J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge

ABOUT THIS PLACE

President Truman set the ground aside by executive order in 1945 as the Sanibel National Wildlife Refuge. It was renamed in 1967 for Jay Norwood Darling, a newspaper cartoonist who wintered on Captiva and who used his standing in Washington to stop the sale of Sanibel land to developers. Wildlife Drive runs four miles through mangrove, mud flat and open water, with an observation tower part way along, and it can be driven, cycled or walked. More than two hundred and forty bird species have been recorded here, and the roseate spoonbills are what most people come with a camera for. The refuge protects part of the largest undeveloped mangrove ecosystem in the United States, and Congress has designated a large share of it as wilderness, which means no roads and no machinery in those sections. There is a visitor and education building with exhibits, and a bookshop run by the friends group that funds much of the work. Wildlife Drive is closed every Friday without exception, which catches out a good many visitors, so plan the week around that. Low tide brings the wading birds in close and is the hour worth aiming for