Mystery - Found Fish out of pond

This morning I noticed something on the ground, close to my pond and did not
recognize it as the largest goldfish we have. He is about 8 or 9 inches,
very fat.

We had dug a new 8 x 12 ft.pond in the fall and filled it with well water,
an airstone, lots of that green underwater oxygenating plant (elodea?) and
slowly added most of the goldfish from a smaller pond. It has a deep end of
about 3 ft., the rest is a little shallower. We live in North Carolina, on
the coast. Nights have been in the high 20's and 30's lately. The goldfish
were slow but active until the pond got a skim of ice. Only the large
goldfish continued to be seen above the plants, but even he was down deep
this past cold spell.

That is why it is unbelievable to me that what I saw this morning (from my
window) was that fish lying on some stones, not moving. I thought it was
something reddish blown into the yard. He was there for a minimum of 5 hours
before we checked it out and put him back into the water!

What do you make of this? I still find it incredible that a fish can go all
that time without water, but he seems fine now. And how did he get out? The
pond is undisturbed otherwise.

Charlie

I've had a fish jump out of the pond on a loverly summer day.
And I've had a kingfisher dive in, grab one of my fish and then drop them and
leave them on the ground.


kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A

Ka30P wrote:

I've had a fish jump out of the pond on a loverly summer day.
And I've had a kingfisher dive in, grab one of my fish and then drop them and
leave them on the ground.

Yes, I've seen fish jump out while spawning, etc. but that was in
summer. While all the fish were deep down asleep, why was this guy out
of the pond? How could a creature catch him and leave him unharmed?

And how could he live for at least 5 hours lying there on stones?

He held his breath??


"charlie" wrote in message
...
Ka30P wrote:

I've had a fish jump out of the pond on a loverly summer day.
And I've had a kingfisher dive in, grab one of my fish and then drop
them and
leave them on the ground.

Yes, I've seen fish jump out while spawning, etc. but that was in
summer. While all the fish were deep down asleep, why was this guy out
of the pond? How could a creature catch him and leave him unharmed?

And how could he live for at least 5 hours lying there on stones?

Charlie wrote How could a creature catch him and leave him unharmed?

The kingfisher that visits my pond only does so in the winter. The fish he
catches show no sign of injury. The bird scoops them up in his bill, no
stabbing involved.
How the fish lived that long out of water? I'll let Ingrid answer that!

kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A

Ka30P wrote:

The kingfisher that visits my pond only does so in the winter. The fish he
catches show no sign of injury. The bird scoops them up in his bill, no
stabbing involved.

This is very interesting, thank you.

I guess the kingfisher comes by in the early morning? We'll be watching
for him.

Charlie

Ka30P wrote:

The kingfisher that visits my pond only does so in the winter. The fish he
catches show no sign of injury. The bird scoops them up in his bill, no
stabbing involved.

This is very interesting, thank you.

I guess the kingfisher comes by in the early morning? We'll be watching
for him.

Charlie

Charlie wrote I guess the kingfisher comes by in the early morning?

I think they have a 'route'. Mine came by
in the early afternoon. He always shows up
in late Dec., early January. I never see him any other time of year though I
see them around town by the river.
The most distinctive thing about the kingfisher is his call which is a rasping
kak, kak, kak. He is very noisy and likes to tell you he's there. He also will
raise and lower his ruffled feathers on his head.


kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A