I'm thinking about having a small pond built in my backyard. I'm looking for thoughts as to how successful you think this pond would be in attracting some different birds, preferably black-crowned night herons and maybe snowy egrets, as well as any suggestions for size and style to maximize photographic opportunities.

I live in San Diego about 7 miles as the bird flies from the ocean and many lagoons that are frequented by water loving birds. My backyard borders open space and I already attract a large number of birds, mostly finches, sparrows, quail, spotted and brown towhees, California thrashers, etc. My backyard is decent sized and I have some flexibility in the size of the pond. I was envisioning developing it in an area that could support a 10 foot long pond that was maybe 5 to 7 feet wide. It would be bordered by trees and bushes that I think would make attractive backgrounds. There would be a cement wall within a few feet of one side though. I planned on stocking it with some smallish fish.

Welcome thoughts on this and suggestions for how to build it. Very excited about this. I really hope this works out.

sounds a little small to me to attract them consistently... I would say you best chance would be to stock it with nice size fish, I have had GBHs stop at my tiny pond to gobble my koi on occasion which did not make me very happy

Thanks for the information. I would be thrilled to get GBH. I don't know how much coy cost but I could see how that would be frustrating. How big is your pond if you don't mind me asking?

While I do not have a pond I know some others who do and based on what you are planning I'd agree about the probabilty of attracting GBH's who, in my experience, are more likely to venture inland for a meal at a small pond with medium sized prey. As for BCNH's, it is tough to imagine them coming to a pond of that size just for some fish. Aside from the fact that they do like to do hunting at night (hence the name) they have a wide preference for food with fish making up only a portion of it (whereas a GBH feeds more on fish than invertebrates). Also, BCNH's roost in colonies adjacent to or near larger bodies of water (including ponds in the 1-3 acre range) including in residential neighborhoods where the water bodies are a decent flight away. If one of these colonies is near you, there's a chance they would come by your place but if not it's unlikely that would drop in for a snack.

Hope that helps and keep in mind a water feature can bring lots of other cool birds to your yard where they can drink some water and/or bathe. I'd make sure you have a small waterfall with a little (shallow) pooling area to allow birds to drink/bathe without having to go full hog into the actual pond. Also you may want to consider setting up some sort of blind on the South side of the pond - that way you will always have your subjects lit by the sun.

Cool. More good info! Thanks LeOrmand. Greatly appreciated.

As for the blind, I envisioned doing something like that, yes.

My brother has a small pond which measures no more then 5' X 5' in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. He had large gold carp/coy in the pond which attracted the GBH.

He has lost many of his fish until he strung nylon monofilament across the pond, in a criss-cross manner, which somehow the GBH detect and now stay away from his pond.

Great. This is sounding encouraging.

Doug,

My pond is not large about 1000 gallons, the Koi that were eaten were worth about $2k, hence my unhappyness. My friend down the block has a swimming pool sized pond and he gets GBHs all the time as we are only a few miles from the beach. I had to convince him not to shoot them !

lou

Wow. I can see why you were unhappy about the GBH feasting upon your koi.

Hmm interesting question. I am just returning from a bird photography trip on which we photographed birds at setups from a blind, mostly around ponds. If done right, 5' is enough but 7' - 10' is probably better. It is also good to include the blind (or at least a consideration for one) which will allow you to get close to the birds. If you are spending money to move earth, then it is wise to do this for the blind at the same time. Hopefully the cement wall is _not_ on the north side since this will make it difficult to shoot birds illuminated by sunlight. PM me if you want some other information that I think would be useful.

Doug

Water features anywhere in San Diego County no matter how small with attract birds. You don't even need a pond. A pondless waterfall will attract all sorts of birds. I grew up in San Diego and we had a waterfall in the backyard that attracted more birds than the feeders.

Check out this low budget solar bird bath from San Diego Audubon:

http://www.sandiegoaudubon.org/images/PDF/Solar_Birdbath_instructions_revised_6-11.pdf

You install that with some perches around it and I guarantee you will have birds.

My Brother who lives in Escondido lost thousands of dollars worth of Koi to Great Blue Heron and Great Egret. Plus he had all sort of rodents that would fall in and he would have to fish them out. Pondless is the way to go.

Regards,

Terry

Thanks Terry. I've certainly gotten a lot of good information in this thread to work with.

Since you already are attracting many smaller birds and you now want to attract larger birds, I would recommend a larger pond. You said you have a decent size backyard and most pond experts say that ponds come out smaller than the owner expected when in the ground. Lay out the design of your pond with a rope or garden hose and envision it before you decide on size. You will probably be surprised at how small a 7'x10' pond really is. You probably want it fairly deep to support fish so that it doesn't get too hot for them. Smaller sizes are great for small birds and animals, but you probably want it larger for GBHs and egrets. Also remember when buying pond liner to take into account the depth of the pond and the edges beyond the actual pond itself. Any pond supply store can give you ideas and help you choose materials and inform you of maintenance involved with the size of pond you choose to build. Good luck with whatever you go with and have fun!

SFJ

Thanks SantaFeJoe! Good tips.