It's 7pm and I've just woke up from my nap since 4pm and having returned from
McCauley residence bathroom Rustic Bunting viewing complex in Leavenworth.
Bright eyed and bushy tailed now, I'm ready to start a 'new' day albeit dark
and rainy for the next 12 hours. I'd pretty much dismissed the Rustic Bunting
until I retrieved Ruth's message at 1:30 this morning -- just a tad late (or
early) to try and contact those asking about pooling to Leavenworth on this
snowy day (over there) and even Connie McCauley. After staying up and futzing
around for 3 more hours, I finally decided that I would totally hate myself
later if I didn't go and try for this thing again. Had a long leisure
breakfast at 4:30am, checked the Intellicast Washington weather site on the
web which showed nary a speck of precipitation anywhere in the state (lots in
Oregon though) despite the DOT radio report that it was snowing on Snoqualme
(they were lying I supposed -- the website is never wrong), and hit the road
at 5:30. No snow on the pass (I knew that) but snowpacked and a bit slippery
from the crest and on eastward to Cle Elum and the entire length of 97 over
Blewett to the 97/2 intersection where I made the required courtesy call to
Connie McCauley, hoping and gambling on that my coming by (in 10 minutes)
would be okay.

Not taking any chances this time and knowing the bird's (fairly) consistent
habit of visiting early, I was the first to arrive and on the spot at 8am. No
Rustic Bunting yet. 8:30 and still no bunting, Bill and Nancy LaFramboise
arrived. Like me last week they arrived 5 minutes too late as well. "Oh no!"
I silently thought to myself and fearing that history would repeat itself.
9:00, 9:30 (it's starting to snow by now, maybe a good sign we hope and the
bunting will get hungry), 10:00, 10:30, still no sign of the bunting -- just
the usual flock of juncos coming and going which we had all gotten quite
familiar with name. Ruth Sullivan had left Connie with a photograph of the
Rustic Bunting she'd taken last week, and we were thinking that maybe if we
just tacked that to a tree outside the bathroom window, we could just look at
that with our binoculars. More people arrive; Mike Donahue, Alan Knue, and
Alan Grenon. 11:00, zilch; we were already drafting the constitution for the
Bad Karma Club to include the losers elite (Bill and Nancy, Scott Downes, and
myself). 11:20, frequent glances at the watch as the window of opportunity is
closing and the snow is piling up, and ancy thoughts start drifting towards
the pass conditions for those of us yet to head west. 11:30, Alan Knue gazing
out the east window in the stairwell yells, "There it is!" A mad scramble
ensues and sure enough with a sigh of relief, the Rustic Bunting sits there
all alone in the bushes. My first impression was a kind of "That's it?!?" as
at the distance and partially hidden, it looked more like a rather non-
descript sparrow and I'm thinking all this time invested in pursuit of this
little beastie is maybe just a little bit crazy.

The Rustic Bunting then flies to join the juncos in the trees and bushes
outside the bathroom viewing areas and provides better and quite satisfying
views. A new wave of people suddenly arrive, Andy Stepniewski, his Mother,
Meredith Spencer, and Rick Hendrick, and of course get to see the bird
promptly. Some people just don't have to work for anything; in, 'tick', and
out so to speak :-) Over the next 45 minutes or so, the bunting was to be
seen moving about with the juncos and at one point spent several minutes
perched in a small shrub a few feet outside the lower bathroom window
providing most satisfying views of the finest detail. The longer I held the
bird in view in the bins, the more I found the bunting that much more
attractive and distinctive than my initial passing reaction. The lighting was
excellent and much better than last weeks dip thanks to the bright whiteness
in the fresh falling snow which actually enhanced the views of the Rustic
Bunting and detail. The reward was definitely worth the wait.

12:30, the Rustic Bunting has been quietly sitting in a shubby tree behind one
of the Ponderosa Pines for several minutes, when suddenly there's an explosive
burst of flight and everything flies toward the house and downstairs bathroom
window. For an instant, the bunting is 10 feet away again in the nearby
shrub; before I could catch my next breath, a blurry dark form streaks through
the middle of my field of view like a lightning bolt from above and plunges
deep into the base of the shrub about 6 inches off the ground. Momentarily
unsure of what happened and who got nailed, I'm thinking a Sharp-shin. The
Rustic Bunting is gone and then I realize that it's that mean ol' marauding
Pygmy Owl again making it's first appearace of the day. I yell that the Pygmy
Owl had just made a kill right outside the window. No response. I keep
yelling, no response. Everyone's gone already! Appraising the situation and
dreading the worst, ...catastrophe!...
......tune in tomorrow for the outcome........................
:
:
:
:
:
Oh, I guess I can't leave you hanging. That would be cruel. .....turns out
the Pygmy Owl had just punctured the life out of the............ no,
relax........... ....a female junco. Phew! I ran upstairs to see who might
still be around and found Meredith, Rick, and Connie in the kitchen. By the
time we returned to a window overlooking the scene of the crime, the owl was
gone and gone with it's prize. So, for now, at least as of 12:30pm Sunday
January 17th, the Leavenworth Bathroom Rustic Bunting was still alive and well
but doubtlessly shaken. Death to the junco surely must have been
instantaneous and it didn't have a chance. It was hit and hit really hard and
I could see it's needle like talons clutching the bird firm and deep; the
junco didn't move a muscle nor was there even a burst of displaced feathers.
Pretty impressive sight to actually witness such a tiny but efficient predator
in action upon a small songbird. Sobering really when one considers that the
Rustic Bunting could be next on the menu.

I figured that was the grand finale for the day and it would be quite awhile
(or tomorrow) before the flock returned and the Rustic Bunting might be seen
again. Home via Steven's Pass, snowing all the way to the upper west side
slopes, then rain downslope from there, but everyone was on their best
behavior and there were no accidents, spinouts, or close calls to report.
Quite a good and memorable day actually. Thanks again Connie McCauley for the
warm and enthusiastic hospitality and for opening your house to all of us
crazy birders.

Richard Rowlett (Pterodroma at aol.com)
47.56N, 122.13W
(Seattle/Bellevue, WA, USA)