Thanks All for comments
The fish gathering in the shallow sun-warmed southern edge of the pond in
spring probably was their downfall ...
Other possibilities
– no cats around. It’s an enclosed yard, and over the years I have been
ferocious with cats and they know they are not welcome, there are few in the
neighbourhood, and I have not seen one in the back yard for a long time. Also, a
cat would need to get its feet wet and move through fairly dense plantings to
get to where the fish could be accessible. (Perhaps, Charmian, you need to have
a bucket of water handy, and be ready to make very embarrassingly loud
cat-scaring noises!)
- Kookaburra is unlikely – they have taken fish from the pond in the past,
but I have seen none around, and only heard them once or twice this year at a
distance of around a block (up on the O’Connor Ridge, probably)
- Currawong – possibly – they have also taken fish in the past, but even
though we have a (rather pathetic) resident and a few more around, they have not
been near the pond
- unfortunately it’s a long time since I have seen a Sacred Kingfisher, and
I’ve never seen a White-faced Heron around here ...
BTW – there was an earlier exchange re ARs as pests (attacking sheep etc) –
I spent some time in early October with my brother going around his thousands of
lambing ewes (and calving heifers). He considers crows as a clear net benefit as
their cleaning up of carrion prevents the spread of disease etc (he’s in the
usually lush, high rainfall basalt country south of Walcha), but of course he
hates it when the crows peck the eyes of caste ewes or attack a lamb that’s
having trouble being delivered ... They did have a Wedge-tailed Eagle in one of
their back paddocks that would actively attack lambs as they were being
delivered, and not just those that were having trouble, and just take the
kidneys (or liver??). They saw this as unusual behaviour – that they just had to
accept and hope that it would not become too common ....
Though I sometimes hear the Spotted Pardalotes, they are seldom visible
(and I have not seen them attacking their reflections in our windows this
year)....
Thanks again
Barbara Preston
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