https://sabo.org/ash-canyon-bird-sanctuary/
Mary Jo passed away over Memorial Day weekend in 2019. I didn't know Mary Jo well, but we have been lucky enough to have visited her on several occasions since the fall of 2015. What I do know about Mary Jo is that she was a gracious and knowledgeable host. She opened her yard up to anyone who to enjoy the many birds that visited her property. On almost every visit, she came out to talk to us. In addition to enjoying her company, I always walked away having learned something new about the birds that visited her yard. I can only imagine the thousands of people from all over the world who visited her home over the years and the countless lifers that they saw there. She didn't write books and she wasn't a guide, but she was just as well known. It didn't take long for her name to be mentioned in just about any conversation about hummingbirds. And it's no wonder, her yard is the best place in the United States to see a Lucifer's hummingbird, and that is no exaggeration. As if that wasn't enough, you could also see a number of other hummingbird species, Scott's Orioles, Arizona Woodpeckers, Bridled Titmice, and more recently Montezuma Quail. Both her and her feathered visitors are special. She will be missed. I didn't take many pictures at Mary Jo's; it wasn't the focus of our visits. Until the past year, there were two areas of her yard where visitors could sit and enjoy. One was in front of the large tree in the top picture. She had hummingbird feeders hung all over it, each one numbered, so that excited visitors could indicate to others where to look among the flurry of activity. The Lucifer Hummingbirds are usually quick to feed and leave, but if you pay attention while watching the feeders you will notice that when they fly in, their wings make a different noise than the other hummingbirds. The second area is along her back patio with brush piles, squirrel feeders, bird feeders, a water feature, and of course, more hummingbird feeders. The orioles, sparrows, and other songbirds prefer this area. It's also where an occasional Violet-crowned hummingbird would show up, which is where I first saw my first one. On more than one occasion, she had a trusting family of turkeys that would show up for dinner and wait as she went inside to get their seed. She told us that the parents started bringing them by as hatchlings (poults). Recently, she had opened up a third area behind the chairs that face the large tree laden with hummingbird feeders. She had created paths, a photo blind, put in plants, and added more brush piles. I think this was to accommodate the Montezuma Quail that had recently returned to her yard. She told us that Lucifer Hummingbirds used to nest near her yard and Montezuma Quail were regulars before the fire in June 2011, which destroyed much of the lower habitat in Ash Canyon. Since the fire, Lucifer hummingbirds visited less regularly, if at all, during the nesting season. She surmised that changes caused by the fire forced them to build their nests too far up canyon, which put them out of range to visit her feeders during the periods of nesting to fledging young. They could still be seen regularly before and after the nesting season as they came up from and before returning to Mexico for the winter. They still weren't nesting nearby, but the Montezuma Quail had finally returned! While we watched two adults pick at the seed she had thrown out for them, she told me to try to get a look at their large feet. She said that an important part of their diet included roots that they dug out of the ground. I had no idea! I figured quail mainly ate bugs, berries, and seeds. I was unable to get a picture of the quail during our visit last fall, so I am going to break one of my rules and include a picture that we took in late October 2011 of the lookout of a covey in the Davis Mountains in Texas. Besides Mary Jo's, this is the only other time that we have seen Montezuma Quail. There was always something to see and even if the birds weren't particularly abundant, it was a relaxing and pleasant place to just be. On one of these occasions, when a Sharp-shinned Hawk was perched in front of her house (that I initially ID'd as a Cooper's Hawk), she taught me to look at the position of the eye in relation to the bill. It's a lesson that to this day has served me well in distinguishing the two similar species. Update: In November 2019, the Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory (SABO) purchased Mary Jo's property. It remains open to the public except on Thursday mornings. More information can be found here:
https://sabo.org/ash-canyon-bird-sanctuary/
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The Melrose "Woods" are a small stand of cottonwoods and poplars surrounded by grasslands in eastern NM. These woods are known as a migrant trap because during spring and fall migration, unusual birds tend to turn up here, most likely because this small stand of trees stands out among the grasslands. There is a cattle tank on the front of the property that has water and in the woods hummingbird feeders and two bird baths (made of steel drums) are kept filled with some water. There are no bathrooms or potable water sources. Come prepared. Aside from gas stations in the smaller towns, food can be found in Clovis and Fort Sumner. The property appears to be an old homestead with one remaining small structure and the remnants of a stone wall. From what I could gather, the land is owned by the state of New Mexico and it appears to be open to the public. There are not any "No Trespassing" signs, purple paint, or any other indication that this is private land. I was apprehensive about visiting, and even more so when I got there and saw the place, but it turned out to be an enjoyable afternoon of birding. The woods are located about 11 miles west of the town of Melrose. There are no signs or markers, just a small drive and metal gate. There was very little information online and I had hesitated to go because I didn't want to get there and find out that it was private property or that I couldn't get in. Since it was an eBird hotspot and people were reporting from there regularly, I decided to give it a whirl. I pulled up and my heart sank. A locked gate. I turned to my phone to try one more search of how to get in but the signal was not strong enough. When I walked up to the gate, I saw that the chain on the left side could be opened. Be sure to resecure the gate behind you. The first time, I walked through and left my car parked off to the side in the little driveway. After walking the road and stopping to take pics of all the great wildflowers, I got to the trees to find a small parking area and habitat that looked like snake heaven. Shoot. I would need go back to the car and get the jeans and hiking boots that I had brought. This time, I drove through and parked under the cottonwoods. The large cottonwoods were alive with Western Kingbirds, a few Bullock's Orioles, and Kestrels. Everything else, the warblers, flycatchers, and sparrows, were in the poplars. From where I parked, there did not appear to be an easy way into the woods. The area between me and the woods was low to tall brush and lots of wooden and other debris. I decided to pick my way east to the grassland and figured that I could at least bird the perimeter. After I got out into the open and birded most of the eastern edge, I found an easy way into the woods at the back of the property. When I got back to the car after working my way around the western edge of the woods, I looked to the north (in the direction of the small structure) and suddenly a number of small paths leading directly into the woods became obvious. I had walked around looking for an easier way in for quite a while earlier, but somehow I had missed them. Despite my earlier misgivings about snakes, and I'm sure that there are plenty here, I only startled one as I passed by this trail on my way back to the car. I hadn't found the Grace's or Virginia's Warblers that I had come looking for yet, so I decided to take the path back in to the woods. Once you get inside, the woods are fairly open and easy to maneuver. Despite a few hiccups along the way, it was a pleasant area to bird. I didn't get the warblers that I had come looking for, but I was delighted to find a Gray Flycatcher, a Hooded Warbler, a few Wilson's Warblers, a Yellow-breasted Chat, a Nashville Warbler, a Yellow Warbler, a hybrid Yellow-rumped Warbler, and several MacGillivray's Warblers (ahhh my old nemesis bird :), at least one Lincoln's Sparrow, several other flycatchers, and more. When I came out of the woods around sunset, two pairs of Kestrels were calling from the Cottonwoods. The land owner behind the woods had spooked a Great Horned Owl earlier and I came across a feather as well. For those who are also interested in insects and plants, there were plenty to enjoy.
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September 2022
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