VCE is pleased to announce that Ed Hack, longtime birder, volunteer extraordinaire, and our great friend, is the recipient of this year's Julie Nicholson Citizen Science Award. Ed's involvement as a dedicated amateur naturalist hails back to the first Vermont Breeding Bird Atlas in 1975, and he's still at it 36 years later! His latest citizen science exploits have focused on being an avid eBirder and keeping other Windsor County birders at bay atop the leader board of the Vermont 2011 County Birding Quest (well, until Saturday...). A Stockbridge resident, Ed has been 'handicapped' as a Windsor Co. Quester by his relative distance from the Connecticut River, but he's more than compensated for that with his birding acumen and good old-fashioned effort.We presented the award to Ed Saturday at VCE's fourth anniversary celebration gathering in Norwich, but unfortunately (mostly for us, less so for Ed), he was AWOL on an annual fall flyfishing trip in Montana. Ed's wife Sandy accepted the award on his behalf and read a gracious statement Ed had prepared before his departure. The award was especially meaningful to Ed, who was close friends with Julie Nicholson and spent many hours afield with her over the years.
There could be no more worthy recipient of this award for 2011, and we're only sorry that Ed couldn't be with us on Saturday to accept it in person. No doubt he'll redouble his efforts to regain the Windsor County lead upon his return in a few days, as a number of us strive for 200 species in this friendly, cooperative 'competition'.
Ed, thanks for all you've done to promote birding and wildlife conservation in Vermont!
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