Predatory Birds in the garden

Wonderful photos Honeysuckle! Don't herons look funny perched in a tree? We've had our fish taken too (all three of them!) I did read somewhere that a string round the edge of the pond at the critical distance where they can't stride over or duck under can be effective so maybe you could try experimenting with the height and distance from the edge with the one you've tried? I couldn't remember the details but Googled "String pond herons" and found this#www.watergardensolutions.co.uk/.../05/.../how-to-protect-your-pondfish-from-herons...
and several others though you may well have tried them all...

The wildlife in your garden sounds amazing. That kingfisher was certainly worth getting up for!

Terrific captures Honeysuckle - and fascinating blog. Hope all the deterrents work against the heron (but he is handsome, though!).

Thanks Stera, the link didn't seem to work, but got there in the end and googled your 'string pond herons' too and ended up spending ages reading loads of ideas and wails from people who had lost fish. Sad, but as they say, they all need to eat! Preferably not my fish, we lost one huge one over a year ago which got speared, too big to carry and left on the grass. Too late for the fish and not food for the Heron, what a waste!
More strings will have to go over the back as OH cleared out a massive (three barrow loads) Flag Iris from the corner where it had taken over, so clear water there, though really deep.
The Kingfisher was a real surprise, goodness knows why he came to us, I thought they only liked flowing water.

Thanks for your hopes of the deterrents working Sheila, it's just a shame that we all have to go to such unsightly extremes just to keep some fish. We are in the Fens and the area now has lots of Little Egrets, but I think they are waders so perhaps not too much of a problem - hopefully!
I agree the Herons are a splendid bird, called Harnsers in Norfolk, and to see one flying makes them look prehistoric - preferably flying away of course.

Wow! You have a brilliant amount of wildlife! Imagine having a Kingfisher visiting! That Heron is unusually bold..they fly away as soon as they see us here. And of course the Sparrowhawk is a beautiful bird of prey. I did see a Kestrel one day earlier in the year, but not been back to my knowledge. You have a lovely big pomd for visitors of all kinds. :)

I hope those big birds didn't do any damage ... (sorry I was not able to look at the whole blog lol)
The only birds of prey I've seen here are Red Kites and Buzzards. We get lots of Red Kites around here but they never land, just circle around looking for their dinner in the fields.

You got some wonderful photoes. In my last garden, I had a big pond and so like you a heron problem, over the years we ended up putting more and more fishing line across the pond and more planting in the pond in an atempt to keep the fish safe. Near the pond I had a greenhouse that had a water butt. The lid had been blown off in a storm. As I was putting the lid back on I found one of our fish in it, still aliive swimming around. Think the heron must have dropped it and luckily for the fish it landed In water. Love the photos of the King fisher. Here I have only seen the Buzzard flying high but worry about our cat when I see it.

I wish this Heron was a bit more wary Karen. That's why we originally thought it was a young one, because it seemed less wary but that was last year! If you go out and scare it away it retreats to the hedge about 30ft away, more jumping up and down like a lunatic by me and it shifts again to the very top wavy branches of a tall pine tree in the other direction. There it stands waving about on really thin branches and watches while I stand and watch that! It looks ridiculous, such a large bird on such thin branches, like seeing an elephant wandering about on the roof! It doesn't have the long feathers which stick out of the back of the head like an adult, but this was about last year I would have thought it would be classed as an adult this year.

Thank you so much Hywel for your comments, I always make sure that it's obvious there are pictures of birds when I write the title, so I appreciate you reading it.
We do have Buzzards about here, but further away, you can sometimes see them high in the sky in the distance, but not over us. Majestic birds, we once had a young one sitting on our fence post outside the kitchen window when we lived in Cornwall. Surprising, like seeing a Vulture at your back door!

Amazing luck Jen that your fish landed in the water butt! The only thing I find in ours are the occasional sad little shrew or mouse which presumably was trying to get water. They were in the butt at the end of the house which is covered in Virginia creeper, so perhaps they were climbing that to get in my loft (where we get mice!) and fell in. We have chickens which roam freely during the day on the field and often think they half grown ones are a decent meal for a Buzzard or even the Sparrowhawk! But since the visits from the Fox all the chickens seem to have re-gained their primal fear of predators and shoot for cover. The ex-battery hens we used to have never seemed to have that fear and we have seen them standing watching the Fox on the field while it picked off our chickens - always the fat ones of course!

It is so sad the life battery hens used to have that it not wonder they had no clue about the fox. Funny, not seen any foxes since moved here but used to see them all the time in Kent. Know we have shrews as Star, my cat has presented them as presents :-(, along with quite a few mice. One of my friends here, lives just over a mile away lost all her ducks to Mink. Got a lot around here as they used to farm them and an animal rights group let them all go one night I've been told.

Brilliant photos ! but nature can be so cruel ...

It was very sad Jen when we bought the ex-battery hens, they hadn't a clue about anything. I bought them at auction and what a sorry bunch, moulting, some with clipped beaks (to stop them pecking each other in the cages) and the car STUNK to high heaven when I got home! They are fed on so much chemical food that they just reek. It took them three days to move more than two feet from the corner of the pen and over a fortnight to find out they had the freedom of the field. They were so used to an enclosed space it was as if there was still an invisible fence round them. After they had moulted out and discovered grass, worms and good food they had a lovely life - until the fox struck!
Animal rights have a lot to answer for with the Mink and as for the good people who have re-introduced Otters they don't think about the amount of damage they can do. I had a friend who lost all their massive Koi to the Otters and they are protected so nothing you can do except try to keep them out.
You are so right Kidsgran nature can be cruel, we should spare a thought for the little fish the Kingfisher eats I suppose, but when it's a Magpie clearing out a Tits nest somehow it seems worse!

It's hard to watch nature being nature... One creature feeds the next all the way up the food chain... but those sweet little sparrows~ uh huh. :-(
I hope your fish are holding up with both Herons and kingfishers after them. After having made herself hoarse at yelling, and almost lame after jumping around waving a tea towel, my niece went and bought (at some expense) a life sized, jointed, and perfectly painted fake alligator to swim in her pond and protect her Koi and goldfishes. It fooled the herons who had arrived in strength..(4) and were perched on her garage roof, acting like the toughs on the corner! When they determined that a predator was present they let discretion be the better part of valour! Isn't it nice when you can make the foodchain work in your favour? ;-)

The kingfisher must have thought himself quite camouflaged by the perfect match of your bridge rails and his beautiful feathers! Great blue! or is that a Heron?

Life, by our standards, is hard for all creatures..but nature works and without human interference, keeps on working.
As usual, some great photos. Wouldn't miss one of your blogs, Honeysuckle.

You can at lease take comfort they you gave those chicken a better and probably longer life then they would have done. I just will never understand people who put profit before animal welfare. I had a friend down in Kent who was a foster home for an animal rescue centre. She had a breeding dog from a puppy farm. The poor thing didn't know how to go for a walk. She became a very loving dog and they ended up adopting her. As you say, do gooders don't always think long term.

Hi Lori, The Kingfisher is a glorious blue which is what made me notice him in the first place and as you say he does look nicely camouflaged on the bridge rail. Not sure how many little fish there are in the pond, several huge ones several times bigger than him!
The alligator sounds like a fun thing to have in the pond anyway, but would our Heron's here in England recognise him as a predator to them, or just as a log to stand on to get nearer the fish?
I know we mustn't try to interfere with natures rhythm, they only kill for food, not like us, so one creature deceased means another lives, but it's difficult to avoid saving a small bird from a larger one if you can help it.
Thanks for your comments always look forward to hearing how you are getting on. I really envy you flowing stream, we get stagnant ditches here - Oh! for a stream to plant with Primulas and Marsh Marigolds!

You are of course right Jen, the battery chickens grew to be happy hens and served us well with eggs. To watch them learn to scrap in the ground and cluck happily I hope made up for their nasty early life.
Many decades ago my Mother bought a Daschund from a woman who turned out to be a breeder. Della (the dog) was bred too young and never regained her figure and HATED men wearing jeans and would bite if they got too close. The breeder had four Sons and we think they probably kicked the dogs out of the way, Della was fine with a man in trousers!

Think you right about the jeans and it meant that only well dressed men came to visit your mother :-)

Nature (taking human actions and thoughts out of he equation) is neither cruel or kind. Putting it another way, nature is simply indifferent. One of my dogs is a rescue from a puppy mill and was wearing the Black Death tag when I got her. Two years old never out of the cage her foot pads were pink and also didn't know how to walk. I could go on with the ptsd and flashbacks she still suffers from. But, this angel now rests on her favorite couch on top of three fluffy soft pillows instead of the wire cage floor. Looking at her reminds me of the story of the Princess and the Pea. She hates leaving the house I think that she fears that she will wind up back at that place of horror.

You're right Jen! Back in the day, too long ago to mention, all men wore trousers, only youngsters wore jeans!

It's sad isn't it Loosestrife how people can take out frustrations on something smaller. Our other Dachshund Brandy was a little boy and the children up the road used to lift him off his little feet with a foot under the belly - just where all his little bits were! So he to say the least was not fond of them! Sounds as if your little princess has found her castle and the pampering she deserves.

Loosestrife you story is very moving. You were her knight in shining armour. Its nice to hear a sad story that has a happy ending.

Enjoyed reading your blog & seeing your excellent pics.
The predators that I see are gone before I even get the camera out.
It's true that all need to feed but not true that they only take what they need. I've had a magpie nip off the heads of 10 young ducks in their pen leaving the bodies strewn about & an otter completely clear out an overstocked large natural pond again biting off the heads & leaving the bodies lying on the bank all in one morning.
A fox will do the same, playing havoc in a hen house.
I also remember the coypu problem of old as well as mink. I've only seen the flash of the kingfisher, of all the predators this didn't seem to cause a problem though.

Our herons and whooping cranes winter in the south eastern United States, Honeysuckle. Florida and the gulf states have alligators. I imagine that your heron may have wintered in the Mediterranean or East Africa.. Do you see storks?
The Whooping Crane has recovered from near extinction back in the 60's and 70's to return in numbers now... they migrate great distances and the Great Blue Heron used to be rarely seen...but now they are common, even in my little pond and stream. They look like 747's, they're so huge.
Each time I've seen one my camera was not at hand and running for the camera would send them off... one day I'll be lucky.

Oh My! Cranes the size of 747's & alligators ..... makes our predators seem quite tame.

I agree about the Magpies being quite predatory on young birds Green Fingers. I didn't realise that they would kill and leave them though. A few years back I counted 15 on our bonfire heap at the top of the meadow, I had never seen that many together in one place before. I think we may have had a nest in one of the tall trees, looked like their shape though I didn't see them coming and going, too much foliage! We have had lots of visits from the Fox but he has either stashed the poor hens under bushes or taken them away, even when he dug in and raided the hen house. I also am old enough to remember the Coypus being loose in the countryside, there was one in a tiny little village pond next door to where we lived. Otters can be a menace, please don't let them introduce them round here!

Thanks Lori, I never thought about them migrating, always think of them as being native and staying here. I've never seen a Stork, but as they are in Holland and the Low Countries and with warmer weather perhaps they will be the next thing that gets a bit further North!
Whooping Cranes must be a sight to see and I don't need the Great Blue Heron here either.
'Our' Heron was back yesterday evening, one adult and one young one perched precariously on the fencing at the front of the pond. OH decided that the back of the pond needed stringing as it was open now that he had removed a six foot square batch of Flag Iris, but the front was already strung and would be OK. Of course this morning at 6.30 am the Heron was back and in the front! After OH had gone to work I was out with more string so it's like a large lattice now. Just have to find a net and retrieve the ball of twine that fell in the pond after my aim across the pond wasn't so good!

I hope your string lattice deters the herons, they can be very persistent once they find a source of food.
The property I lived in was bordered by a small river & that is where the otter came from, they have a keen sense of smell so would have scented the fish. They keep to the waterways so unless you have a river close by you should be ok.
Over the last 30 yrs magpie numbers have tripled, we don't have the gamekeepers that used to control numbers anymore. Left to breed unchecked they will form a hunting party & strip hedgerows of all eggs & small birds.