Birding tours and Family Fun Day are highlights of “Ding” Darling Days.
Save the date for 27th annual “Ding” Darling Days
Mark your calendars for this year’s “Ding” Darling Days birding and eco-festival at J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island, Florida, the week of Oct. 16-22, 2016.
Family Fun Day kicks off the week with free activities on Sunday, Oct. 16. It features all-free refuge tours, live wildlife presentations, archery clinics, hot dogs, a touch tank and butterfly house, and kids’ nature crafts.
Conservation Art Day winds up the celebration on Saturday, Oct. 22, with visits from Federal Duck Stamp and Junior Duck Stamp winners and nature art workshops.
Free and discounted birding, biking, kayaking, paddleboarding, sea life boating tours, and interpretive presentations will fill the week between the two events.
The 27th annual “Ding” Darling Days celebrates the 140th birthday of the refuge’s namesake, father of the Federal Duck Stamp program and Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, Jay N. “Ding” Darling. The refuge invites the public for free birthday cake and showing of the “America’s Darling” documentary film starting at 11 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 21.
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, “Ding” Darling Wildlife Society-Friends of the Refuge (DDWS), and Tarpon Bay Explorers, the refuge’s recreation concession, cosponsor “Ding” Darling Days with generous support from the local community and businesses.
Visit www.dingdarlingdays.com for updates on events, information on sponsoring “Ding” Days, or to sign up for e-mail update bulletins. Contact Birgie Miller at 239-292-0566 1-239-292-0566 or [email protected] to become a sponsor.
As a non-profit 501(c)3 organization, DDWS works to support J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge’s mission of conservation, wildlife and habitat protection, research, and public education through charitable donations and Refuge Nature Shop proceeds.
To support DDWS and the refuge with a tax-deductible gift, visit www.dingdarlingsociety.org or contact Birgie Miller at 239-292-0566 1-239-292-0566 or [email protected].
