Paige Mulhollan passed away in Fayetteville this
morning. Paige was my adviser in the History Department at
UA-Fayetteville when I was an undergraduate in the late 1960s. He left
Fayetteville for a career in college administration. I got
to know him better later, after he and Mary Bess returned to
Fayetteville in retirement. We came to birding as a second career.
The Mulhollans have been active in all manner of
natural history pursuits. Their interests extend beyond to wildflowers,
butterflies, the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks, etc. Among many other
generous uses of time, Paige served on the board
of Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society.
Several years ago Paige, Mary Bess, Mike
Mlodinow, and I birded around Maysville in January. Paige was chauffeur.
Somewhere around mid-day we got to the handistop and a sparrow
conversation, specifically Lincoln's Sparrow. Why do we have
such a hard time finding them in winter? While we sat in the car,
someone, maybe Paige (?), spotted a small brown bird in the yard. It was
one of those mid-winter Lincoln's! Who would have predicted? We enjoyed
it from the warmth inside the car.
Paige has been party chief for an important
sector on the Fayetteville CBC. Besides Paige, the party includes Mary
Bess, son Kelly, his partner Donna (both birders, both outstanding
musicians renowned as Still on the Hill). The party also
includes some of Kelly and Donna's famous musician friends who, like
Paige, have wide interests and a broad view of life. We look forward to a
Mulhollan party on the 2012 Fayetteville CBC.
Several years back I was recipient of a
Mulhollan call about a truly unheard-of winter bird here: Painted
Bunting. I just couldn’t believe it. I rushed over, was ushered into the
bedroom, and there by cracky! The unexpected with the expected:
a green Painted Bunting, feeding inside a window box with juncos.
