I thought I would come back to this, post some recent pictures, and update on the birds stopping by the pond. This is from a few weeks ago, and I'm sure nobody here is surprised to hear that these photos are already out of date!
Spring time is when we have our biggest leave fall. Leaves and pollen, oh joy. The pond was looking really nasty, so I put some new charcoal in the filter bags and set up the temporary quilt batting. And netted a bunch of leaves out of the pond. The charcoal and quilt batting is to help get the tannins and pollen out of the water.
Following is from google earth aerial over our house, and a shot looking straight up over the pond (as the trees leaf out in the spring).
We have a huge deciduous wild cherry just adjacent to the pond, and a dogwood right beside the pond. With both of those without leaves in the winter time, and the trees being dormant, dry and getting ready for the spring drop, I guess it makes us easy pickings for the water fowl flying over. I've watched the heron several times, they circle the yard, then land on the neighbors roof. From the roof, they sort of glide down under the trees to my lawn. Then they walk up to the pond. I've also watched egrets and kites circling the yard, but they've scared off with me out there. The heron is fairly oblivious of me. In the area, we also have Cooper's hawks, eagles and screech owls. This time of the year, breeding season and our dry season, I see the hawks around the bird baths and the pond quite a bit. Last year, we had a young cooper's hawk trying to catch something in the pond. Could have been fish, or it could as likely have been frogs or lizards. I've watched the hawks many times catching lizards in the yard & garden.
When I first put the netting up, it covered the entire water area of the pond, including up and over the fountain (in the first picture). With the onset of dry season and breeding season, I wanted to get more water areas open for the song birds. I moved the netting off the fountain, so that the fountain and the small part of the pond behind the fountain, as well as the bog and the upflow filter are all open to the song birds. Also, the fencing that I have around the pond has openings big enough for song birds (and frogs, lizards, and snakes) to get through.
The netting over the pond, even with the open areas, keeps a lot of the song birds away. There is no question in my mind that they see the netting and veer off. I've watched some birds hovering around and watching other birds on the fountain, and they just never come in and land. Even when the other birds have left. It is the dragon flies though that I think are suffering from the netting the most. They can't do their fly by scoop and dip routines.
So, some of the nature we are trying to attract and nourish is being hampered by the netting, but ..... and this is a really big but ...... Our fish our safe.
My neighbor come over late this afternoon while I was sitting out beside the pond. He told me that earlier this week, early one morning, he saw two big water birds standing beside the pond watching the fish. He pointed to the grass, near the brown stool in the second photo. Based on his description, I'm thinking it must be my teenager heron. Must have gotten a mate with promises of the golden sushi bar. Poor heron, to be so sadly denied. Well, his description could have actually matched sandhill cranes, but they don't have much interest in fish.
Point of the story? The netting saved our fish, and obviously saved them from any distress, because I can assure you they are still happily going about their finny business. And trying to convince me to feed them as they will turn into minnows with out food. [PS - I blame Sharon, she trained her fish to hand eat, then she showed me, now the two fancies that came home with me are helping to teach the other fish in my pond to hand eat] Oh, and now I have to figure out how to get a bench seat suitable for a gimp and her more gimpy MIL at the waters edge and to be bird safe. I have ideas ......
A few more thoughts on bird protection. I've watched that dang heron climb over my short (12") garden fencing. I've also watched the darn thing make it's way through widely spaced pineapple. But, the areas around the pond that are very very heavily planted, or plants, pots and rocks all intermixed without stepping areas, they will not try to go through. Oh, and wading fishing birds do not fly in from the sky and land in the water. They also don't swoop down and stick their beak in the water for a fish. They stand immobile in the shallows and wait for a fish to get near them. Herons, egrets, anhinga, ibis are all wading birds (found in Florida) that fish from the edge, or walk into the shallows to fish. They land on some solid (or seemingly solid) surface and walk to the water.
I started out with netting laying on the surface of the water. OK, that didn't work at all. Fish got up on top of the net, and Addy and others on this forum tell tales of wildlife getting caught in the netting when it is on the surface of the water. So I stretched the netting taunt at about 12" above the surface of the water. High enough I figured that songbirds, frogs and such could make their way under the net to the water. I used simple inexpensive 2' bamboo stakes to hold the netting. The fencing (12" garden fold up edging) was taken from my vegetable garden and put around the pond.
After watching the birds closely this winter, and reading and researching more on the habits and behaviors of fresh water fishing birds, I think that I will remove the netting from the pond side with the fountain, and replace the fencing all with taller fencing. There is nothing solid for a bird to land on in the pond, and frankly, that side is so small and tucked in tight under the trees I think a tall fence will work just as well as what I've currently got to protect the fish. This will allow the song birds and dragonflies access to the section of the pond they prefer, and the fish prefer the new side so hopefully this plan will work out. I will try it out this summer when the trees are leaved out to provide more protection!
And, if that doesn't work quite as planned, well, I've been noodling over an idea to extend the narrow far end of the fountain side of the pond to make a 'spring run'
Spring time is when we have our biggest leave fall. Leaves and pollen, oh joy. The pond was looking really nasty, so I put some new charcoal in the filter bags and set up the temporary quilt batting. And netted a bunch of leaves out of the pond. The charcoal and quilt batting is to help get the tannins and pollen out of the water.
Following is from google earth aerial over our house, and a shot looking straight up over the pond (as the trees leaf out in the spring).
We have a huge deciduous wild cherry just adjacent to the pond, and a dogwood right beside the pond. With both of those without leaves in the winter time, and the trees being dormant, dry and getting ready for the spring drop, I guess it makes us easy pickings for the water fowl flying over. I've watched the heron several times, they circle the yard, then land on the neighbors roof. From the roof, they sort of glide down under the trees to my lawn. Then they walk up to the pond. I've also watched egrets and kites circling the yard, but they've scared off with me out there. The heron is fairly oblivious of me. In the area, we also have Cooper's hawks, eagles and screech owls. This time of the year, breeding season and our dry season, I see the hawks around the bird baths and the pond quite a bit. Last year, we had a young cooper's hawk trying to catch something in the pond. Could have been fish, or it could as likely have been frogs or lizards. I've watched the hawks many times catching lizards in the yard & garden.
When I first put the netting up, it covered the entire water area of the pond, including up and over the fountain (in the first picture). With the onset of dry season and breeding season, I wanted to get more water areas open for the song birds. I moved the netting off the fountain, so that the fountain and the small part of the pond behind the fountain, as well as the bog and the upflow filter are all open to the song birds. Also, the fencing that I have around the pond has openings big enough for song birds (and frogs, lizards, and snakes) to get through.
The netting over the pond, even with the open areas, keeps a lot of the song birds away. There is no question in my mind that they see the netting and veer off. I've watched some birds hovering around and watching other birds on the fountain, and they just never come in and land. Even when the other birds have left. It is the dragon flies though that I think are suffering from the netting the most. They can't do their fly by scoop and dip routines.
So, some of the nature we are trying to attract and nourish is being hampered by the netting, but ..... and this is a really big but ...... Our fish our safe.
My neighbor come over late this afternoon while I was sitting out beside the pond. He told me that earlier this week, early one morning, he saw two big water birds standing beside the pond watching the fish. He pointed to the grass, near the brown stool in the second photo. Based on his description, I'm thinking it must be my teenager heron. Must have gotten a mate with promises of the golden sushi bar. Poor heron, to be so sadly denied. Well, his description could have actually matched sandhill cranes, but they don't have much interest in fish.
Point of the story? The netting saved our fish, and obviously saved them from any distress, because I can assure you they are still happily going about their finny business. And trying to convince me to feed them as they will turn into minnows with out food. [PS - I blame Sharon, she trained her fish to hand eat, then she showed me, now the two fancies that came home with me are helping to teach the other fish in my pond to hand eat] Oh, and now I have to figure out how to get a bench seat suitable for a gimp and her more gimpy MIL at the waters edge and to be bird safe. I have ideas ......
A few more thoughts on bird protection. I've watched that dang heron climb over my short (12") garden fencing. I've also watched the darn thing make it's way through widely spaced pineapple. But, the areas around the pond that are very very heavily planted, or plants, pots and rocks all intermixed without stepping areas, they will not try to go through. Oh, and wading fishing birds do not fly in from the sky and land in the water. They also don't swoop down and stick their beak in the water for a fish. They stand immobile in the shallows and wait for a fish to get near them. Herons, egrets, anhinga, ibis are all wading birds (found in Florida) that fish from the edge, or walk into the shallows to fish. They land on some solid (or seemingly solid) surface and walk to the water.
I started out with netting laying on the surface of the water. OK, that didn't work at all. Fish got up on top of the net, and Addy and others on this forum tell tales of wildlife getting caught in the netting when it is on the surface of the water. So I stretched the netting taunt at about 12" above the surface of the water. High enough I figured that songbirds, frogs and such could make their way under the net to the water. I used simple inexpensive 2' bamboo stakes to hold the netting. The fencing (12" garden fold up edging) was taken from my vegetable garden and put around the pond.
After watching the birds closely this winter, and reading and researching more on the habits and behaviors of fresh water fishing birds, I think that I will remove the netting from the pond side with the fountain, and replace the fencing all with taller fencing. There is nothing solid for a bird to land on in the pond, and frankly, that side is so small and tucked in tight under the trees I think a tall fence will work just as well as what I've currently got to protect the fish. This will allow the song birds and dragonflies access to the section of the pond they prefer, and the fish prefer the new side so hopefully this plan will work out. I will try it out this summer when the trees are leaved out to provide more protection!
And, if that doesn't work quite as planned, well, I've been noodling over an idea to extend the narrow far end of the fountain side of the pond to make a 'spring run'
