Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Wildlife Management Need a good picture of a Great Blue Heron

I'm looking for a good digital picture of a Great Blue Heron on one of your ponds for a piece on nonlethal GBH control on ponds I may be doing for the Pond Boss magazine. I will give you full credit and will pay you $20.00 for it if Bob Lusk is interested in the article and uses the photo.

My nonlethal method of keeping the herons off my ponds are so effective I can no longer get a picture! They've given up on my ponds! It also doesn't help my camera is giving me fits, and when I borrowed my dad's digital and took a pic of a GBH on a nearby high school pond, the quality wasn't very good. My dad's camera isn't that good although he refuses to believe it.

Cecil,

I've got some. I'm at work and using my smart phone, so I can't do much right now. It will probably be tomorrow before I can get them to you. They're yours if you can use them.

Ken

how about an egret? i have some decent pics of them.

Thanks Ken. Looking forward to it.

Thanks Dave but it has to be a GBH as that is what the article is about.

so your saying pic of a dead no good gbh that eats tons of my fish will not work. Sorry I take a mental pic of them through a scope most of the time. Kidding Cecil- sorta of.

Cecil, these are not at my pond, but rather were shot while I was on vacation in South Carolina a few years ago. We regularly go to the Savannah (GA) National Wildlife Refuge - or gator farm, as our kids call it! - to look for gators, but we always see some really cool birds there. You are welcome to them if they can be of any use to you.

Cecil -- PM, with link, sent to a photo album of one of my great blue feathered friends.

Ken

Ken,


Thanks go it! Great pics!

Todd,

Those are great pics but I think I'll go with Kens. Thanks though!

I don't do that anymore Greg. I've found it's not necessary and not as effective as keeping them away 24/7 via my stake and line method vs. shooting, which only works when you're there. On a moonlit night when you're fast asleep, one can be having a field day on your ponds. Besides as you probably know it doesn't take long for one to take its place when you shoot them.

Note: For those of you that wonder, I have had a Federal Permit from the US Fish & Wildlife when I did eliminate them in the past. The feds really frown upon shooting them. If you're caught without a permit you can not only get fined heavily, loose any kind of license or permit privledges you have, but you could even do some jail time.

I look forward to the article Cecil. I have not found a viable option for me. If you don't mind and could share prior to article I would appreciate. I don't like losing my fish since it is what puts food on the table for mey family if you knwo what I mean.

Hey, no sweat, Cecil. Just figured I'd offer those since they were handy.

Will do Greg. Give me a day or so to send you the info and pics. I'm overdue on my lunch break right now.

I was going to start a new thread asking what kind of bird it was (I suspected it was a Blue Heron) and then I seen this one which confirmed my suspensions. These shots were taken over 100 yards away with a 300mm lens plus a 2x multiplier.



Just finished picking something out of the pond.



Great eyesight....caught me moving and took off.

So the 64k question is how do I get rid of this newly found friend? At this point is he is feeding nicely on my newly stocked shiners.

Thanks!

Well . . . I have to admit that I enjoy seeing the herons. I was sitting on the bank semi-camouflaged taking photos of one, watching what he was eating (he caught then spit out what looked to be frogs or salamanders…not as tasty as the bass), I thought he saw me but instead of flying away he glided over and landed about 15 feet from me. He was fishing in the one area that goes deep real quick and where I don't have shallow covers for the fish (but where I plan to anchor a floating one).

I'm looking forward to the upcoming article In PB.

Here he is ready to land by me:

First off he will not wipe out your fish! That said if you want him to find another Golden Coral buffet there are several things you can do that are nonlethal.

1.) One or more staked lines around the pond. (My favorite and works 24/7 for you)
2.) Electric fence
3.) Harass him every time you see him. Or
train a dog to run him off. Or fired shots or bottlerockets his way.
4.) Swan decoy
5.) Scarecrow activated water spray with a motion detector hooked up to a pressure tank.

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&key...sl_9h6g6wyh5j_b

Keep in mind for those that brag about shooting them, it's a federal offense, and if you're caught without a permit you can do a serious fine and some jail time. These are federally protected migratory birds. Only fish farms can get permits to take them out and only once they've exhausted nonlethal methods to keep them away.

Cecil Baird 1, I will be interested in your trip wire set up. Also, in how such a setup affects any other wildlife that hangs around the pond. In my experience, chasing, using decoys,or throwing firecrackers has been futile. However, shooting near the birds,but not hitting them, seems to be somewhat effective. But now I have a problem.. I have a neighbor that hates guns & believes nothing(mammals,insects,etc) should ever be killed. Her place is up on a hill & she watches everything we do on our 75 acre farm. So I get a call from Special Agent so&so from the Federal Wildlife Dept & he wants to talk to me about a dead Heron found on my place that he infers I have killed.I didn't know it was there. Apparently, my neighbor saw the dead bird & called the authorities. I don't know how this is going to turn out, but let it be a warning to other Pondmeisters..read up on what the Migratory Bird Act covers. If you are like me , you will be shocked..du

David, like other things, we can't pick our neighbors.

Best of luck on this deal.

Dave,

I hope that works out for you. I would think as long as they can't prove you did it and she didn't witness you shooting it you are O.K. (As you didn't anyway) Are they doing an autopsy? Animals do just die at some point for God's sake! And herons do have some predators!

Keep in mind I think it's technically illegal to harass them with a gun even if you aren't actually shooting them. So don't volunteer that.

Here are some pics that may help. I really think the stakes and line are very effective 99 percent of the time and they are perfectly legal. In fact several federal publications suggest it. They also frustrate geese, but I did get a morning dove get his wing caught in the mono once. I was able to release him though.





Here I've rigged up more than one line on the belt feeder side of the pier to prevent a heron from taking advantage of the situation where small fry are concentrated.

So, I take it the mallet is to whack them once they're caught in the mono?

Cecil Baird 1, thanks for the pictures. I had the pleasure about 1 hour ago of speaking with Special Agent Cook with the Federal Wildlife Dept. First, he was a very nice guy just doing his job. I was also very cordial, and explained that I did shoot in the general direction of the Herons from time to time and if that bird died as a result of such an act, it was an accident. He said that it is against the law,called it an "attempted take", to shoot at them and it carries a lesser fine. He asked me not to harm any birds on the protected list and he would close the case. I readily agreed. So, I consider myself lucky and a little wiser. du

I think I would of told him I was shooting in the air and had no intent of hitting them. You could of gotten in big trouble.

I have no interest in harming this heron, I just wish he would leave my shiners alone. However, as soon as it fills up, it will limit his access with the steep banks. He had been gone for awhile and showed up this afternoon.....gliding in and doing a touch and go once I clapped my hands

Cecil,

What are the weed masses floating around the shorelines ? We have what looks to be an identical situation so maybe they are the same weeds.

Cecil Baird, Vampire Slayer...