I've battled probably the same heron for about 3 years. He comes in during winter through early spring. Always in the AM. I tried the fishing line, watched him circle and circle, army crawl through it and finally he flew up and crashed down in the middle of the pond in the deep water, like a duck. a big duck. They are persistent nasty things. I named mine Smaug, after the Hobbit dragon. This winter I went with a green house plastic over the main pond area, to keep him out and to keep the sub tropical fish alive. it worked. The day after I removed the plastic this spring, he showed up. The effective deterrents for me have been: 1. Me. Any movement in the house, the drapes open, I get up off the sofa, he sees me through the window and he's gone. Every time. The pond is about 50 feet back from the house. If i want to watch him, i HAVE to sit perfectly still inside the house; they have amazing eyesight. 2. Truck netting. I buy truck bungee netting on Amazon and stretch them out over the main pond. It works pretty well and is a compromise from full fish netting, this way I can let the birds and the frogs in and out, the big birds have a harder time. This year I got the alligator head. It looks really good, moving with the current, like the real thing. Not sure it'll work for long but anything helps. I also put out a cheap radio on batteries, talk radio. I am also this year going to capitalize on movement. Since he always leaves when he sees anyone moving in the house, I bought a wemo device. I can power on or off, either from my smart phone or on a schedule, any electronic device. I hooked up a circulating fan to it, aiming it at my drapes. From the outside, it appears to be someone moving the drapes. Someone suggested going with one of those tube dancing things, the kind you see for advertising. I think it would work for a while. What I really want is a halloween witch i see on Amazon, its a motion or powered activated full standing prop. Its crouched down, and when activated stands to full height, makes noise, etc. that is something I could use on the back porch or in various places in the house where it would be seen. I also have a Foscam camera, with audio. I've yet to catch the heron on the motion sensor, but having the ability to tie in anytime, anywhere is very powerful. I would not go without having an IP based camera to monitor, even if its just a passive device, knowledge is everything.

A night-heron (the visitor was a black-crowned night-heron) is a particular kind of heron and does come at night. It's a stubby relative of the GB Heron. The GB and the white egret are beautiful birds IMO, but the night-heron not so much, though I just found an entry that described it as "one of the most beautiful" wading birds. I don't know if other herons will come at night?

ngraham, I've put you down for seeds. Just to let you know, there was germination last year via wsing in one of two containers. The second container was slated for the compost heap but never made it and this year three more seeds germinated in that one under a thick mat of Irish Moss which was growing in there. Following is a photo of one of last year's new plants and to the left of it there is a sprout from this year. CMK, The Purple Heron is slightly more than a foot. Before flowering it is a perfect mound, If the flowers are trimmed after fading, the 'mound comes back for the rest of the season. This one is a "vegetative clone selected from the Midnight Reiter strain".

The female heron was attacked by a Great Horned Owl twice, early in the morning on April 8 and 9, while she was incubating the eggs. She wasn't noticeably harmed and the eggs are OK. No attack this morning. A little unpleasant reality injected into the pastoral scene. Cornell posted a video on YouTube. Great Horned Owl attacks Great Blue Heron in Sapsucker Woods Claire