Recent birding, an interesting duck...

When some local birders stumbled upon a Cinnamon-looking Teal at Lake Junaluska on the morning of April 3, I can imagine their surprise. This bird turned out to be a beautifully-marked Cinnamon x Blue-winged Teal hybrid. After birding in Henderson and Buncombe counties most of the morning, I decided to stop by Lake Junaluska on the way back to Cullowhee, completely unaware of the interesting birds that had been publicly reported from there just minutes earlier. Lucky for me I ran into Paul Super, a local birder, as soon as I arrived at the lake. He generously informed me of both the teal hybrid and 3 Surf Scoters (a rare enough bird at such an inland locality) that were on the lake. Almost immediately, he was able to scope out the scoters with a small raft of Ruddy Ducks towards the middle of the lake. An Osprey that flew over at this time was a newly arrived migrant for this area. Paul had to run, and informed me that the hybrid teal had flown off towards the western part of the lake a short while before I arrived. So, we parted ways and I began to walk along the path on the lake's north shore towards the vehicular bridge. I soon stumbled across about 10-12 Blue-winged teal fairly close to shore, in which there was one bird that looked awful weird. I put my bins on it and, lo and behold, it was the Cinnamon x Blue-winged! Quite a pretty bird; it could be described as a cinnamon colored teal with fairly heavy patterning on the flanks and a faint head pattern resembling a drake Blue-winged Teal's.

                                      Cinnamon x Blue-winged Teal male, Blue-winged Teal
                                      female (center) and male (right)

A nearby Red-breasted Merganser provided me with another new Haywood county bird...

                                          Female Red-breasted Merganser

That morning, I started at Jackson Park in Hendersonville, NC where migrants weren't really around yet, except for 2 singing Blue-headed Vireos, a singing Pine Warber, and a couple of Blue-winged Teal. Winter Wrens, Hermit Thrushes, and Swamp Sparrows were all in song, which provided a somewhat musical start to the morning. I did a quick drive through of Hooper Lane after that, in which the best thing I found was a male Northern Harrier. Guess I should've spent more time here, for an American Golden-Plover was found at this spot later in the day. A few quick stops around the Asheville area produced some good birds as well.

Some noteworthy birds from 4/3:

Cinnamon x Blue-winged Teal-1
Surf Scoter-3
Red-breasted Merganser- 1
Double-crested Cormorant--several, Lake Julian, Asheville
Northern Harrier-1
Osprey-1
Greater Yellowlegs---3, Westfeldt Park, Henderson/Buncombe county line.
Solitary Sandpiper----1, Westfeldt Park, Henderson/Buncombe county line. FOY for me
Wilson's Snipe--------9, Westfeldt Park, Henderson/Buncombe county line.
Bonaparte's Gull-----about 12, Lake Julian, Asheville
Eastern Screech-Owl-1, peeking out of a nest box at Beaver Lake Bird Sanctuary, Asheville
Fish Crow------------1, vocalizing in the parking lot of Lake Julian Park, Asheville. Close to several             American Crows, giving a nice size comparison. Hard to find in the mountains, although this seems to be one of the best places.
Yellow-throated Warbler---1, singing at Beaver Lake Bird Sanctuary, Asheville
Rusty Blackbird ------5, Westfeldt Park, Henderson/Buncobe county line.