Herons - Advice please! (1 Viewer)

[PelicanCV]

Hello, I have just joined birdforum as I cannot find something out about herons on the internet that I would be very interested to know.

In July of this year, my son and I built a medium sized pond and put 10 fish in it. To our delight, within a couple of months, the fish had laid eggs and we had lots of baby fish as well as frogs visiting the pond. Yesterday, I opened my back door to go out to feed the fish, when I saw a heron flying off. I thought we had been lucky to avoid it so far, so it was only a matter of time. I think it took 5 fish. When I looked at the pond, it was covered in a film with a white milky appearance, it was a bit like an oil slick on the surface of the water where the heron had been. I am intrigued to know what this is. I cannot find any forum at all that discusses this. Someone had told me that herons produce a substance in the water to attract the fish to come to it, (like a pheromone?) but I have not heard of this before and cannot find anything related to this on the web. I would be really interested to find out what this is. I have today covered my pond with netting and bought some more fish. Would love to hear from anyone who may know what this is. Many thanks.

 

[KC Foggin]

Hi there and a warm welcome to you from those of us on staff here at BirdForum :t:

Is the pond large enough for the Heron to have done some preening while standing in it? If so the herons comb this “powder down” with a fringed claw on their middle toes, using the down like a washcloth to remove fish slime and other oils from their feathers as they preen.

If this is not the case, I am going to private message you with an email address for Cornell University and they are always responsive to email queries.

 

[Lisa W]

Hello and welcome to the forum. Sorry can't add anything to what KC said.

 

[robinm]

Hi and welcome to BirdForum. I hope you enjoy your time here :t:

Agree with KC. We have a small pond and stream and when Woodpigeons bathe in the water they leave an oily film behind.

 

[delia todd]

Hi PelicanCV and a warm welcome from me too.

I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I hope to hear about all the birds you see when out and about.

 

[PelicanCV]

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome

The pond is about 6ft x 4ft at the widest part with varying levels, so it is possible for a heron to stand in. Unfortunately, when I disturbed it, I did not see where it was standing. I thought they preferred to hunt from the side of the pond, or at least wade in gradually and had heard that they don't actually like getting their feathers wet. There is a fountain in the middle of the pond which would put it off going near there. Also there is a 3ft fence all the way round to stop children going near and only a small edging round the edge. Not sure if a heron would actually land in a pond? A friend of mine has had exactly the same happen to her pond, an oily slick, quite large and then this milky white substance as well. I was told by an assistant in an aquatic shop that the heron will emit this chemical into the water to attract fish to come to it and so I was wondering if this was actually correct, I find it quite fascinating although as I said before, cannot find anything about this on any website related to herons! I have sent a message to the RSPB too to see if they know any more but am still waiting for their response. If you could message me with another alternative source of information to get a clue what this might be, that would be really useful thank you.

 

[Stranger]

I have seen Herons dive from Canal banks into the water so I am not sure about them not liking to get their feathers wet.
Could the oily white substance be Heron pooh?
I have seen Gulls defecate over ponds and this leaves a milky whit film on the surface.

 

[Kits]

Welcome to BirdForum! I am sure you will find lots to interest you here, and I hope you enjoy your visits. I hope you can get a definitive answer to your query.

 

[chowchilla]

G'day and welcome to Birdforum.:t: