Introducing Edward the Egret

curmudgeoness

Hello, environmentally-conscious PJ fans -- especially those of you in the New York area. I wanted to take a minute to introduce you to Edward the egret (named by my family for biologist EO Wilson and one Mr. Vedder). Tracking bird movement and behavior helps scientists learn more about the birds and it also helps determine what areas need to be protected (and how to protect species adversely impacted by human activity).

As you probably know, you can support environmental causes in a variety of ways. This particular egret tracking program is supported both by donations and by many hours volunteered by citizen scientists to collect data -- so, targeted giving of money as well as time.

You can see cool pictures of the project here: http://www.njaudubon.org/SectionCitizenScience/HarborHeronSurveys/GreatEgretTracking.aspx There is a link at the bottom of the page where you can follow the birds' movements. I hope some of you check it out.

oftenreading

These sorts of things are always fun to watch and imagine just what they are doing. Edward doesn't seem to be transmitting at present, or at least his data isn't coming up for me, just Clare's. I hope Ed's all right!

brianlux

Excellent, curmudgeoness! Will follow this.

I'm a big fan of both Eds mentioned. Can we add one Mr. Abbey to the list of Edwards- especially as one of the others mentioned has a monkey wrench tattoo?

hedonist

Egrets, I've had a few...but then again, too few to mention

JimmyV

'sup, Edward?

JimmyV

hedonist said:

Egrets, I've had a few...but then again, too few to mention

Ha! This made me laugh.

brianlux

JimmyV said:

hedonist said:

Egrets, I've had a few...but then again, too few to mention

Ha! This made me laugh.

Hahaha! Same here! 'Egrets, agads!

curmudgeoness

Thanks for checking out the site! My son, now in college, spent hundreds of hours doing citizen science while he was in high school. Because of his involvement and interest, we try to support the efforts of local organizations.

Ed was doing okay when I looked this morning; I hope he's alright!

brianlux

curmudgeoness said:

Thanks for checking out the site! My son, now in college, spent hundreds of hours doing citizen science while he was in high school. Because of his involvement and interest, we try to support the efforts of local organizations.

Ed was doing okay when I looked this morning; I hope he's alright!

We're moving more in that direction as well. We support the American River Conservancy (ARC) and The Eldorado National Forest Interpretive Association (ENFIA), both on the western slope of the Sierras. It's great to support major environmental groups but just as important and often even more rewarding to support local efforts.

curmudgeoness

I agree. When we first began supporting environmental/conservation groups, our natural impulse was to focus on the national groups (Audubon, etc.). But people with more experience told us that the local groups were more likely to be making an impact; it's also easy for us to see how our time and money help. The state Audubon organization is active in education and conservation, as well as policy/legislation efforts.

curmudgeoness

Wonderful photos of Edward the Egret, capture, release, and being fabulous in the wild:

Photo album

brianlux

curmudgeoness said:

Wonderful photos of Edward the Egret, capture, release, and being fabulous in the wild:

Photo album

Nice! Egrets are awesome. We see them pretty much any time we head down to the Sacramento delta or the valley and even up here at 2,000 feet once in a long while. Wonderful birds!

rr165892

hedonist said:

Egrets, I've had a few...but then again, too few to mention

Hehehehe.

curmudgeoness

If you are or if you know a bird geek, you know that the Big Day -- the World Series of Birding -- is this Saturday.

If you are not a bird geek: the WSB is a 24-hour competitive birding event that doubles as a fundraiser for many environmental groups. Teams scour the state of New Jersey in an effort to spot the largest number of species in one day. New Jersey jokes aside, the state is a birding hotspot, with over 70% of North American species being sighted here at some point during the year.

You can donate to support Edward the Egret and other citizen science projects here: http://worldseriesofbirding.org/teampage.asp?fundid=2056

And you can see what Edward is up to here: https://www.movebank.org/panel_embedded_movebank_webapp?gwt_fragment=page%3Dsearch_map_linked%2CindividualIds%3D78588036%2B78588007%2Clat%3D40.51562620688839%2Clon%3D-74.19166088104248%2Cz%3D16.