Bluegills guarding their nests

By Aaron Horrell

Last week I sat at the edge of a pond watching a series of dark scooped-out areas on the pond bottom. The water was clear enough to see that each dark area had a single adult bluegill in it.

The adult bluegills are males guarding the nest from predators that might come to eat the very tiny eggs.

A male bluegill will create a nest. A female bluegill will deposit thousands of eggs in the nest. The male bluegill then will spend several days protecting the nest.

After hatching, the tiny hatchling bluegills will spend months hiding in debris on the pond bottom and in shallow water at the pond edge.

These baby bluegills will feed on microscopic aquatic organisms. They are very susceptible to predation at this early stage of development.

Look closely at my photo and find three adult males guarding their nests. Also find four yearling bluegills scavenging for tiny eggs that have been swept from a nest. A bluegill nest is circular and usually about 16 inches across.