Ian,

As Bonnie pointed out in another reply, this bird was most likely a heron.
Here in the US, it's a Great Blue Heron (GBH); in Europe, it's a Grey Heron
according to "The Larousse Guide to Birds of Britain & Europe" -- in any
event, netting across the pond is probably the way to go.

As for the size of the bird, here in the US, GBH can range up to 4' tall;
the Grey Heron is described (if I'm interpreting the notations correctly) as
being 92 centimetres tall with a wingspan of 140 centimetres. Depending on
the size of your fish, many of them may simply be gone -- that's a big
bird, with a big appetite.

Anne Lurie
Raleigh, NC






"Ian Birtles" wrote in message
...
Hi all
I have a problem I had 21 fish in my pond 2 grass carp, 1 green tench, 2
blue orf, 6 English koi, 4 gold fish, 2 shubunkins,& 4 jap koi, i see them
every day swimming around, but since Monday i haven't seen any fish in the
pond i have fed them and food is still floating on the top which is
normally
gone in 10 mins, a neighbour said that he saw a large grey coloured bird
fly
out of my garden at about 5.00am Monday morning.
my question is could this have been a heron, and if it was could he have
decimated all my fish or could there be any left and too frightened to
come
up for food, and how do i stop the blessed thing from hitting me again.
all suggestions will be appreciated.
yours Ian (mostyn)
My web site is
www.mostynpondlife.com