Hi Tweeters -
I spent the morning north of the border in BC, enjoying great looks
at some of the star birds up there. Had I not dawdled in the Blaine
area on the way home, I could have matched Richard Rowlett's earlier
report of making it to Big Mac & back by lunch.

The birds:
Iona South Jetty:
MACKAY'S BUNTING - one female, in with 3 SNOW BUNTINGs - Present &
easily observed for ages at the end of the jetty -As has been
reported, the male MacKay's seems to have become falcon fodder.

I gather there's been some question about how we could tell whether
this female is a hybrid bunting or not, but it sure stands out from
the nearby SNBUs - no brown on the mantle, white rump & nape, proper
tail pattern, and even the brown on the coverts was much paler than
the SNBUs & frosted w/ white. That said, I had a hard time even
finding a picture of a winter female MacKay's, so I'd enjoy hearing
about any further discussion on this bird.

GRAY-CROWNED ROSY FINCH - 3 present & feeding with the buntings at
the end of the jetty.

COMMON REDPOLLS - at least 2, maybe more, with a flock of siskin
along Ferguson Rd. on the north side of the airport.

Boundary Bay, 72nd St. Dike Entrance:
SNOWY OWL - just north of the entrance, very close to the pathway.
Heavily marked w/ black.

And a couple other second-hand birds I didn't see but thought I'd
throw in to encourage others to make the drive:
GYRFALCON - 2 local birders mentioned this as pretty reliable around
96th or 102nd along the Boundary Bay Dike trail.
RED KNOT - apparently one is present at the base of the Tsawassen Jetty.

Maps for all these locations can be found in the WA ABA guide, p.
143-150. [Big thanks to whoever decided to include that bit of BC in
the guidebook on behalf of folks like me who don't have BC maps or
guidebooks]


Happy 2005,

Matt Bartels
Seattle, WA
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