Temperature - 28 C
Humidity - 93%
Cloud Cover - very light almost none
The JN "Ding" Darling reserve is located on Sanibel Island just off the Gulf coast of Florida. The reserve covers 21km squared including one of the U.S.A's largest undeveloped Mangrove systems. In 1974 the park became part of the U.S.A's National Wildlife Refuge system. The refuge has been named after the famous cartoonist Jay Norward "Ding" Darling. He spent a lot of his time at his summer house on Sannibel Island. He created the first "Duck Stamp" which was a large stamp that the public had to buy in order to be allowed to hunt. The profits from the duck stamps were recycled back into conservation. The refuge recently auctioned off an original Ding Darling duck stamp with the highest bid reaching $65,000.
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| Map of the JN "Ding" Darling National Refuge - Sannibel Island |
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| A White Pelican coming in for landing |
The Refuge sits upon the migratory path of many bird species, perhaps most notable of all is the White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrohynchos). It is much larger than it's relative the Brown Pelican and can be seen in quite large numbers at the refuge. The Refuge is immensely popular with a total of 245 species being counted. This may be because it has a very diverse water system, with brackish lakes, Mangrove forests and open freshwater. Many invertebrates thrive in the brackish waters. However, development inland has seen more freshwater enter the refuge and leech into the brackish lakes. This decreases the salinity and kills huge swathes of the invertebrates. With the decline in invertebrates comes the decline of waders as many depend on the invertebrates to feed on.
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| A Brown Pelican hunting |
We were led through a boardwalk that cuts through a mangrove system. Here was saw a Cuban Tree Frog (Osteopolis septentrionalis) resting in a small bole in a mangrove. The Cuban Tree Frog is an established invasive species that has a shorter gestation and development cycle than that of the native tree frogs. This is very problematic as the Cuban Tree Frog predates on the native species and because of their shorter development time can easily out compete the native species.
We came to a small observation tower and from here we observed an Anhinga nest along with a roost of white Ibis (Eudocimus albus). The male displayed a bright green eye patch that is used in courtship between the Anhinga pair. Anhingas often nest over water to help with predator evasion however it is not uncommon to see Aligators waiting beneath a nest in case any of the chicks fall into the water below.
Our guide emphasised the importance of volunteer workers which are employed in their hundreds to help maintain the park. The park does not have enough profits to be able to support many full-time staff so it must rely on volunteers. The profits that are made from the souvenir shop go directly into the Ding Darling conservation budget and this provides the refuge with vital extra income. The park also possesses a "Wildlife Drive". This is where people can pay a small fee to drive along a road that takes you through the heart of the reserve and allows you to see many different species of wader such as the Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja). The wildlife drive is closed on Fridays to allow the wildlife to feed in peace and to allow the refuge staff and volunteers to make maintenance checks on the facilities within the drive and assess the health of the wildlife.
On our trip through the wildlife drive we came across a very charismatic bird. It was a Reddish Egret (Egretta rufescens). It was running sporadically back and forth through the shallows with it's wings held up almost like an umbrella to reduce glare on the water surface. The purpose of doing this was to scare any fish in hiding out into the open where they could then be caught. This was extremely entertaining to watch!
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| A Reddish Egret holding it's wings up to held reduce surface glare on the water. |
A little further along we stepped out of our minibuses and looked into the shallows. Here we saw many small Atlantic Horseshoe crabs cruising along the bottom of the brackish lake. We observed male crabs pursuing female for several minutes until copulation was finally achieved. Again we saw the bank was littered with horseshoe crab carcasses proving that these crabs are a vital part of the food chain in Florida as they seen to be heavily predated.
As we progressed further along the drive we came across a small bridge where a West Indian Manatee was spotted close to the surface. We all scrambled out to get a better view as it slowly swam directly beneath us. You could see many scars on it's back and this may indicate previous injury from boats that are famous for killing many Manatees as collisions are quite common. In order to try and prevent these collisions, speed limits have been introduced in areas known to be refuges to Manatees, this gives the Manatees an opportunity to swim deeper or simply get out of the way.
Barefoot Beach Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) White Mangrove (Avicennia marina)
Black Mangrove (Avicennia germinans)
After the Wildlife drive we left the JN "Ding" Darling national wildlife refuge and headed to Barefoot Beach. As you walk to the beach you pass through a small Mangrove forest on a Boardwalk. Mangroves are an essential habitiat to Florida. They provide many birds with perfect areas for hunting, nesting and roosting and act as a nursery for many species of fish. As a habitat they are globally endangered. In Florida you find the Red, Black and White Mangrove. The different Mangroves have varying tolerances to saline/freshwater. The Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) is seen growing the furthest out to see as it is capable of storing salts within it's leaves which it then sheds as to avoid being poisoned from the high salt levels. A little further inland you find the White Mangrove (Avicennia marina), this is tolerable to both freshwater and saline conditions but does not have the capacity to deal with salts in such an effective manner as the White Mangrove. Finally the Black Mangrove (Avicennia germinans) is the one that grows most inland. it is very intolerable to saline conditions and will therefore only grow in inland areas. As we were walking through the Mangroves we could begin to see this separation of Mangrove species as we progressed closer to the shore.
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| Diagram illustration the dispersal of Mangrove species in Florida |
Whilst walking along the boardwalk we began to here screeching coming from behind the treeline. we craned our necks up and saw a Bald Eagle rowing itself through the air with large broad strokes of it's wings. We then saw a pair of Ospreys, dwarfed by the Bald Eagle, come up and begin mobbing the eagle. The Ospreys were nesting not so far away and they immediately deemed the eagle as a threat to the young or eggs that were sitting in the nest.
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