Troutbirder II

Troutbirder II
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Thursday, February 17, 2011

J.N. "Ding" Darling N.W.R.

J. N. "Ding" Darling was a Pulitzer Prize winning writer and cartoonist. During the depths of the Great Depression he set for himself the task of calling the nations attention to the widespread disappearance of much of the our wildlife.
Surprisingly, in spite of the economic crises, people from all walks of life and interests answered his call. In 1938, a national conference on the subject was held in Washington D.C. Out of this conference a new national conservation organization emerged. It was the National Wildlife Federation. "Ding Darling" was its first President. The organization's first cry was a letter writing campaign to Congress to say "Sympathy is not enough. What we want is ACTION. Now on its 75th anniversary that attitude for action remains. We recently visited Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island, just off the coast from Fort Myer, Florida. It remains one of the nations premier bird habitats with a special emphasis on wading and other shorebirds. Take a look......Little Blue Heron. In the ditch right below me. A Black Crown Night Heron. Well hidden little fellow. A pair of Black Vultures. There were also lots of Turkey Vultures overhead throughtout Florida. They are regular Minnesota summer visitors. Our now omnipresent Bald Eagles seem to take over their job in the winter.










How stately. Everywhere.....the Great Egrets. A strange looking, endangered, Wood Stork, fishing almost under a small bridge along the "loop" road through the refuge. A flock of White Pelicans rest on the mud flats in mid morning. Fishing must have been good!
Although a not very clear picture methinks this is a tri-colored heron or a reddish egret. Probably the former. The reddish egret has a pink base beak. Has a tendency to forage by madly dashing about stirring up the water. The first time I saw one last year I thought it was drunk!
Mr. curved beak - the white Ibis. A Yellow Crowned Night Heron drew several photographers along the road, including yours truly.
Looks like some kind of yellowlegs to me. Remember though, I've been doing this birding thing only a couple of years and don't get to see shore birds very often. (oops, corrected thanks to Veronica and Jane) as an immature night heron.
The last picture shows a not uncommon view. While birds can be seen right along the road, many are out and about on the distant islands and mudflats. A scope, which I don't have, would be a big help. Through the generosity of strangers, who did have them, I was able to see some pinkish roseate spoonbills, dowitchers, whimbrels and other unusual species. Up close and personal, were large flocks of what the pros call "peeps." That is to say, small little shorebirds, who all looked alike to me. I didn't have a clue. I guess its a good reason to keep working at it. I guess I'll have to leave beautiful Minnesota in the depths of winter and head to Florida to keep working at it. As they say "its a tough job but somebody's......... :)

18 comments:

  1. Gee, I wish I knew what kind of bird Yellow-legs is. A birder, I'm not, but I do enjoy seeing them and learning about them. Thanks for the lesson. That job you were talking about comes with its own built-in benefits, and no experience is required.

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  2. You saw almost all of the heron family, very nice indeed. walking along a boardwalk where I was unfamiliar with the shorebirds I pestered the lady with a book near me.I need to get down there again. I get my tomatoe and pepper seeds from Fort Myers.

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  3. http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5203/5289279552_256b831fc3_b.jpg

    Your "yellowlegs" might be an immature night heron - don't know if this guy is a yellow-capped or black-capped. The photo linked above also taken in Ding Darling - ain't it great! - you had some really good sightings, glad you enjoyed it!

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  4. Thanks for taking us along with you on your visit to this refuge. Your photos are wonderful.

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  5. I have only seen one Yellow Crowned Night Heron. It is exciting to see one.

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  6. It must have been a wonderful visit to the refuge. It would be fantastic to see all those birds. I enjoyed seeing your pictures.

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  7. Goodness! You saw quite a variety of different birds. That sounds like a place I should visit. Great post, TB

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  8. Veronica is right, that is an immature night heron. Yellowlegs are large sandpipers more like a willet with yellow legs.

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  9. If the job of going to FL in the winter gets too tough for you, let me know. I'll be leaving on a jet plane before you know it.

    You put a lot of work into this post and did a great job with all the photos. Kudos to you.

    donna

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  10. Wonderful shots of the birds. Looks so nice in FL!

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  11. Thanks for the info on Ding Darling--I had no idea. What an inspirational story, though. Always nice when "the little guy" can initiate some real change!
    Thanks for sharing all of your birds. We have a lot of them here, too (FL & Southern LA aren't that different, really,) but not all of them.

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  12. Thanks for your visits to my blog and for the good wishes for our move. Hope you have a very nice weekend.

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  13. I never have so many huge birds in one place. They are all so unique. Thank goodness for folks like 'Ding' to save them and really call folks to task to make a difference. I had no idea how the NWF got started. It is such a worthwhile organization.

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  14. You found some excellent birds that day. Great pix, too. I really must move 'Florida' higher up on my list of Places I Want To Go Birding.

    Thanks for the info about Ding Darling. There is a Ding Darling reservoir in North Dakota (not far from where I live across the border in Canada). I often go down there on birding expeditions. Nice to know the background of that name. He was a great man, to be sure.

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  15. I've heard so much about this area and would love to visit there one day. The variety of shore birds is amazing! Lucky you!

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  16. Great bird shots. Thanks for visiting my blog, btw. In Southern California, our "yellowlegs" are in the sandpiper family - there's lesser or greater, depending on size, I guess, but always hard to discern, especially for an amateur birder like myself. So is Minnesota the "tundra"?

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  17. Now those Birds are worth the trip! What a treat for you! :)

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  18. Hi! You found my bakingribbons blog..so I tracked you down! I too have been to Corkscrew once and JR Ding Darling maybe 20 times. I go every year! Your pics are fabulous. A number of years ago we went to Corkscrew during a drought. We were witness to something people rarely see. One of the swamps had dried up to the point where turtles, alligators, and wading birds were congregated in a small area right in front of one of the covered observation decks. An alligator was trying to eat a turtle, but the turtle was too big. About a dozen of us watched this show and watched the wading birds trying to keep one eye on the fish and one eye on the other alligator. Do you go to FLorida each winter?

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