"Nedra" wrote in message arthlink.net...
My lotus pond barely has some very small pads ready to open. Can't figure
out what is wrong. We have had lots of Grackles bathe in the lotus pond
water and now it looks all dirty and black. Along edges it
looks oily. This is a very pretty bird and I would like to keep it
somewhere close.... just not in the ponds.

Yes, they look very attractive with that steel-blue sheen on the
feathers and all -- except when they come by the dozen, and chase off
all the other birds, and s**t all over the patio furniture so you have
to wash it off before you can sit by the pond. This is why we stopped
filling the bird-feeder during the summer -- all we ever got was
street gangs of d**ned s**tting grackles! We only put out seed from
~October to March now, to look after the migrating stopovers and
winter residents (juncos, chickadees, sparrows, finches, the odd
cardinal).

Anyone have any ideas on keeping the Grackles out of the lotus
pond water?

If you're bird-feeding, I suggest you stop. If you're not, then I
really dunno -- put up a plastic owl maybe? Bird netting? Shark-fin
decoy in the water? ;-)

-- Steve (whose three BFK all survived the winter, and so did 2 of 3
shubunkins, and even a couple of the fantails, as well as most of the
plain old comets).