Florida Junior Duck Stamp Judging @ J.N. Ding Darling NWR

Sanibel, FL (76 degrees, cloudy, balmy)

Last fall John and I came back to the refuge for Ding Days, a week long celebration. We attended the Duck Stamp presentation and met the winner of the Federal Duck Stamp and Junior Duck Stamp competition.  (click on link to read this post)

On Thursday I was able to watch the Junior Duck Stamp judging for the state of Florida which is held here at the refuge.  It was so interesting.  Over 3000 children in Florida competed. and the drawings have been flooding in by mail all winter.  Our ranger, Becky Wolff and her staff, do an amazing job coordinating this event and encouraging teachers and students to participate.  This year there were over 3000 entries, a new record!  Becky was featured on the local news a couple of days ago.  Her enthusiasm for the program is so evident.  Click here to see the broadcast.

The original Junior Duck Stamp competition started on Sanibel in 1989 and is now a national competition. The winner of the national competition is made into a stamp which is sold by the U.S. Post Office for $5.  Proceeds from the sale of the Junior Duck Stamps are returned to the states for environmental and conservation educational programs.   (The first Federal Duck Stamp, a different competition for adults, was designed by J.N. Ding Darling in 1934)

Junior Duck Stamp Judges and Becky Wolff

There were five judges who look at all the entries.  The drawings were displayed by an age range on long tables and each judge was given poker chips to place on their favorite ones.  These were collected and the narrowed down age group are again reviewed by the judges. There are several rounds of this and then the judges give a point score for the remaining twenty finalists of that age group.

Kindergarten - Third grade

K-3rd grade

Judges choosing their favorites (initial round)

Patty and Jack (resident volunteers) helping Becky 

Grade 7-9

Judges looking carefully at the top five finalists

Then at the end the top entries from each age group were again judged and a best of show was determined.  Judges used magnifying glasses to determine how it would look as a duck stamp.  Bird ID books were available for reference.

The best of show was  determined and the winning artists name is  Megan Zou.    She is  12 year old middle school student from Miami. Her winning drawing was of a Wood Duck and it is stunning. Her drawing will now be entered in the national contest.  Good luck Megan.  It sure looks like a winner.

Junior Duck Stamp Winner - Wood Duck

Finalist (all ages)

We were all very impressed by the entries.  I'm so glad that I didn't have to judge since they all looked like winners to me.   

Here is some general information and rules for the contest -  website.

Fun Times In Florida With Family, Friends, and Previous Workampers

Sanibel, FL (61 degrees, chilly, cloudy skies)

While we have been volunteering at Ding Darling this winter several visitors have stopped by to see us.  What fun!  We love showing our friends and family our beautiful "backyard".

John and Martha

A family tradition-taking your picture taken in this chair on Captiva Island

Our first visitor was John's sister, Martha.  It's always great to see her. This time, however, she had a bad cold and many of our plans were cut short. Sheesh!  Sometimes the body does not cooperate with travel plans.  It was still great to see her and we had our belated Christmas together.  Martha lives in Sao Paulo Brazil so sometimes we have our holidays on a different day.  It's always a good day when presents are involved.

Our next visitor were a couple from a FMCA club we belong to called Cuatro Estados (Four Corners).  It's a very active club which offers some great rallies out west.  We've been in Florida much longer than originally planned but have continued to keep our membership in hopes of joining them this fall.  Barry and Jann contacted us by email and although we have never met before they had heard from other members we had in common...kayaking, birding, photography, Dutch Star motorhome, dining out, and a love of full timing.

We got together several times during their one month stay in Ft. Myers.  We went kayaking down the Estero River, joined a Audubon bird walk at the Bailey Tract, toured Ding Darling, and ate out together several times at our favorite restaurant called Skip One which offers super fresh seafood food at reasonable prices in Ft. Myers.   

Kayaking Estero River (Barry & Jann)

John, Jann, & Barry

This fall we hope to join them out west at a rally they are sponsoring at the Mohave National Preserve. We enjoyed each others company very much and look forward to seeing them again soon.

Sue & Mo -cheers!

Abby swimming at the beach

A fellow blogger I've followed for many years also stopped by for a visit.  Sue writes an excellent blog (The MOHO and Other Travels) and it was so great to meet her, Mo, and their great dog, Abby.  They attended my alligator/crocodile talk and afterwards we searched for Spoonbills without success.  However, they took it in stride and later in the evening we had a nice dinner outside. Wine was involved and lots of laughs could be heard late into the evening from out campsite.  What a fun day!

Pat and Diana

A "lurker" who has followed our blog for several years also contacted us too. Again we met at Skips One and enjoyed hearing about their full time travels.  They recently started their journey and seem to be really having a great time.  This time they knew a lot about us since they've followed our blog. However, we didn't know them at all.  It really didn't seem to matter. This has happened several times now and when you to explain to folks who don't blog that you're meeting someone you've never met...well you get the look..."are you nuts".  Not at all!  It's delightful and we've made many friends this way whom we treasure.  

Me and Sharon

Mark and John

Two special trips were made to meet up with past workampers who are in Florida for the winter. You might remember our friends from Sheridan Lake at the National Forest Campground near Mt. Rushmore.  Sharon and Mark have now stopped full timing after spending one last season at Sheridan Lake.  They will soon move into an apartment near the area where Mark grew up in Iowa  They are very excited about this fork in the road and Sharon is busy dreaming of how she's going to decorate her new place.  Currently they are renting a nice park model in Sarasota. It was great to see them again. Mark drove us all around to some of their favorite places in Sarasota.  

We also visited our workamping friends from KOA @ Watkins Glen in the the Finger Lakes of New York. Fidencia and Tom have purchased a cute vintage trailer on Anna Maria Island. They have fixed it up in such a nice way and the other trailers around them are equally adorable.  Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures.  They live within a couple of blocks of the restaurants and beautiful beaches. They plan to stay at their trailer each winter and workamp in the summer.  It was so good to see them.  Tom is very happy selling some of his beautiful walking sticks and very cool painted coconuts at craft festivals.  He is so talented.

Jen

Our daughter Jen also came for a brief visit to interview for some jobs in Tampa Florida.  She set a goal of never spending another winter Indiana.  With a lot of persistence and courage she landed a great job which will start in a few weeks.  Having Jen here in Florida will be wonderful. Looks like we might be involved with moving her in soon.



We've been blessed by the visits from our friends and family.  Thank you so much for stopping by. Life is good!

Mondays Are Always Fun With The Caloosa Bird Club

Sanibel, FL (72 degrees, cloudy)

Tigertail Beach

John & Is

This summer several of our friends (Is, France, & Gail) encouraged us to join the Caloosa Bird Club when we returned for the winter season. We took their advice and are so happy we did.  Birding is a new hobby for us and there is so much to learn. This club has been meeting since 1958 and has very active members.

Black-crested Night Heron (Six-mile Cypress)

The outings are organized from  November - April and you meet each Monday at locations all over southern Florida.  One or two members lead the trip and afterwards we have lunch together discussing what was seen  Ken Hodges does a great job organizing all the events.  About 30-50 people attend and it's like going on a guided bird tour, only its free.  John and I would have walked by many of the birds we saw and this club has some very experienced birders who know all the best hot spots.

Green Heron  (Green Cay -our club mascot)

Least Bittern (Green Cay)

Gail & France (SRA-5)

Some of the trips involve an overnight stay and one was a full day bus trip to Green Cay (our favorite).  Most, however, are within a couple of hours driving distance. Getting up very early in the morning is required  I'm not a morning person but I rarely grumble because it's so worth the effort.  Well, not too much.

Meadowlark (STA-5)

Here is a list of the trips we've attended:

• Tigertail Beach/Marco Island/Collier County
• J.N. Ding Darling NWR/Sanibel Island
• Pine Island preserve/Pine Island/Lee County
• Sarasota Celery Fields and Myakka River
• Circle B Bar Preserve, Polk County (overnight)
• March Trail (Formerly Oil Pad Road) Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk
• Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve
• STA-5
• Green Cay (bus trip)

Click on the following link for some great information and maps of birding  "Hot Spots" provided by the Caloosa Bird Club

Black-necked Stilt & Snowy Egret (STA-5)

Black and White Warbler (Wakodahatchee)

Painted Bunting (Green Cay)

I didn't have my new camera for most of the trips so my pictures are not very plentiful.  Birding requires a much better camera with a good zoom.  I've loved my Panasonic Lumix but have found it difficult to get a good shot since birds move quickly or are far away.

White-winged Dove (Green Cay)

 Even if you are not a birder the natural beauty of the places we visited make the trip worthwhile.  

Green Cay

Six Mile Cypress

Circle B Bar Reserve

And, of coarse you can see more things than just birds....

Wild Pigs (Six Mile Slough)

Alligator (J.N. Ding Darling NWR)

So, I guess it really is official...we really are birders.  We are looking forward to a few more trips with them this season and will join up as soon as possible next winter. Thanks you Caloosa Bird Club for making us feel so welcome and enriching our love of birds and their habitat.

Six-mile Cypress

"Falling in love with the Earth in one of life's great adventures"

Steve Van Matr

My New Camera Has Inspired Me! Photographs Which Are Certainly Blog Worthy

Sanibel, Florida (67 degrees, cloudy, rain)

Love Birds

We have been volunteering at J.N. Ding Darling NWR for almost three months.  It's been a wonderful experience and the time has gone by very quickly.  One of the great benefits of being here has been the opportunity to attend the lecture series given by Ding Darling (Friday) and in addition, the Audubon Society (Thursday). 

Great Egret Eggs

One of my favorite lectures was given by  Donald & Lillian Stokes who publish lots of great guides about birding.  They live on the island and their free program was excellent offering great tips on photography and birding.  They recommended a camera recently developed by Canon called the SX-50 which offers a tremendous zoom, amazing photographs, ease of use, and best of all a great price. Taking close up pictures of birds in the past required a fairly significant outlay of money for long lenses. Lugging these around and changing them back and forth really did not appeal to me.  This camera is lightweight and gets a close up photo which certainly facilitates identifying a bird much easier.  I finally convinced John that I NEEDED one and have been playing around with it for a couple of weeks.  

The pictures I'm taking are blog worthy.  So, I've recommitted myself to writing again. Todays photographs were taken at the Venice Area Audubon Rockery.  There is a little island in the middle of rockery which is grand central station for nesting birds of all kinds right now.  These photos are of a very vocal baby Great Egret.  Seeing the action up so close is really a treat.  Binoculars are hardly necessary.  

Hello ...I'm hungry

Is anybody listening??

I'm starving to death...can't you tell.  

At last....thanks Mom!

Over the next week I'll write a few posts about what we have been doing and great visits we have had with friends.  Plus, we will update you on some of our upcoming travel plans. Stay tuned!