Just saw the closed thread and I have some useful info for both JC and (maybe Bob W). I’ve worked on our local Garden Tour for several years and herons and ponds are a constant issue in puget sound. People have had 100% success with putting a heron sculpture next to their pond and not getting any more real visitors. Herons REALLY like to fish alone. JC I will guarantee this will work for you. Bob I’m not so sure in a larger setting (or how large your setting is) but you might give it a try. Maybe several sculptures that members move around frequently…it may not stop it but I bet it would really cut down the losses.
We thought it was a good idea too. We bought a heron decoy from a hunting catalog and it really is very nice. The first live heron thought it was nice too, and stood staring at it. We moved it around, the heron returned. I think it was in love.
We put it next to the pond and the fish hid out and wouldn’t come into the open until after dark. (They didn’t come out for several days after we moved it.)
We still have it, but in the garden away from the fish. The bird netting works for us, and has the extra benefit of keeping the fish from jumping out of the pond when they chase hatching midges.
It was a good idea 'tho. 
LadyFisher, Publisher of
FAOL
Hi,
There was a small flock of Blue Heron that would nest each summer near my parents cottage in Nova Scotia; maybe 25 birds at it’s largest? The size of the flock kept increasing each year, and they seemed to fish together. Some bald eagles moved into the area, and started feeding on the herons. A bit ironic really. Anyway, this observation of herons appearing to like company would only apply to when they are nesting though. Nesting behaviour can be quite different from other times of the year, so a “scare heron” might be worth a try. Then again, if you currently get multiple birds visiting the pond, it’s unlikely that a single model will make a difference.
- Jeff
Trust me, there is no month that they do not visit. After walking around a bit they leave.
I just read the locked thread and at the risk of being called dumber than usual, might i suggest to the pond owner the use of dogs . If the majority of losses occur in the shallow water at the pond edges a well trained dog or two could help immensely. My lazy untrained mutts run herons and ducks off regularly. Who knows how well they’d work if trained. Making the pond edges too deep for the long legged birds to stand in works also. Just my .02 Rich
LF, …
… The first live heron thought it was nice too, and stood staring at it. We moved it around, the heron returned. I think it was in love …
Made my day, … Just busting a gut here imagining a love struck Heron strutting around a decoy 
Christopher Chin, Jonquiere Quebec
[url=http://flyanglersonline.com/travel/quebec06fishin/:26373]2006 FishIn Ste-Marguerite River[/url:26373]
[url=http://pages.videotron.com/fcch/:26373]Fishing the Ste-Marguerite[/url:26373]
It really was neat. I can see the fake heron from the window here in the office. As I mentioned we moved it around. I was looking out the window and it appeared JC had moved it again when I didn’t know it. ‘Appeared’, since as I was watching, it walked across the yard. Opps…
LadyFisher, Publisher of
FAOL
Imagining a heron in love with a statue reminds me of the one Fall where a moose was in love with a cow. They were separated by a fence, but the bull moose lingered around for over 9 weeks.
I love sweetheart stories.
And, Bob, the answer is no: nothing you could state would make you appear that way. <WEG>
I can’t make the link in your profile work? The lineage thing. Also, are both of you coming to the Fish In this fall in Idaho?
And fcch, watching one of those ‘big eyed-pointybeaked-scrawnylegged-fishvacuums’ strutting around my ponds is not a lot of fun. Tends to raise my blood-pressure some.
And to Paul, thanks, really. I had heard that too. That they were very territorial and would not come in if one was here. I even have a thing that looks like a small life sized brown bear! Furry and all. Does nothing. Without the net they would get them fast.
JC–
I was in the process of redoing my webpages because they were getting old, and I was playing around with the server one weekend, decided to just format it out, clean up, start over. You get the idea. The next day, when I was going to redo the pages, the sun came out, boy started playing with the bench, I got distracted and— What’s more fun? Tying flies with sons or working html? <BG> I’ll get around to it this month or next.
Anyway, to make a long post longer, we really wish we could do the Sept Fish-In, but it’s too far away for a day trip, and taking time off is really awkward in Sept. The university is starting the Fall Semester, and there are too many things that go wrong to take vacations. No one working then is scheduled for vacations, training, colds, flu, sick relatives, operations, or broken cars. Sons, too, are starting school. However, we are planning a neighborhood fishing trip 2nd or 3rd week of July. We just haven’t decided whether to drive northeast or north. <G> But we’ll let you know.
I have seen several great blue herons fishing in close proximity (within feet of each other) in tidepools in the salt. I have seen multiple herons of different species fishing around one pond or one pool on a river.
Only thing I know about blue herons is they have some great feathers for spey hackles.
Beautiful feathers - but illegal, and that is not a sick bird.
LadyFisher, Publisher of
FAOL
Illegal to even have in your possession.
Someone mention eagles killing herons. We witness a heron murder by a bald eagle a few years ago. When the dirty deed was done we scared the eagle away to take a look at the feathers. Yep, very nice feathers for spey hackle. Those feathers blew around that bar on the river for days. Sad to watch all that nice spey hackle go to waste.
[This message has been edited by Kerry Stratton (edited 18 May 2006).]
If you like watching love struck animals and decoys try turkey hunting. Occasionally the male “Tom” will be so “turned on”, there is probably a more scientific term, that he will try to mount the decoy, imagine the surprise when the decoy falls off the stake!
Drew
Along the “bay front” along Hwy 37, where we pass daily, the white ones (Egrets?) will feed in flocks along the marsh.
One evening recently they were ALMOST all facing quartering the breeze AND into the sun, sorta like a military formation, while feeding.
…lee s.
Last year while canoing we got close enough to a herron that on take off we could feel the wind from its wings and hear the woosh from them as it went by.
Seems like a dog would do a nice job scaring them off. Just give it a dog biscuit when it chases one off and after a short time you will NEVER see one again.(but you might want to get some earplugs)
Dennis
There must be some joke about cold turkey in there somewhere.