Spring Time and your Pond

By now, most pond owners in North America, are experiencing spring temperatures.  The ice on the pond is melting and now we can see our fish.

How did your fish do over the winter?   Unfortunately, many of us (we are one of those people) do experience loss of fish.   Sometimes these fish weren’t that healthy last fall and they failed to survive the winter.  Other times, predators are returning and are taking advantage of easy food source since the ponds are not covered with ice or plant life.

Nets are one solution to that problem—it works for many people, including us.  But this year, the net we suspend over the pond was removed and is sitting someplace under the snow.

This week, we had our first visit of a Great Blue Heron.   It sat patiently, picking off the small goldfish in our small pond—now covered to protect them.   It also sat very patiently on the skimmer inlet where the small fish hang out (near the pond heater).    We threw a net over that spot and also used Black pond dye to help hide the fish in the pond.

There are several Osprey and Heron tracking websites you can Google to tell if these migratory birds are in your area.    Heron certainly are in Massachusetts and I suspect the Osprey are not too far behind them.

Pond Netting and Pond Dyes:

So my pond friends, keep an eye on your pond and use Pond Netting and Pond Dye whenever possible to protect your pond fish this spring!