In case you haven't followed the Weather Channel, Florida has spent the last two weeks or so draped in a damp blanket of unseasonably hot, humid air...making migratory critters and humans alike wonder if they'd misread their calendars.
But no more! We had a strong cold front whip through on schedule last Saturday, and with it came lots of migrating birds from up north. Migrants love nothing better than a tailwind, and each successive cold front will bring more and more feathered friends our way between now and late November.
I took advantage of the opportunity by visiting Bunche Beach this morning, one of my favorite nearby birding spots. I was greeted by a parking lot full of cars--surprising, at 7:30 in the morning this time of year. It turned out to be a group from the Lee County Bird Patrol, doing their monthly bird count, augmented by some folks lured to the beach by the agenda for Ding Darling Days.
Ding Darling Days is an annual week-long program that celebrates the life and legacy of J.N. "Ding" Darling. In the early decades of the 20th century,when newspapers ruled the day, he was the nation's leading political cartoonist. He was also instrumental in the founding of the Duck Stamp program that even today raises funds for wildlife conservation, and served for awhile as head of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Commission under FDR.
Ding Darling National Wildlife Reserve, on nearby Sanibel, is named after him. Its learning center boasts a nice biography, dioramas, and artifacts of his life. It's worth a visit if you are coming by the reserve to observe birds and wildlife.
Bunche Beach, in the days of segregation, was the "colored beach" in Fort Myers. In 1948, Jim Crow laws were struck down and it became open to all. It's a favorite spot for black skimmers, herons, egrets, and a wide variety of plovers and other shorebirds. It boasts terrific tidal flats, easy access, and clean vistas largely devoid of signs of humanity. Only the Sanibel Causeway and the Estero Island skyline break the view.
Lee County is building "improvements" in the form of a snack bar and boat ramp several hundred feet up John Morris Road from the beachhead. I haven't seen the master plan, but I hope and expect that the new facilities won't adversely impact this crown jewel of Lee County birding.
Photograph: Reddish Egret takeoff from tidal inlet, Bunche Beach, Fort Myers, FL. 1/2000 sec. @ f/8, ISO 800. Canon 50D body and 500mm lens, mounted on a Gitzo tripod with Mongoose M3.5 head. ©2009 Geoff Coe / Wild Images Florida. All rights reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment