From the land of the yellow-crowned night heron and the roseate spoonbill, let me greet you. I've been blogging this past week from Sanibel Island, on the Gulf of Mexico off the west coast of Florida, where the chief attraction is the J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge. So to those of you who regard my mind-set as disgustingly political, how's this for a change of pace?

The "Ding" Darling preserve is one of several hundred national areas designed for wildlife and not for people. Although there's a road and many paths throughout the giant area, there are no accommodations or food services. You visit the preserve simply to view wildlife in the raw -- here consisting of two hundred species of birds that feed on fish and crabs in the estuaries scattered throughout the preserve -- without interfering with their exclusive ownership of the entire domain. Just minutes ago, I saw a heron stalk, catch and then devour a crab that had been peacefully making its way across the marshes.

J.N. "Ding" Darling was a nationally-syndicated political cartoonist of the Des Moines Register in the 1920s and 1930s, a man violently opposed to the politics of Franklin D. Roosevelt, but also a fierce conservationist. It says something about the brilliance and character of Roosevelt that he chose Darling to head up a federal bureau that eventually became our U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. In charge of that agency, Darling not only created scores of National Wildlife Refuges but also fought and defeated the real estate developers who were just then discovering and developing Sanibel Island.

Darling succeeded in saving a large part of Sanibel from the builders of condos, who were mainly relegated to erecting these lodgings for transient visitors along the beach, but not inland. My wife and I have been enjoying one of those moderately priced condo rentals this week.

I can't imagine a more compelling National Wildlife Refuge than "Ding" Darling. Its atmosphere is magical, its lakes (estuaries) and marshes are the scene of an endless theatrical experience as you watch hundreds of colorful and large birds (pelicans, especially) make use of the food and protection that the Wildlife Refuge affords to them.

January-through-March are the peak months here, but the wildlife are active and in attendance throughout the year, as are the lodgings, restaurants and shops concentrated away from "Ding" Darling. An hour south of here is Naples, Florida, which some have claimed to be the fastest-growing city of the United States. But here the atmosphere is far more laid-back and quiet, almost "small town" in feeling, and the big thing to do consists of searching for shells on the beaches after you have spent several hours at "Ding" Darling.

I'll be returning to New York City and all the fierce travel issues this Saturday.

Write and read comments about this post.

Labels: florida, parks, sanibel