Mystery Tour: November 20, 2025

Simon was in town for a week, so we decided to run a couple of day trips. This one was designed to enjoy some of the best and most productive birding hotspots in the area. As it’s early winter, we decided to hit open-country locations starting with Lake Julian Park. A small pulse of waterfowl had already moved through earlier in the week with only a few remaining at the lake: Bufflehead, Ruddy Duck and Gadwall. An adult Bald Eagle was perched high in a pine and a noisy Red-shouldered Hawk called from the top of a dead tree.

Our second stop was a relatively new location in the area. The Mouth of Mud Creek is a new reserve protected by Conserving Carolina and open to walkers and birders. We walked the small loop finding Fox, White-crowned, White-throated, Song, Savannah and Field Sparrows, as well as a soaring Cooper’s Hawk in comparison with a Black Vulture! A nice surprise was 5 Palm Warblers feeding along the path- quite late for Western North Carolina, although it was warm enough to feel like it was still summer!

A quick stop at the Mills River Water Treatment Plant produced a single Ring-necked Duck and a quick stop at the farm on North Mills River Road is always dependable for the small colony of Eurasian Collared-Doves.

We finished the day with 60 species - not bad for late fall/early winter and the trip report can be viewed below.

The checklist can be found here:  https://ebird.org/tripreport/434350

Looking for ducks at Lake Julian