Subject: [Tweeters] Okanogan County - Light Bunting Photos - McKay's?
Date: Mar 5 12:56:08 2008
From: Dennis Paulson - dennispaulson at comcast.net


Hi, Ron and tweeters.

The bird you photographed is presumably just a male Snow Bunting
coming into its breeding plumage. They start the winter looking very
brown, and as the winter passes, the brown feather edgings wear off,
and the bird becomes whiter and whiter. Eventually it will be
entirely black and white, with no trace of brown; check out your
field guides. I would say that's what your bird shows. A McKay's
Bunting becomes almost entirely white when it wears off the traces of
brown on its winter feathers. These buntings are early breeders and
early migrants, and they show up on their arctic breeding grounds
long before the snow has melted.

Dennis
-----------
Date: Tue, 4 Mar 2008 18:12:57 -0800
From: "rmcclsky" <rmcclsky at mindspring.com>
Subject: [Tweeters] Okanogan County - Light Bunting Photos - McKay's?

A group saw a light bunting on Cameron Lake Rd. on February 17
reporting it as a McKay's Bunting. Meredith Spencer reported seeing a
bird consistent with the first on March 2.

This morning about 11 AM I took several photos that I believe may
show the same bird. They were taken on the south end of Cameron Lake
Rd., just before heading down the hill to Hwy 97. They turned out
much better than I thought they would. :')

Take a look. I look forward to the comments. Photos here: http://
canondigitalslrs.com

I put up the ones showing the light bunting. More will follow soon.

Best wishes,
Ron McCluskey
Cheney, WA
rmcclsky at mindspring dot com


-----
Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115
206-528-1382
dennispaulson at comcast.net



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