The engine soon quit, but the plane flew on - one engine less, and on a wing and a prayer, according to Hemink. The plane landed safely. While Hemink's wife, Ellen, isn't a birder like her husband, she is tolerant of his hobby. Her lack of enthusiasm could stem from the fact that birders will often get up at 3 a.m., travel for hours by bus, then walk for several miles to the final site. After all of the effort to get to the target site, there is always the possibility that the bird will not show up.
Birders are thrilled, however, when it does.
An example of a no-show bird is also the story of one of Hemink's more interesting journeys to a site. Last summer he and a group from ABA rode horseback up the side of the Ruby Mountains in northern Nevada. When they couldn't go any farther on horses, they dis-mounted and climbed to just below 10,000 feet where they waited for the Himalayan snow cock to present itself for viewing. The bird didn't cooperate, however. It was heard - but never seen.