PINETOP-LAKESIDE – Mary Ellen Bittorf was President of the White Mountain Audubon Society (WMAS) for a quarter of a century. Whenever someone spoke of bird watching, her name would always come up. In 2019 she decided it was time to give the hammer, but where should the club find someone as knowledgeable and passionate about birds as Bittorf? Well, they didn’t have to use their binoculars to look far – avid bird watcher and board member, Mary Williams was remotely elected as the new president during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Williams grew up in Wisconsin, where she enjoyed “feeding and finding birds” before making her way to Arizona.
She earned her Masters in Administrative Leadership with an emphasis on adult education from the University of Wisconsin and worked for a large company in marketing / public relations, which enabled her to travel across the country. She served as an adjunct professor at a community college while living in Florida and at Southwestern College, now Arizona Christian University, after moving to the Phoenix area in 2002.
While she didn’t graduate with ornithology, it was certainly a hobby that she could pursue anywhere. Ten years ago she started a bird club at the resort where she and her husband drove in East Mesa RV. She organized and led excursions in the Phoenix Valley and the Green Valley, Patagonia and Sierra Vista areas.
For the past 15 years, the Williams have been active RVers at Juniper Ridge, between Show Low and Taylor. Last winter, they decided to try a park model instead and found it to be to their liking.
Williams was already immersed in the mountain’s bird life during those RVing days. She volunteered and coordinated the Navajo County Global Big Days (formerly Northpast Navajo C American Migratory Bird Count) and recently took on the role of Navajo compiler for the country’s longest running community science birds project – the Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count . She was an active eBirder who was the Top 50 eBirder in AZ and Top 25 in Maricopa County on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s most recent annual lists. It now claims its status among the top 10 eBirds in Navajo and Apache Counties.
Now that events are open again, Williams has put together a five-part series called Birding the White Mountains that began in May and will last through September. The series takes place on the last Friday of the month at 6:30 p.m. in the City Council Chamber of Pinetop-Lakeside. Each series is followed by bird migrations to different locations the next morning at 6.30 a.m.
The June meeting was hosted by Williams himself and it was about hummingbirds, a favorite topic of many. The surprise was when we learned how many species of these tiny birds there are in the White Mountains.
The next morning, while the Balloon Festival was underway, a group of seven Williams from WMNC, led by Board Member Ron Miller, joined for the excursion. They were only able to walk a 0.8 mile loop to the Big Springs entrance at the amphitheater due to the forest closure, but could still see some species in the pond. The group loved it because they actually spotted 30 different species on this walk.
The next series talk will take place on July 30th with a bird walk on July 31st.
The general assembly also takes place every first Wednesday of the month at 6.30 p.m. in the council chamber. Each meeting has a guest speaker and everyone is welcome. A person doesn’t have to know anything about birds to come, but he will surely learn about them.
The next general meeting will take place on August 4th. John Wilson, a Taylor college freshman who wants to become an ornithologist and is the # 1 eBirder for 2020 and leading Navajo County’s # 1 this year, will speak about the Eagle Watch program.
At the September 1st meeting, Lorna McNeill-Cox from Forest Service will speak about the strange and wonderful wildlife of Fool Hollow and the surrounding area.
Local filmmaker and writer Barb Davis will present one of her feature films on October 7th. Dan Groebner of the Arizona Game & Fish Department will speak about bird calls on November 3rd.
The final meeting of the year, December 1st, will be the election and party and will feature a power point presentation of Sue Sitko, former Northern Arizona Conservation Area, on their trip to the Texas Birding Coast.
“I am honored and excited to serve a small and growing charter of the National Audubon Society – a 116-year-old organization engaged in the study of birds and the maintenance and restoration of the natural ecosystems they need. There have been alarming reports of massive bird population declines, disease and extinction. We need to remember the old “canary in a coal mine” stereotype, identify the contributing factors, and work to improve the environment for our own health and that of the birds. As the new WMAS President, I am grateful for the work of previous officers and directors, especially our former President MaryEllen Bittorf, who started our chapter in the 1970s, ”said Williams, who is a birdwatcher and definitely more than qualified To be president of the ASWM.
Comments are closed.