Hey It’s Radar!
We were thrilled as always to see our buddy “Radar” come flying into the marsh earlier this week. Many of you will remember Radar as the egret with the transmitter pack attached to his back with antennas sticking out of it.
Radar has established himself as head egret of the marsh and pretty much rules the place. Even the alligators know and respect Radar. 🙂
He is also quite skilled at catching fish and we saw him grab and eat several in a short amount of time.
Phil Lanoue Photography 
brilliant name
We think it suits him pretty well. 🙂
HEEEYYY Radar! Great to see you again, ol’ friend. Go remind the rest of the marsh world how ‘it’s’ done! (You just made my day Phil. Thanks for these series!)
Oh well, you gotta love Radar! We have been seeing him for several years now and he really is head egret in charge!
Thanks Edna, glad you liked seeing our big white friend.
Is he part of a wild life program?
He is part of a study involving the oil spill in the gulf some years back. Radar was not affected by that, he is in the control group.
Good to see him back Phil! 🙂
Thanks Adrian, he is a funny bird too, he loves this area so much he can reliably be seen at all times of the year.
We suspect other egrets travel all over but not this boy.
Thanks for your response about the study group and control group.
Sure, my pleasure.
I do remember Radar, and it’s great to see him back and fishing! Nice catches too. He seems to do well despite his tracking pack!
Glad you remembered our tuned in friend! He was seen in breeding condition this past Spring so seems like he found himself a girlfriend!
No I never saw this creature before. Tracking is good I suppose but wearing that thing MUST be annoying?
I would think having that thing attached to him must be annoying. He gets along great though, in fact better then other egrets and herons we often see. But I don’t believe it can be stated as a fact that the apparatus does not bother him.
Wonderful captures.
Thanks for checking them out and glad you liked them.
Beautiful shots
I appreciate you looking and commenting.
So heartwarming to see he’s back! Woohoo!
Oh he’s back alright! And I have more photos upcoming on our electronically enhanced egret!
I’m quite surprised at how long that equipment has stayed on. Do you think it’s still operational? I’m wondering whether the waving antenna have given Radar his following among the other egrets and distinguish him among the other animals at the marsh? Fantastic shots – as always – Phil.
From what I understand that device and antenna are still operational and it is supposed to remain on him until… well, the end. That’s kind of the point of his roll in the study, to see how long he survives in the wild.
And who knows? That stuff on his back might make him particularly appealing! We saw him looking all spiffy in breeding color earlier this year. 🙂
It’s nice when the world gets back to normal and Radar returns. I think he missed you.
If he missed me he doesn’t let on, he plays it super cool out there and lives in his own little world. He has achieved celebrity status and acts every bit the star of the show.
Welcome back, Radar! It is always good to see old friends!
Glad you enjoyed seeing our electronically tuned in friend Maggie! I have a few more photos of him upcoming that I took later that same day when Radar was getting himself all primped up. 🙂
Looks like a fearsome guy. Who’s doing the tracking and is there a report of Radar’s flights?
He is quite fearless and even the alligators do not intimidate this guy.
From what I understand he is being tracked by some of those involved in a study involving the gulf oil spill from a few years back. There is not an online live tracking site that I know of though.