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/
2 Comments
Linda Patton
8/7/2020 02:19:33 pm
Hi Hummer people,
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Found Nature Blog
8/7/2020 05:45:08 pm
Hi Linda! I do not live in Sierra Vista, but this should be the start of prime fall hummingbird migration! We enjoyed our stay at the Sierra Suites several years ago and at the Best Western Plus Sun Canyon more recently. The Southeastern Bird Observatory (SABO) owns this property now. You may have luck asking them your questions, too. Hope you have a wonderful time if you decide to go! https://sabo.org
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