Where the birds are

One aspect of birding I love is the travel. If you want to see birds, you’ve got to go where the birds are. So birding is a wonderful way to to see new places, and to revisit old favorites. One spot I never tire of is the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island, FL.

A note here about this spot’s namesake. He was a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist for the Des Moines Register, and an ardent conservationist who helped expand he National Wildlife Refuge system. He also helped found and was the first president of the National Wildlife Federation.

The first time I went to Ding Darling, I added about a dozen new birds to my life list. And even if I don’t see a new bird there, I love seeing the egrets, herons, roseate spoonbills and all their friends. Southwest Florida is one of the best regions in the nation for birding; especially in the winter. Not far from Ding Darling is the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, a National Audubon Society Sanctuary that is home to the largest nesting colony of federally endangered Wood Storks in the country.

If you’d like to recommend a birding spot, I’d love to hear from you!