New Birds

OAFS Photo

As many of you know, Chez Sarge has a koi pond. Something that Virgil Xenophon¹ always took an interest in, though I think he meant to eat the koi, not admire them. There are other things out there who want to eat my fish. Wading birds: herons, egrets, cranes, and other long skinny feathered beings of that ilk.

We took to stringing a net over the deep part of the pond. The fish view that as a sanctuary as that's where they "sleep" in the winter. (I say sleep but they actually enter a semi-dormant state where they don't move much and they don't eat.) That sort of works, but then the flying koi-menace will watch and occasionally nab a fish in the shallow end. The koi like that end as it's sunny and warmer than the other end.

So we expected a bit of predation of our piscine friends. And it did happen, though not as often. Then one day The Missus Herself found these life-size bird statues on Amazon. I was hesitant at first, as they were not cheap. I also remembered the plastic life-sized coyotes my old employer set up around our facilities to keep the geese away. (The geese weren't a danger to life and limb, usually, but they did shit everywhere. And I mean everywhere, see here.)

The problem with the fake coyotes is that someone had to move them periodically, otherwise the geese would eventually be on to the scheme.

One Christmas break, no one moved the coyotes. Guess what? Yup, the geese returned to defecating at will, everywhere.

So I was concerned that the metal birds, not moving at all, wouldn't fool the real birds. Well, it seems, so far, to be working. Over a year and no predation of our aquatic neighbors.

Now one thing about the original pair of metal birds The Missus Herself purchased, seems that they are Black Necked White Canes. Native to the Tibetan plateau, not New England.

So far, the native wildlife hasn't figured that out yet. (You can see the one of the original birds below, closest to the camera. The other is across the pond. No not the Atlantic, my pond.)

OAFS Photo

Now the new birds, which I ordered because ...

Well, because I thought they looked cool. And (bonus) they are native to the region. They arrived Wednesday while I was working in the fields cutting the grass. I think they look pretty cool.

I picture the scene above as the new birds (Great White Herons) are telling the Black Necked White Cranes to take a hike, "Y'all ain't even native to this area!" (Yells the one with the outstretched wings.)

The new guys need to be careful though, the non-native birds are a good ten inches taller than the new guys, heavier too. Might be interesting. (As long as they keep the real birds away, I'm happy.)

Yet another reason to enjoy my backyard!

¹ Has anyone seen or heard of Virgil? Haven't seen him around any of the blogs for quite some time. Let me know.