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Refuge Update
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The front Information Desk and flagship Refuge Nature Store have reopened in the "Ding" Darling Visitor & Educator Center. All hands-on exhibits, however, are still hands-off. Tarpon Bay Explorers' narrated tram tours of Wildlife Drive are back to their pre-pandemic Saturday to Thursday schedule. All of its tours and rentals are now fully operational. Refuge Volunteers
Although the exhibits are closed, the Visitor & Education Center Information Desk and Nature Store are OPEN and, of course, "America's Best Restrooms" are also open. The Refuge needs ALREADY TRAINED front desk volunteers interested in coming back to help for weekend shifts. (No new volunteers needed at this time). Can't commit every week but want some hours? That works too. Please call or email Toni Westland or Katy Hosokawa. 239-472-1100 ext. 222
Keep up-to-date on Refuge re-openings and postponements during the pandemic at our dedicated web page.
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Whether you live on Sanibel Island or in a completely different environment in faraway places like Massachusetts or Georgia, we want to see what you're seeing in your habitat while you are staying safe at home.
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| | Thank you to Paula Sette from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, for sharing this image of a heron from her backyard. |
Please email your nature photos so we can share them in "Ding" on the Wing and by social media. Include details about the photographer and where the photo was taken.
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about becoming part of our monthly giving program.
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Thankful!
 A trying year has only made us more thankful for the support and love of our friends across the nation and around the world. With such amazing patronage, we have been able to keep things running at the Refuge, despite closures and staff attrition. We can't do it without you. Thanks for making a difference. We hope the Thanksgiving holiday brings warmth of hearth and good health to your household.
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Nature Store2 Opens
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DDWS Executive Director Birgie Miller, Nature Store Manager Ann-Marie Wildman, Vice President Sarah Ashton, President Mike Baldwin, and Nature Store Assistant Managers Carrie Harmon and Chris Galloway, with Chamber President & CEO John Lai.
The "Ding" Darling Wildlife Society celebrated its grand opening of Nature Store2
on Friday, November 20, with a Sanibel & Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting and weekend-long discounts, free gifts, and drawings. Winners of the prize drawings were Dr. Plate from Sanibel and Dawn Stevenson from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Both received beautiful, ready-to-hang wildlife photographs.
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| The new Nature Store2 resides at
2250 Periwinkle Way
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| | "Ding" Day visitors will be able to see CROW's live animal ambassadors while abiding by CDC distancing requirements. |
In deference to pandemic complications, this year's "Ding" Darling Day moved to December 1, in concert with the 75th Anniversary Celebration.
The Refuge has scaled back activities this year, in keeping with CDC protocols, to present a relaxed and engaging day outdoors interacting with nature.
Wildlife Drive will be open all day, from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., free of charge to all visitors. Environmental exhibitors and plein-air artists will be spread along the Visitor & Education Center parking lot, Indigo Trail, and Wildlife Drive that day. A Ding-O Bingo scavenger hunt will allow READ MORE.
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The Annual Meeting has been changed to a Zoom format for DDWS members only, starting at 1 p.m. To receive an invitation to the meeting, please email Birgit Miller, Executive Director
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The DDWS staff has been busy bringing the healing sunshine and beauty of the Refuge to the public through 30-second social media videos. Follow on Facebook to see our #DailyDoseofDing, brief virtual visits to the Refuge for those who can't make it.
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DDWS chooses a photographer or artist, member of the community, and Refuge staffer to judge the contest each year. This year photographer Sara Lopez, Bailey's wine steward Calli Johnson, and Wildlife Refuge Specialist Bob Gerwig judged.
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On October 19, three judges picked first, second, and third place and 12 honorable mention winners out of 128 entries in the 28th annual "Ding" Darling Day Amateur Photography Contest. A special display at "Ding" Darling Day will exhibit the 15 winners. Thereafter, you will be able to view them in the Visitor & Education Center or online.
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Manatee Mailbox will soon be "flying" to the Nature Store2!
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| | Jim and Patty Sprankle with the mailbox Patty painted titled
"Spoonie the Manatee - When manatees can fly" |
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DDWS Emeritus Board Member Jim Sprankle and his wife, Patty, are among the 16 artist and artist teams that Community Housing & Resources (CHR) has selected to paint and otherwise enhance a mailbox for its Manatee Madness fundraiser. The Sprankles' Roseate Spoonbill-inspired creation will soon grace the front of DDWS' newly opened Nature Store2 at 2250 Periwinkle Way as part of a self-guided art tour through March 2021. After that, the manatee mailboxes will be for sale to the highest bidders to support the mission of CHR. Once "Spoonie" arrives, come take a selfie with the Sprankle manatee and stop in to visit our beautiful new storefront, open Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
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 Year-End Giving
The past months have proven how important interaction and relationships can be to one's health. 2020 has shown us how quarantining, isolating ourselves, and social distancing can impact our physical and mental well-being. One relationship that continues to be consistent throughout these unprecedented times is our relationship with nature and wild spaces.
Now is the time to give back to nature what we have received through these difficult times. As 2020 draws to a close, year-end giving allows us to express gratitude for the role the Refuge has played in our survival these long months. Please take a moment to read our Year-End Solicitation Letter and make a tax-deductible donation that serves your health as well as the health of our environment.
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ADVOCACY IN ACTION
May You Live in Interesting Times
by Sarah Ashton and Jim Metzler, DDWS Advocacy Committee Co-Chairs
Whether correct or not, the phrase "May you live in interesting times" is often described as an English translation of a Chinese curse. The obvious irony of the phrase is that most people enjoy life more in uninteresting times that are typically characterized by tranquility, than they do in interesting times, which are often characterized by turmoil.
These are definitely interesting times for water-related issues. This follows in part due to the political uncertainty at both the state and national level. This uncertainty includes which individuals on a going-forward basis will be controlling and/or influencing water-related issues and how much resource they will assign to these issues. This also follows because there are many critical water-related projects, such as the C-43 reservoir, which will have a significant impact on the J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge, and are nearing completion. This article will provide an update READ MORE.
In Case You Missed It
SCCF announced receiving a grant through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to expand SCCF's research into HABs and their connection to Lake O releases. See more.
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| | Bill and Diane Valerian. |
This week we welcome Rex Martin & Lori Harris as Champion Level Sponsors and Bill & Diane Valerian as Guardian Level Sponsors. Here is the complete list of our wonderful sponsors:
Call of the Wild Level Sponsors
Champion Level Sponsors
Guardian Level Sponsors
Protector Level Sponsors
Defender Level Sponsors
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Blast from the Past
December 1, 2020, we take a look back, through historic visuals, at the past three-quarters of a century. This week we present our final Blast from the Past before the "Ding" Darling Anniversary Celebration. Thanks for taking a trip down memory lane with us each week.
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| | | Thanks to former Refuge Ranger Charles LeBuff for sharing this video of the 50th Anniversary luncheon. | |
In October 1995, the Refuge celebrated its 50th Anniversary with the theme "Partnerships That Work." The festivities began on October 27 with a luncheon headlining the late, legendary ornithologist Roger Tory Peterson as guest speaker at the Sanibel Community House. The following days were devoted to "Ding" Darling Day activities and a Refuge Rededication at Tarpon Bay Recreation Area.
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"Ding" Darling Theodore Cross High School Photo Contest
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"Changing Perspective" by Christina Walch from Cape Coral High won third
place in the 2020 contest.
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The eighth annual "Ding" Darling-Theodore Cross High School Photography Contest is under way with a deadline of January 15, 2021. It invites high school students in Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Glades, and Hendry counties to compete for prizes that include a Canon digital SLR camera package, chartered class trips to the Refuge, and copies of Waterbirds: Portraits and Anecdotes from Birding Adventures by contest namesake, the late Theodore Cross.
Guidelines and prize information are posted online. Call DDWS at 239-472-1100 ext. 4 or READ MORE.
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Perils of Plastic: Florida Sea Life at Risk
"For the first time, a study produced by the nonprofit ocean conservation organization Oceana reveals the extent of how harmful plastic can be to marine mammals.
 'In our report, there a lot of examples of what happens when marine mammals swallow plastic: lots of detrimental effects leading to, in the worst case, death,'lead author and Oceana senior scientist Kimberly Warner said. 'There's also quite a lot of pain and discomfort and sublethal effects by impacting or perforating the gut.'"
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'America's Best-Kept Secret'
In each issue of "Ding" on the Wing, we showcase one of the more than 560 refuges across the U.S.A. that is open to the public.
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| | Images courtesy of U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. |
Location:
17,500 acres; Marksville, Louisiana
Totemic Fauna:
Louisiana Black Bear, Arctic Peregrine Falcon, Bald Eagle
Visitor's Tip: Hiking is allowed in all areas open to the public, but please obey closed area signs to minimize disturbance to plants and animals.
Louisiana Black Bear cubs.
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| | | Photo by Gary W. Aber | |
Click HERE to see this week's wildlife sightings.
Green Herons recently have been spotted at the Refuge!
Did you know that Green Herons are one of the world's few tool-using bird species? They use tools to lure in prey.
To see more wildlife photos click on our social media links:
If you have taken any beautiful, interesting, or just plain goofy photos at the Refuge, send them to Development Officer Sierra Hoisington, for a chance to be
featured in upcoming newsletters.
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Nature Store Luminary Specials - December 4-11, 2020
National Bird Day - January 5, 2021
Volunteer Training - January 14, 2021
Go Wild for Jeopar-Ding - TBA
Clyde Butcher Book Signing - February TBA
Earth Day at the Refuge - April 22, 2021
Artist-in-Residence Exhibition - October-Mid-November 2021
Niki Butcher Photographic Exhibition - Mid-November-December 2021
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These are just snapshots of some of the things taking place at your Wildlife Refuge. Please check our website to learn more!
Sincerely,
"Ding" On The Wing composed by Chelle Koster Walton. Designed by interns Cait Nalley and Hollis Hatfield
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