Where the Birds Are: Sanibel Could Have Been A Contender for The Big Year

If you have the slightest interest in birding, or the slightest interest in traveling, you have to see the movie, The Big Year.

It shows dramatically and often quite humorously, the lengths that serious birders will go through to see a bird and add to their list of check offs.

And to make the movie totally true to form, the scene shifts from beautiful location to beautiful location. Well, ok, maybe Attu Island in Alaska left some aesthetics to be desired..but still.

The one disappointment, however, was that Sanibel was not one of the locations.

It baffles me that beautiful, tropical, pristine and natural Sanibel was not one of the birding locations, especially considering that there are dozens and dozens of birds to be seen.

And unlike the birding that takes place in this delightful film, birding on Sanibel Island is relatively quite easy.

You get up early, place yourself where a particular species is known to be sighted, and chances are pretty good you will get what you came for.

People come from all over the world to discover and enjoy Sanibel's abundant nature, and birding is on the top of the list for many of them.

All that said and done, the bird watchers in The Big Year will now be watched themselves. “Ding” Darling Wildlife Society-Friends of the Refuge (DDWS) will show the The Big Year and host author Mark Obmascik during “A Big Night – Dinner & a Movie” starting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 21, 2012, at the Sanibel Recreation Center at 3880 Sanibel-Captiva Road.

So if you missed the movie or want to question why Sanibel was not one of the locations, now's your chance!