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It had always been referred to as Paton's Place, or more specifically, Paton's Hummingbird Haven. In the early 1970s Wally and Marion Paton noticed a Violet-crowned Hummingbird (an uncommon species) in their backyard, so they decided to put up some feeders. And the rest, they say, is history. When birds (not just hummingbirds) started visiting their place, they decided to open their premises to the public, just asking for donations to maintain the feeders. Wally passed away in 2001 and Marion in 2009. Their daughter, Bonnie Paton Moon, decided to sell the property to the Tucson Audubon Society who promised to continue the legacy of her parents.
We have visited the Paton's Hummingbird Haven four times in the past 10 years. It was one of the birding areas we went to outside of California when Cynthia and I were still new in our our birding adventures. Here's a composite of the photos taken there through the years. Top left was in 2005, top right in 2006, lower left - 2007 and finally lower right, 2015.
As expected, Paton's backyard was teeming with birds. Spring is not best time to see hummingbirds in Arizona so there were only a few at the feeders. We only had a glimpse (and no picture) of the resident Violet-crowned. Compensating for the lack of hummingbirds, we had great looks at the other local birds. One of them was the colorful Lazuli Bunting
and Northern Cardinal.
The most common bird was the rather drab Pine Siskin.
Other visitors were the White-winged Dove
the Gila Woodpecker
and the Curve-billed Thrasher.
After having our fill at Paton's we visited Patagonia Lake. This is a huge State-run park and there were picnic tables and even an RV Camp. The good news is there is also a wilderness trail - and this is where the birds are. The most common of which - so common that every hundred feet or so, there will be at least one of them busily hunting for insects - the dynamically colored Vermillion Flycatcher.
The reed-filled lakeshore hosted three species of ducks:
The Gadwall
Cinnamon Teal
and the Green-winged Teal
A sure find at the lake is the uncommon Neotropic Cormorant.
This was the end of our 2 full-day birding trip to Arizona. Going back to Paton's place brought back nice memories. We were glad that the local bird clubs were taking good care of this place and continuing to preserve the efforts of Wally and Marion Paton.
Oct 8, '06
It's only about 50 miles away, so we thought we would revisit Patagonia, AZ. The trip was uneventful except when a rock hit my windshield causing a sizable 'break". The damage was not that big, but it would still cost me more than $200.00 to have my windshield replaced. "Not again!", I exclaimed, since this was the second time it happened. But Cynthia reminded me of what the Pastor preached yesterday, saying that God is always with us, not matter what happens.
We got to Lake Patagonia at about 8-ish in the morning. We disembarked from the parking lot which was just a few feet from the trailhead. I was setting up my gear when a family of deer meandered by. Of course, they were gone as soon as I was ready to shoot. This has become a recurring experience for me and would probably be the theme of my photographic life - the ones that got away.
There was another birder as we hit the trail, a lady named Epstein (forgot her first name). She was intent in viewing something flitting through the mesquite in front of her. As is customary among birders, we asked her what she was looking at. In soft, whispery voices, naturally. "Northern Beardless Tyrannulet", she whispered back. Now there is name that invokes a million questions. In the United States, it is only found here in Southeast Arizona, why then is it called "Northern"? And what is it about being "Beardless"? I have not seen a bird with a beard. Wattles that hang from their chins, maybe, but never a beard. Why then call the poor thing, "Beardless"? Did it have a beard before, shaved, and is now beardless?
Other than the curiously named bird, Lake Patagonia did not offer much. Our trip to the same place in February of last year was a lot more productive. It being close to lunch time, we headed for the town. Patagonia has only one street and not a lot to choose from when it comes to places to eat. We ended up at the hotel where we stayed before and had ridiculously priced sandwiches for lunch. Actually it was cheaper here than at the first place we ventured into. We should have gone back to the Velvet Elvis and enjoyed the special pizza served by its Mexican owner.
Our next stop was Paton's place. This is a world-renowned private residence that allows birders to view the many bird feeders placed strategically all across their yard. Again, we've seen more kinds of birds here last year than we did that day.
It was quite a disappointing day. We just chalked it up to experience and still vowed to return someday when the birding (and hopefully, the eating) would be better.
