Well, it finally happened.... Goldfish are...gone.

[Mmathis]

I love birds!

Looked out the back window this morning and this is what I saw! A beautiful, big white bird (Great Egret), perched on my stock tank! Oh, cool! — grabs cell phone for a pic! Beautiful and so close! It took about 30 seconds before it hit me....

I have 2 “tanks“ (stock tank and an intex pool) in the backyard, filled with my 30 or so goldfish. We moved a year ago, and are waiting to have a proper pond dug.

I ran out to chase the bird away, but there’s no sign that any fish survived. I’ll check again in a little while.

 

[Tula]

Oh dear......I'm so sorry

 

[j.w]

So sad and hope some of your fish survived and are hiding. If so time for netting!

 

[addy1]

Bummer!

 

[Lisak1]

Oh no! Fingers crossed that some of them managed to hide!

 

[addy1]

I had to put deer fencing over my hot tub pond, forgot to net it last spring while down here in Florida when the other tenant died. The heron in Feb wiped out all my fan tails. Around 12. I went to the fishery and replaced them, so far they are doing fine. But the net is never off now.

It found a hole in my 1000 gallon tank netting and wiped out 1/2 of those fish, but some managed to survive, they hid.

You might have some hiding in there.

 

[sissy]

sorry to hear and here you were so excited only to be disappointed by the pretty bird .Those birds can even injure or hurt fish through just about anything that you cover it with .I used plexiglass sheet on mine

 

[Alice_Bee]

I use powdercoat fencing with 2 inch by 3 inch openings. Small birds don't get trapped, big ones don't get fish. I use pvc under the fencing, to a center support to keep it up. I'm sorry for your loss.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

Ugh, Sorry to hear this.....

 

[Mmathis]

UPDATE!!

Sorry, I haven’t gotten back. I went out later that afternoon and found that I STILL HAVE FISH! They had gone down into the vegetation and were hiding. When they saw me, they started to come out and swim around. I did find one fish that didn’t make it, but not sure if it was from natural causes vs the egret. It was one of my older, larger comets. No sign of injury. I couldn’t tell if or how many fish might be missing, but it looked like most were still present!

Since then, we have spotted the egret almost once a day (sometimes twice). Our cockatiel is our “alarm” (most of the time). His cage is next to the window. Whenever he spots anything out of the ordinary (a few times he has alerted to a hawk at the bird feeders), he goes into “birdie alert mode!”

So, for now, we’re just going out and chasing it away....and starting to plan ways to protect the fish once the pond gets built.

 

[Lisak1]

Yay! I was hoping for good news! They are very cool birds but need to find their lunch counter elsewhere!

 

[Mmathis]

Yay! I was hoping for good news! They are very cool birds but need to find their lunch counter elsewhere!

We live by a lake, and there is a “finger” of that lake that we pass over every day. The lake is professionally maintained and we know it’s stocked well. We see egrets and GBH’s a lot, but were hoping they would stick with the lake. I guess, right now, the fish activity in the lake is at a minimum, and it’s still too cold for the frogs and toads to be out. Hoping this guy is a juvenile, just out for a fast-food meal, and if we make enough of a fuss, he’ll forget about us after the lake critters become more active.

 

[Mmathis]

I use powdercoat fencing with 2 inch by 3 inch openings. Small birds don't get trapped, big ones don't get fish. I use pvc under the fencing, to a center support to keep it up. I'm sorry for your loss.

Do you have any pictures?

 

[Mmathis]

@addy1 I am terrible at searching — and had no luck! Could you post a link to your posts where you talked about the netting you used on your large pond?

 

[addy1]

I used netting bought from fishing net company, gill net. I will see if I can find the link. @j.w she has a link she posts on how she did hers. I used a thicker weave net which has lasted around 5-6 years. Just now starting to wear out.