Good Fortune Flies In

Meet Edgar. Edgar is a Great White Egret and stands approximately 45" high with neck fully extended. His beak is 5" long. He eats primarily frogs and fish. An Egret's lifespan is appox. 23 years. Edgar is supposed to live on the marsh - a protected wildlife refuge - across the street. Not anymore.

I swore I would not pollute my newborn BIKE themed blog with a tale of Ed. Like the blogosphere needs another tale of urban wildlife! But today his antics have pushed him across the line from amusing anecdote to local human interest story worthy of a spot in the local paper.


The birds that call the marsh home do not mingle with the humans. For the most part they ignore us by day and fly high over our heads to nest in the trees on the cliffs by night. They do not come closer when you call to them. Except for Ed.

It started out as a mere oddity...
Ed developed an affection for the vacant lot next door.

Posed in the bare tree.

Perched on the telephone pole.

I would say "Hi" to him nearly every day on my way to the mailbox. People on the street began stopping by the road to take pictures. It was a startling and delightful chance to get up close to such a beautiful wild and winged creature. Then it got surreal.

About a week ago I was walking back from the market about 3 blocks from the house when I heard this chortling, cooing sound. I look up and there is Ed right across the street from me on the marsh side. I said "Hey Ed, sweetie how are you doin'!" Damned if he didn't spread those gigantic white wings of his and loft himself across the street (took about a flap and a half) and plopped down on the sidewalk 8 ft. in front of me and gave me a sweet little chirp. I actually backed up a little. He moved into the neighbor's front yard and we stared at each other a bit and I went to get my camera...

When I came back he was up the street making like a lawn ornament and very intent on something...
Turned out to be a hummingbird who was trying to scold him away from a nest.

I clicked away hoping I'd get lucky and wishing I had a professional camera quick enough to stop the hummingbird.

Here is Ed with cyclist on his side of the habitat, right in front of my house. He stood out there chirping at me for awhile while I took pictures from the window.

Well today Edgar put the cherry on it. My neighbors came running all excited to inform me that Edgar had landed on top of my house.

There he is standing atop the cupola to the roof garden. We think it's a sign of good luck for 2008.
In order to satisfy the bike theme I asked Ed if he was interested in cycling at all. He said he is very impressed with the strong formation behavior of the cycling teams. He likes that the cyclists are less noisy and smoky than cars. His favorite kit is Jelly Bellies because they look like they'd be good to eat. Ed said that if he could not fly he would most definitely ride a bike, because it looks like the next best thing.

Thank you Ed, for gracing us with your magnificent presence.