This handsome chap visited my pond on sunday afternoon and ate one of my goldfish before his hasty retreat. There is a mewing sound as he flys off which i assume he made (it certainly was'nt me). Has anyone any idea if they do make this vocalisation.

nice video.. the cheeky mare.

when working in fish antics years ago
myself and dimitri went out one morning to
find that we had left the covers off the pond
and a heron/herons had eaten about 1000 euros worth of koi..

we startled him and he flew off bouncing off walls scrambling away
and left a nice trail of white behind him..!

Unless it was a cat in a heron costume they dont make that noise, maybe some cat was stalking him and it got anoyed that it got away. Anyway you ar in a lot of trouble now that he found your pond, he'll be back for more free fresh live food. I know of two ways to dither him from eating your fish either put a pond net over the pond at 10"-12" from the water surface or put four sticks 2foot long at each corner of the pond and put some fishing line between them around the pond one at half way up and one at the top, the herons has to get at the edge of the pond but because he cant see the fishing line that will hit him on the chest and he cant step over he'll give up(i use this metod on my pond since last year when a heron had 3 of my koi, didnt seen him since)

Hi Derek, check out the winning article in the recent competitiion for some inspiration on getting rid of the stealthy robber

thanks for the replies lads
arabu; i put the net on the pond just after doing the vid. as the heron only flew a short way and was perched on a tree nearby and has been back several times since, but the fish are now safe.

mick; dmitri told me that story, he said the heron ..at on your head.

andrew; yeah i read that article, it was very good but i won't be getting a gun just yet.

Derek, I have hushed Herons away from my pond many times, but I have never heard a sound like that, I reckon arabu1973 is right, that there was a cat nearby.

Regarding the stakes and fishing line stopping the heron getting into the pond, that is the method I used successfully for years, it is less unsightly than a net. It will not stop them coming and doing some window shopping.


Daragh

Yep you are right and you have to see them trying to walk to the edge of the pond and not understanding what is in their way that stops them because they cant see the fishing line