August 25, 2008: No heron at the pond. The owl is back working on motion only. No sound today. We spotted a heron this morning on Beverly Street between 10th and 10-1/2 Streets. He was in the middle of the road. He walked to the grass on the west side of the street as we approached. Because our golden retriever, Sarah, was with us, I angled over to the far east side of the two-lane road. Just as we got even with the heron, a car sped by, with its light on. It was still pretty dark. The heron did not seem concerned by the car. Nor by the dog. In fact, the heron had its back to us, and was only swiveling its head back and forth to keep track of us. It did not fly away as we went on down the road. Pretty tame city birds.
August 13, 2008: No heron at pondside at six. However, on our morning walk, we spied a heron in the middle of Beverly Street, just north of Omar(9-1/2). Ugh. August 12, 2008: Today I played hooky from the office after lunch. I sat out by the pond, with a glass of wine and read The Harrad Experiment for the umpteenth time. At one point the rain came so hard I had to go inside for the sake of the paperback, but the rain did not last, and I soon returned. I used a fan to keep the humidity and mosquitoes at bay. I also pulled up the tallest rebar (which a bright red dragonfly uses as a favorite perch) and substituted a metal snail, on the theory that the "ears" of the snail would be a nice perch for the dragonfly. It did use an ear at first, but then chose the second highest rebar (which I had left) as its favorite perch. Maybe the straightness of the rebar is what it likes. When Maria got home, we walked to Berryhills, then back home. We then both sat out by the pond and read until it got dark. Ah, the good life.
August 10, 2008: I finished removing the rebar I had used for the fishing line fence around the pond. A very red dragonfly was using one of the rebars as a perch. To accomodate him (or her), I placed a set of three rebars (Maria's idea) toward the back of the pond. I figure that people will think there must be a reason for three rebars, and they are right. The dragonfly immediately assumed his perch. A couple of young women from Maria's office are coming by to view the found this evening. Thus, we took some extra time to spruce it up. I added Ultra Water conditioner and Clarity Max Plus, which is my regular weekly treatment. The pond is very clear, and looks great.
August 9, 2008: No heron lately. We went to San Jacinto Stones and purchased 580 pounds of mossy boulders. That was five large stones and two filler stones. We placed them around the front perimeter of the pond. That raised the front "height" by about three inches. When necessary, I edged them out into the pound so that they were overreaching the stones below. The plan is to make it impossible for the heron to step down from outside the pond into the pond. Right now, the step down is over twelve inches. I don't think the heron will like that. This also allowed me to make peace with Maria and remove the ugly fishing line that was up as a barrier. I must admit that the pond look 100% better. I also got in the pond au naturale, except for my aquasocks, and fertilized the lilies and pruned wayward and dying growth.
August 6, 2008: No heron at pond.
August 5, 2008: By evening, I decided we had nothing to worry about from the winds associated with Tropical Storm Eduardo. I put the artificial egret, and the digital owl back on duty.
August 2, 2008: No heron at pond.
August 1, 2008: No heron at pond.
July 30, 2008: I placed the GatorGuard on a mulch path at the far back of the yard, in full sunshine. By the evening, there was no paint smell left. Maria washed the head, and I placed it in the pond. No herons were seen.
July 29, 2008: No heron at the pond. The GatorGuard arrived today at the office. It is a rubber reproduction of an alligator head. It is life-sized. It has faceted yellow eyes that are startling. It is designed to keep geese away from ponds. I hope it works on heron. Because there was a faint paint smell, I decided to let it cure in the backyard for a day or so as to eliminate the smell.
July 28, 2008: No heron at the pond. However, on our morning walk we spotted two different herons within blocks of the house. At 6:10 in the morning I saw a small heron on Beverly Street just before we walked to 9th Street. It flew off as we approached. But it didn't fly far. It perched on the garage roof of the nearest house. Not sure what it was after. Three blocks later, and still on Beverly, we spotted another heron on the west side of the street. This one was considerably bigger than the first one. It was also fearless. We eased over to the eastern-most edge of the street to pass it. The heron was in the "ditch" edge of the street. There was no water. Not sure what it was after. It watched us pass, but did not fly away. Once we were back at the house, I quickly checked for heron at the pond, but there were none. Nor were there any at 5:50 in the morning, when I had checked before we started our walk. Ugh.
July 27, 2008: The digital owl is still working. No heron today.
July 26, 2008: I checked on the bees and pond today before six. No heron this moring--or this evening.
July 25, 2008: Good news: Still no heron return.
July 24, 2008: No heron has returned, at least when we were watching. Fish do not appeared spooked.
July 23, 2008: I awoke this moring just before five. Sarah was pacing. Just as I was trying to figure out what was causing her to be restless, a giantic flash of lightning filled the bedroom windows. I took Sarah downstairs so she could do her business before the storm hit. A pond inspection revealed the wires were all still in place, and no heron was around. Hard rain hit within fifteen minutes. It is supposed to rain all day. I wonder if heron hunt in heavy rain?
July 22, 2008: We still have fish. I'm not convinced the heron got inside the wire perimeter yesterday. Maria isn't so sure. Regardless, I kept a careful watch on the pond from the breakfast room all night long. Maria was visiting with some friends, so I used the occasion to rewatch The Fellowship of the Ring for the umpteenth time. I love that movie. And, because I practically have it memorized, I could easily keep one eye on the pond during the showing.
When she reurned around ten, we took Sarah for a walk. Then we watched the news. By the time we went to bed, the pond was sill heron-free. Maybe the bird had found another source for his evening repast.
July 21, 2008: I checked for the heron at 5:00 a.m., and then again at 6:00 when we got up to take Sarah for her walk. When we finished (around 6:30 a.m.) we came in the back gate. No heron. I fed the dog and suited up for my motorcycle ride. I left at 6:45. A search of the pond and backyard revealed that all was clear. I returned at 7:30 a.m., and still no evidence of the heron.
When Maria came down for breakfast she told me that the heron had been by at 7:15 a.m. A mockingbird attacked it several times, and ran it away from the pond. However, it returned. It stepped over the bottom fishing line and ducked under the top one. It entered the pond rock edge right next to the white Egret we had purchased to keep heron away. Oh well.
Maria watched the bird for about 15 minutes. It was skittish, and never got a fish. The mockingbird was the only thing it feared, until Maria opened the back door to take a picture and the heron heard the "door open" chime on the alarm. It then flew away.
Monday night I added a strand of fishing line between the previous two, and a fourth line on the top. I have a bad feeling that we will test this system in the morning. Tonight we counded 12 of the 22 goldfish. We have only seen one Calico. They were always slow swimmers. The mollies are still around.
And that's how thing stood until arond 10:15 p.m. I ws in bed watching the weather on TV. Maria called me and I joined her in the sewing room. From the back door of that room one has a view of the pond. As we looked, I saw nothing unusual in the darkness. Maria claimed to see the heron. I couldn't be sure, so I headed downstairs for a closer view. From the back door, it was clear that the heron had returned. He was exploring the new lines. I watched him for a while as he walked around the perimeter. When I opened the door, he quickly walked away from the pond. I could tell he was about to take flight, so, wearing only a t-shirt, I charged him, shouting and waiving my hands in the air. The sight encouraged him to leave post haste.
July 20, 2008: No evidence of the heron. I checked several times during the night and during the morning hours. Maybe I scared him off.
July 19, 2008: I checked at 1:30 am, 5 am, 6 am and 7 a.m. No heron. I ordered a full sized alligator head with glass eyes, a Koi Kastle from Drs. Foster and Smith, and an electronic owl that turns its head when it detects motion and hoots. I paid for express delivery.
July 18, 2008: At six this morning, as is my habit, I walked back to the beeyard to check on the bees. On my way past the pond, I did a thorough check and found no evidence of the heron. However, when I got to the back of the back yard, just at the cactus garden, I spied the heron standing in the grass, fish in mouth. It was still dark. The fish looked a little larger than our fish, and a grey color. Of course, at night, all cats are grey. Yikes. I charged the bird, waiving my hands and shouting at the top of my lungs. The bird looked askance, and took of at a leisurely pace, fish in beak.
I spent my lunch hour on Google, finding out about heron deterients. When I got home Friday night, I strung got our rebar and marked off the perimeter of the pond. It took five stakes. I strung two strangs of 50 pound fishing line between the rebar poles. Time will tell.
July 17, 2008: At a little past seven this morning, I walked out the back door to go for my motorcycle ride. I was running a little late because we had had to water the plants in the front yard. I immediately saw a night heron standing around the Mexican plum. It was not moving. I was in full motorcycle gear, and all of it was black. I called Maria to see. I then ran toward the bird, whooping and waving my arms. The bird took off toward the east. We looked for fish and saw one mollie and two goldfish. I hope the others are just hiding.
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