Save the date for 31st annual ‘Ding’ Darling Day
Mark your calendars for this year’s “Ding” Darling Day birding and eco-festival at J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel on Oct. 20.
Free activities at the event will include refuge tram tours, live wildlife presentations, wildlife yoga, nature sketching, origami, archery clinics, hot dogs, a touch tank and butterfly house, and youth nature crafts. Federal Duck Stamp and Junior Duck Stamp winner presentations, plus conservation art award ceremonies, will take place throughout the day.
Recreation concession Tarpon Bay Explorers will offer free stand-up paddleboarding clinics in the morning and all-day discounts on kayak tours and boating excursions. Reservations are recommended.
The 31st annual “Ding” Darling Day celebrates the birthday of the refuge’s namesake, father of the Federal Duck Stamp program and Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, Jay N. “Ding” Darling. It will be part of the pre-celebration for the refuge’s 75th anniversary in 2020.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, “Ding” Darling Wildlife Society-Friends of the Refuge and TBE cosponsor “Ding” Darling Day with support from the local community and businesses.
Visit www.dingdarlingdays.com for updates on events, information on sponsoring “Ding” Darling Day, or to sign up for e-mail update bulletins. Contact Dot Voorhees at 239-472-1100 ext. 239 or dot@dingdarlingsociety.org to become a sponsor.