Raccoon Ridge Bird
Observatory
wishes to extend our deepest sympathies to the
Hughes Family
for the loss of
Martin Hughes
Oct. 5, 2007
Dorothy Hughes
My mentor, my friend - Dorothy (Dot) Hughes died last night, June 24, 2005.
I first met Dot in 1977, when I went to visit the Raccoon Ridge Bird
Observatory, located within the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area in
northwestern New Jersey, just a forty-minute drive from my home. As a budding
writer, I went there with all the professional intentions of writing a good
feature article. Instead, I became so involved in what I experienced, that the
article was pushed to the back of my mind.
Dot was on the porch of the historic stone house that the National Park Service
had provided as a home base for the Observatory, with an ovenbird cradled gently
in her hand. I watched as Dot banded the bird, took weight and measurements,
checked the plumage for parasites. She handed it off to me then, showing me how
to properly hold it for release. As it flew off across the lawn, Dot turned to
me and offered to teach me how to band birds. My life changed at that moment,
and I am forever grateful.
Dot quickly became a close friend, and for many years I considered her my
'second mom.' She not only taught me about bird banding, but she nurtured and
encouraged my interest in natural history. She made sure I - along with the
numerous interns that came to RRBO, put in our time in the library, working on
the life history forms for all the birds species we would be handling. She
encouraged me as a writer, but caused me to cringe when she introduced me as a
"field biologist." "Well you are," she would chuckle. She was a retired biology
teacher, and she taught me well.
 I became the Assistant Director of RRBO. There were only five bird observatories
in the United States at that time, and I was given a unique and fascinating
opportunity that enriched my life and helped shape who I am today. Dot touched
many lives by introducing people to the wonder of birds, natural history,
wildlife research, and of course, bird banding.
Dot and I ran the banding program, rehabilitated hundreds of birds and animals,
kept the records and filed the reports. We shared so many hours in the field -
surveying for bald eagles, picking up injured birds and animals, releasing
rehabilitated birds, scouring old book stores to add to the library. We
organized projects and programs, trained interns and volunteers. One year we
hosted a field trip and demonstration for the Eastern Bird Banding Association's
annual meeting in nearby Pennsylvania, and each fall we sponsored a hawk watch
from High Point and the Kittatinny Ridge.
And the children! Group after group, sitting in a circle on the front lawn,
while we showed them blue jays and catbirds and grackles. Dot was always gentle,
always kind, always patient. If something got her dander up, she'd make two
fists, or throw up her hands and say "Wheeeeeeeeee!" And we'd laugh.
We traveled together: to the museum at Yale to look at study skins; to Manomet
Bird Observatory to learn more about banding and running such a facility; to
veterinarians with injured birds; to seminars and workshops on banding; to pick
up mice for the rehabilitating raptors; to schools to give programs; and to
Breeding Bird Atlas Project meetings in Vermont, at a time when Atlasing was a
new idea in this country.
Dot had a fiery spirit and wasn't afraid to take on any project or task she
believed in. She was not easily intimidated either, and we shared many laughs
over the raised eyebrows that 'a little old lady in tennis shoes' could leave
behind her. Just dare to tell her she couldn't do something...and watch out!
The first NJ Breeding Bird Atlas Project was a perfect example of this Spirit
and determination. No one thought that it could be done without a 'properly
funded organization' running it - but Dot proved them wrong. Hundreds of
volunteers throughout the state participated in the project, from 1980-1985. Dot
spent the last years of her life revising and adding to the books - three
volumes of Atlasing data and a tremendous contribution to the ornithological
records of NJ.
When her husband's illness forced Dot to close RRBO and move to Florida, I
didn't see her for many years, but we did keep in contact. Then as fate would
have it, I moved to Florida myself, to be near my own ageing mother. I ended up
living just 10 miles from Dot. She was working on the Atlas books, and I helped
her proofread and edit. We'd go to the Fish Market by the airport and over
chowder, discuss possibilities for the boxes and boxes of banding data Dot still
had in her garage.
When I started banding again in Florida, and organized the Old Myakka Bird
Observatory, Dot was there to help. It was strange at first, having the tables
turned. I was the master bander now, the Director of the Bird Observatory. Dot
was excited that I was establishing a bird observatory, and continuing to band
birds..her first love. She advised me on how to do things, suggested how to
approach projects and ideas that I had in mind. She brought the donuts on
Saturday, and encouraged and talked to the trainees and sub-permittees that came
to band there. She sewed bird bags, and made special covers for our nets, to
protect them against the hot Florida sunshine.
Last year, my own husband wanted to move back to his birthplace in Kentucky. For
us, it was the right thing to do, and so I closed Old Myakka Bird Observatory,
said goodbye to Dot, and moved north. But Dot taught me well, and so I just
started over. We kept in touch, talking on the phone every few weeks. She was
delighted that I was going to continue. We made plans to possibly return to the
old RRBO site in NJ to do some banding there again during migration, maybe in
the fall.
Dot began to have some health problems. In early June, I received word that she
was expected to pass away, possibly in as little as a few days. I left the next
morning for Florida, and although it was difficult, I am grateful that I had the
chance to see her. She knew who I was..held my hand, and said to me, as she
always did when she was happy about something I'd said or done, "Bless your
heart."
I can say without a doubt that this beautiful woman did more to influence my
life path than anyone I have ever met. I sometimes wonder where I would be
today, what I would be doing, if we'd never met - and I can't imagine what that
would be.
This morning, just before I received the news of her passing, I released two
orphaned blue jays back into the wild. Not surprisingly, I thought of Dot as I
did this - remembering the many blue jays we had rehabilitated at RRBO and
released in a similar manner.
Now, I can't imagine a day of birds and banding in my future without thinking of
Dot Hughes.
Bless your Heart, my Friend.
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