all your fish. Once a predatory heron/egret finds your pond, without any opposition, they'll fish it clean and them move on. Search here for net covers and see if it'll work for you.

 

[dustboy]

@brokensword I’m sure you’re right. However I would rather have no fish than a net over the pond. To me it’s just visually too disruptive. I’m going to try one of those sprinklers, if that doesn’t work then que sera sera.

 

[brokensword]

@brokensword I’m sure you’re right. However I would rather have no fish than a net over the pond. To me it’s just visually too disruptive. I’m going to try one of those sprinklers, if that doesn’t work then que sera sera.

An idea that might work for you is this; make the net rigid on a frame and something you only lay over the top when you're not by the pond. You can lift it off when you're around and put it back when you leave.

 

[Gralston]

@brokensword I’m sure you’re right. However I would rather have no fish than a net over the pond. To me it’s just visually too disruptive. I’m going to try one of those sprinklers, if that doesn’t work then que sera sera.

Maybe try a decoy heron!

 

[Jhn]

Maybe try a decoy heron!

Those are a waste of money, work for a very short time period then are ignored. Either a removable net or enough plant cover and hiding spots that you make it as hard as possible for it to fish the pond. The latter suggestion will just slow them down a bit they will still empty the pond of fish though.

 

[dustboy]

I think I might have a leak.

The pond is losing about 1" every 4-5 days, seems too fast to be evaporation in these moderate spring temperatures.

I don't see any significant splash-out or wet spots around the pond. The waterfall only runs 12 hours/day.

How do I find the leak?