Subject: [Tweeters] McKay's Bunting Vancouver
Date: Dec 27 06:31:19 2004
From: Pterodroma at aol.com - Pterodroma at aol.com


Ladyshrike writes:
> I did almost nothing yesterday....

Well, I had quite a good day yesterday (Friday). I went, I saw, I conquered,
then I left and was back home in Bellevue in time for LUNCH! An amazing
whirlwind trip, 312 miles round trip plus 5 miles round trip walk to the tip of
the south Iona jetty and back. If only ALL rare birds could be this easy! The
Vancouver McKay's Buntings (see pictures of these very same birds at:
<A HREF="http://www.birdinfo.com/A_Images_M/McKaysBunting_0001.html">
McKay's Bunting</A> http://www.birdinfo.com/A_Images_M/McKaysBunting_0001.html)

Up at 3am, coffee, downloaded & printed the pictures from the mentioned site
(I figured I'd travel "light" -- just fold this up and stick it in my pocket,
pack a rain jacket and umbrella and leave the scope and books behind), and I
was on the road at straight up 4am. No delays at the border (Blaine) and I was
at the Iona gate just off the northwest corner of the Vancouver airport at
6:45. Closed! What?!? F### !! Gate opens at 8. Nap?, eat?, sightsee? I
decided to sightsee (cruised around the Vancouver airport terminal just to see
it) then off to find a McDonalds for a couple Egg McMuffins. I was back at the
gate at 7:25 at very first light and miraculously it was "OPEN." I found the
south jetty in the sort of dark and commenced the 4km (2-1/2mi) walk out to
the tip. Beautifully calm, 43F, and it looked like the rain was done for the
day but I carried along my umbrella anyway -- 2-1/2 miles IS still a long way
away if it did decide to rain.

What a spectacular user friendly jetty -- if only all jetties could be
designed like this one! Flat, paved / gravel, with little rain shelters and benches
along the way. You actually walk on top of a HUGE sewage pipe which has been
paved over and is so good even a wheelchair could navigate it easily. It was
a 59-minute walk to the tip. Highlights enroute were the numerous Barrow's
Goldeneyes right up against the rocks which afforded spectacular looks, a huge
mass of 10,000 restless Dunlins all packed in one spot sitting and flying
about (no Curlew Sands, I checked looking for white rumps), Bald Eagles, and other
stuff. When I walked down the steps at the large concrete bunker at the end,
I instantly heard the twitter of "snow buntings" and upon rounding the
corner, it literally was INSTANT GRATIFICATION as the very first thing I saw sitting
there on one of the rocks was the glowing white adult male MCKAY'S BUNTING!
It was so obvious standing out like a sore thumb and utterly impossible to
miss. So ridiculously easy! Actually, the whole "gang of five" were all right
there together -- two McKay's (adult male and female) and three Snows so calm
and tame I could walk right up to them to within 3 or 4 meters! They flitted
around a little from rock to rock allowing nice definitive views of the
underwing and comparative wing tips but were perfectly content to stay put at the end
of the jetty where they've been now for at least two or three weeks. Five
minutes later, despite the clearing in the west, it decided to rain -- a
'sneaker' shower from the east which started out as sprinkles soon turned into a full
on steady cold east wind driven rain and wasn't about to let up any time
soon. With mission accomplished, the left the 'gang of 5' sitting right there and
started the trek 'home'. The umbrella saved the day as it rained all the way
back to the car and growing darker still in the east and I made for fleeing
the Republic of British Columbia in the pouring rain which continued unabated
all the making the 99 roadway a scary hydroplaning nightmare in spots all the
way border. South of the border the rain stopped and it was fine and dry all
the way back, home in time for lunch at 12:30, then a well deserved nap. I had
kind of expected to see lots of other birders there, but no one at all. The
place was all mine. Where was everyone? Returning Christmas gifts I suppose
...or maybe off doing CBCs somewhere.

What's next? Maybe the Kent Baikal Teal if it makes itself a little more
dependable and findable and like the Olympia Redwing and Vancouver McKay's, not
require more than a half-day effort.

Richard Rowlett
Bellevue, WA