Hello, tweets.

Jay Withgott, who also saw the two Snow Buntings I reported from the
shore of Harrison Lake, wondered more about the oddness of one of the
birds, which was paler than any Snow Bunting in my memory and differed
dramatically from the bird accompanying it, and speculated that it
could be a hybrid with McKay's Bunting or possibly even an immature
McKay's. So far we haven't been able to find enough information to
confirm that McKay's ever have this much in the way of markings on
them. The head and underparts look much like McKay's, but the
upperparts, although very lightly marked, are more heavily marked than
any McKay's, live or photo, that we've seen, and the wings have much
more dark color in them than is typical of McKay's (and probably
eliminate the possibility that it is a pure McKay's). The bird may just
be an extraordinarily pale Snow Bunting, but the two species are known
to hybridize.

Sorry I can't send attachments to the list and don't have a web site at
home to post the photos of these two birds. I can post them on the
Slater Museum web site but not before next week.

Birders who live anywhere near Harrison Hot Springs and are interested
in this pale bunting might want to check to see if the birds are still
around, on the walkway around the circular lagoon at the lake shore.

Dennis
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Dennis Paulson & Netta Smith
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115
206-528-1382