Great blue herons and killdeer patrolled the mudflats. The ubiquitous American coot battled the feral mallards and other domestics for free grub while common loons, grebes, mergansers and cormorants cruised the drawn-down shallows for fish. While there were no species that would be considered rarities, two species are rather infrequent visitors at Junaluska. Some red-breasted mergansers and horned grebes probably stop over at the lake every year during fall and spring migration, but they can be hit or miss unless one keeps a good eye on the lake. There were four horned grebes and six to eight red-breasted mergansers on the lake last Saturday.
Shorebirds are even harder to come by for mountain birders.
Great blue herons and killdeer are fairly common, but for sandpipers, yellowlegs and other plovers, habitat is at a premium. One of the most reliable areas in the region for shorebirds is the Hooper's Lane area of Mill's River. Super Sod, sod farm and surrounding fallow croplands provide suitable habitat for migrant shorebirds. Lesser golden plover, upland, pectoral and buff-breasted sandpipers are some of the shorebirds recorded from Hooper's Lane. Another WNC area known for shorebirds is Ferguson Bottoms along the Tuckaseigee River, just east of Bryson City in eastern Swain County.