This morning 20 or so cold-hardy participants observed 41 species of birds
in the Beaver Lake environs. A Yellow-throated Warbler didn't wait for my
opening speech to draw arriving birders to the center meadow, eventually
demonstrating their song for all of us. A Hermit Thrush in a redbud tree
was another early highlight. At the windy overlook we had distant view of
dozens of Tree Swallows, and a small group of ducks - later determined to
be Blue-winged Teal and a single Lesser Scaup.
After a loop on the boardwalk, a handful of us made the bigger circuit of
the entire lake. With closer looks, we picked out several Northern
Rough-winged Swallows over the lake, and had closer looks at both swallow
species as they took brief perched respites. Brown-headed Nuthatches
delighted us at several locations along the 2 mile loop. When we hit the
dam/Glen Falls Road area, Seth Buddy pointed out a hole in a cliff of dirt
along the downstream Beaverdam Creek. On cue, a Belted Kingfisher emerged
from this nesting tunnel!
Our final highlight was a roosting Eastern Screech-Owl (red morph) in a
cedar tree cavity.
Don't miss the next free public BRAC walk on Saturday April 13th in Jackson
Park (Hendersonville) at 8am. It's a great time of year to see and hear
birds. :)
Checklist:
https://ebird.org/atlasnc/checklist/S167370854
Jay Wherley
Asheville
