Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Wildlife Management 6 blue herons on my new pond

My new 2 acre pond had visitors this morning. At 9:00 am I quietly walked down to the pond and instead of seeing my 2 kingfishers sitting around I scared up a large blue heron! As I proceeded a little further another and then another flew up. There were 6 full grown blue herons on my shoreline!! As beautiful as they were how detrimental to my newly stocked pondfish are they going to be?? Should I be trying to get rid of them? This is my first spotting of any since we finished digging the pond on Nov. 1st 2014. Of course we have only had fish in there for about 3 weeks now. Why 6 at a time? As much as I have fished Lake Sam Rayburn I very rarely ever saw 6 at a time and within 100 ft of each other. Any advise would greatly be appreciated. Kind of freaked out about this many at one time.

That is very strange. I thought GBH were very protective of their fishing grounds.

If yer nice you'll get some bottle rockets. If yer not I pity the GBH population. Not really, I dislike those end Cormorants VERY much.

As much as I "get rid" of them, they keep coming back. I only have a 1/4 pond, but I see them from time to time. There's plenty of other water for them to find instead of mine. Couldn't tell you the actual damage that they cause, but I don't want them. Same thing with the snapping turtles.

If I remember correctly they're federally protected, without obtaining a permit to remove them.

I've had 2 on my 2 acre pond before but normally just one at a time, I think for the reason RAH mentioned.

It took daily trips to shoo them away, in which they would normally leave just by showing up. But I too have used bottle rockets for the stubborn ones.

I can't tell you how many fish they injured or killed, but I know one is too many! And just finding one fish with a stab wound is enough to get the blood boiling!

GBH are federally protected - u are correct. Ponds with gradual slopes are most vulnerable - 4:1, 5:1, etc. One of the reasons I promote steep and deep fast is that it limits wading hunting birds' ability to wade far from shoreline, makes hunting harder in deeper water, and reduces their overall hunting "area" to just first couple feet of shoreline. Cecil, Condello and others advocate rebar strung with wire around the water's edge which supposedly the Herons are unable/unwilling to step over to reach the water. Supposedly they do not like to land in water, only the shore, so this effectively discourages them from utilizing a pond protected in this way as a forage source. They are routinely on my hatchery ponds and main pond as well, and are very wary. They can spot me hundreds of yards away, and will take flight before I can get close to discourage them, but they always return. They fly high and survey the property before choosing a pond to target. If they see me on the dock feeding fish, they'll take a sharp turn and head elsewhere. For such a large bird, they are very stealthy.

I'd try the rebar/wire around your water's edge and see if it helps. Maybe Bruce or Cecil will chime in with their direction/experience. Even if you get a predation permit from the state, these are very wary birds, and unless you live on site opportunities to target them would be few and far between in my experience unless you have a 12 ga strapped to your back at all times.

I should add, I have several SMB from my recruitment/grow out pond annually with stab scars on them. No clue how many the GBH end up getting, but it's a disturbing thought. I'm going to string the rebar this year around the SMB pond and see how it works. I'll post the efficacy of the strategy - I should be able to determine fairly quickly as I can see fresh tracks in the silt in shallow water very easily. Hopefully I'll have a promising report.

I do live on the property. The pond is only about 200 ft from my back porch and down the hill.Will these birds go north in the spring and summer? I was thinking I have seen these birds in east Texas year round.

that they are....
one time i was a long ways away from one at my pond
and the bird was aware I was there
i had my rifle with scope..
knew they were protected
but wanted to get a better view thru scope
the bird was fine until I raised that gun up
to look thru the scope....as soon as I started
looking thru the scope he was up and flying away
I guess they are that "aware"...I was like "wow"

They migrate, however I'm sure plenty remain to create a resident population in southern climes, like yours. Fortunately we get a break, then again, I'd like to see one try to hunt through the ice.

Yeah Zep...it's like they have a sixth sense.

They and cormorants are very wary birds! I tried to pull a sneak up on the cormorants through the woods.... I can sneak up on deer and pigs... But cormorants and GBH they are sharp eyed ... I would think right now the little CNBG would be in too deep of water for the GBH to get to, nothing is safe from cormorants due to their diving ability.... I will keep trying to "get close " to the cormorants

Any ideas?

Pat

TJ,

I've seen Cecil say many times that the GBH won't land in water so the fishing line technique. I noticed an egret this past weekend land in the water about a yard from the shoreline in about 6 inches of water... Have you or anyone else ever noticed this in egrets?

Wow I don't know, I have never seen 6 on a pond either. I would be concerned. I have one or two max and not everyday.
I agree on sharp eyes on GPH and cormorants.

How long do the cormorants stay down south - do they migrate?

You might have seen more like that because of a change in the weather. They may have been recently pushed of their normal feeding areas. Another thought is that they may be looking to mate up, tis the season?

They stay in the Louisiana marshes and canals around New Orleans year round

This one was fearless, if not even mocking me! Actually I think it was laughing at me, knowing I was completely helpless in my boat. I got several stills and video as well. He was in no hurry to leave!

Just standing there flashing me, and taunting me!



And to know it did this to one of my LMB was just chapping my a$$!

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