Famed birding editor, author to speak at 'Ding' Darling refuge

COURTESY PHOTO Thompson Bill Thompson III wows children with his "The Young Birder's Guide to Birds of Eastern North America." Each page spotlights a cool fact under the heading "Wow," in addition to describing in easy-to-understand terms how to identify, where to find, and what to listen for with each bird species.

Editor of Bird Watcher's Digest and author of "Identify Yourself: The 50 Most Common Birding Identification Challenges," Thompson will make a special guest appearance to speak about bird identification at 1 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19, in the "Ding" Darling Education Center.

Admission is free to the event, which is sponsored by the "Ding" Darling Wildlife Society, the refuge's non-profit "friends" organization, as part of its 10-week Thursday Afternoon Lecture Series. Seating is limited and available on a first-come basis. Future events are listed below.

For more information, or to become a friend of the refuge, call 472-1100, ext. 241 or log on to www.dingdarlingsociety.org. UPCOMING "DING" DARLING LECTURE SERIES EVENTS (* Book-signings will follow)

. *Feb. 19 - "Young Birder's Guide to Birds" by Bill Thompson III

. *Feb. 26 - "An Everglades Providence" by Jack Davis

. March 5 - "Snorkeling Florida" by Brad Bertelli

. March 12 - "The Refuge Past, Present & Future," Refuge Manager Paul Tritaik

. March 19 - Rick Bonney, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

. *March 26 - "Paving Paradise" by Craig Pittman and Matthew Waite