Doug Kibbe and I were on a mission to find a Swamp Sparrow at Cherry Creek SP this morning and did find one in the last place we looked. Scanning the reservoir, we were surprised at the paucity of non-grebe waterfowl and gulls, but did find one Bonaparte's and one adult Lesser Black-backed Gull. We drove to the eastern edge of the campground, hiked over a large berm and down into the long, linear ditch that I have been wanting to inspect for decades. We walked east, along and through the willows and cattails to where that ditch goes under the Parker Road. It was dry and held a few White-crowned Sparrows, American Goldfinches, ten BC Chickadees and one Song Sparrow, but not what we had hoped for. We next tried marshes at the SE corner of the reservoir. No luck.
We then walked east from the Prairie Loop in the SW corner and checked every marsh along the south shore until we came to a large marsh just west of Cherry Creek itself. There a single adult basic plumage Swamp Sparrow responded quickly to a recording of its calls. It never stayed in view for long, so we got no photos. The site is difficult to describe, but I am going back there tomorrow with Steve Kennedy to see if we can find an easier route to that site and adequate directions. He is leading the DFO trip to Cherry Creek this Saturday. Thanks to Doug for wanting to march on when I was ready to bag it. Moments later we found the bird. Joe Roller, Denver -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
