Ding Darling

[urbpan]

The JN "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge is a protected estuary on the barrier island of Sanibel on the gulf coast of south Florida. It's something of a birder's mecca, with wide mud flats allowing for amazing visibility, and a resource-rich habitat attracting a variety of birds, including tropical migrants. It is named for the man who did much of the work to get the land protected.

Ding Darling was an editorial cartoonist and conservationist. He was often very critical of the policies of then president Franklin D Roosevelt in his cartoons. FDR was aware of him, and eventually asked him to be the first head of the agency that became the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Often on this visit to Southwest Florida I was struck by how hard the conservation fight seemed to be here. And yet the beauty and biodiversity are so omnipresent you would expect people would be clamoring to protect it. It's a shame the state wasn't discovered by westerners 500 years later than it was.




This is a replica of Ding Darling's office, in the refuge's nature center. That ten foot long shotgun was mounted on a boat and loaded with up to 3 pounds of shot, and fired into flocks of ducks.


Also in the nature center, this is the skeleton of Wilma, a beloved American crocodile that lived in the refuge for decades.


Anyway, back outdoors! Look a white ibis!


A great egret, some white ibises, and a new life bird for me: the roseate spoonbill!


Here are some resident brown pelicans meeting some migratory American white pelicans.


This is a tricolor heron (also called Louisiana heron in older guides, Egretta tricolor) in it's characteristic hunting pose. It will stay frozen in that position for several minutes until a prey animal within striking range.


A view of the wide-openness from an observation tower. Also seeing our rental car is a reminder that most people experience the park by driving a short distance, hopping out of the car when they see someone else stopped, then moving along. There are longer hikes within, for those more who are more adventurous. I think the best way to experience it would be by bicycle.