Everglades, Day Six
Max Bader and Jeff Austen observe pelicans, spoonbills, egrets, herons, and other wading birds during the Advanced Ecology class's stop at Ding Darling National Wildlife Sanctuary. Here's an album of more of what students observed at this amazing refuge on Sanibel Island.
A green heron forages.
A yellow-crowned night heron cracks open a crab.
Professor Krohne answers Jeff Austen's questions about the behavior of the birds he is observing.
We didn't get very close, but we did see a manatee at Ding Darling (that's his flipper.)
A pelican makes a not so smooth landing.
A reddish egret looks for food.
An example of reddish egret foraging behavior. The prancing, jumping, running, and kicking stirs up the water and the fish below so that the egret can catch them. A lot of work for a small meal!
A running reddish egret.
A roseate spoonbill. During our visit, the Audubon Society announced that fewer than 300 nesting sites had been counted for these in the Florida Bay area, the lowest count since 1960 and an indicator of trouble in the Everglades ecosystem.
Items from Ding Darling's studio are part of the refuge's museum. A political cartoonist, Darling was instrumental in saving the land on Sanibel Island from development, and his urging led President Harry Truman to establish the refuge that today bears his name.