<< Back 12/18/02 Nature Notebook SMN Birds: ° As the water disappears from Lake Junaluska, so do the numbers and species of waterfowl. The following is a list of species recorded from Lake J over the past week (pied-billed grebe, horned grebe, great blue heron, killdeer, American black duck, ruddy duck, red-breasted merganser, hooded merganser, red-tailed hawk, sharp-shinned hawk, and belted kingfisher, from personal conversation and observation) ° Some area rarities (western grebe, Lake Julian, Asheville reported by Jonathan Mays and others, last seen 12/15, short-eared owl, Hoopers Lane in Henderson County reported to Bob Olthoff 12/11, long-tailed duck (formerly oldsquaw), at Musick’s Campground along South Holston Lake, reported on Tennessee birds listserv, last seen 12/15) ° Immature red-tailed hawk trying to intimidate an American Kestrel into dropping its prey, but could not keep up through the treetops; blue jay, American crow, Carolina chickadee, tufted titmouse, white breasted nuthatch, house wren, winter wren, Carolina wren, northern mockingbird, robin, hermit thrush, eastern bluebird, northern cardinal, eastern towhee, field sparrow, white-throated sparrow, fox sparrow, swamp sparrow and song sparrow (roadside and adjacent spoilbank at intersection of Francis Farm Road and Old Asheville Hwy., Don Hendershot 12/15) ° Check the outdoors calendar for area Christmas Bird Counts