Hi all, I spent the morning birding Cherry Creek S P. I always try to pay it a visit when I'm in Denver because it's nearly always rewarding and today was no exception.
I entered the park at the Cottonwood Creek trail and began with the "new" wetlands. They weren't hugely productive, with a pair each of Am. Avocet & Wilson's Phalarope, and three Least Sandpipers being about it for shorebirds. >From there, I proceeded in toward the wetlands immediately east of the model airplane field. I had great difficulty crossing the road because of some cycling event in progress! I finally got a gap in the bike traffic and got over to the little pull=off overlooking the wetlands. The wetland was full of waders. There were 8 or 9 Plegadis ibises present and to my delight, the first one I clapped my binoculars on was a Glossy Ibis. I didn't get perfect looks at all of them, but all the rest I did see well enough to be sure about were White-faced Ibis. I'm assuming this is the same group reported by Joe Roller about two weeks ago, although there do not seem to have been any further mention of them. Although initially cooperative, my presence must have been a bit intimidating and they flew and mostly resettled themselves into less conspicuous places. I would not be surprised if they have been present, but reclusive, in the interval since their initial discovery. There was a Black-crowned Night-Heron and a Snowy Egret in this area, as well. All three teal species were present, including a gorgeous male Cinnamon, but only Green-winged was numerous. >From there, I proceeded north along the west side of the lake and was rewarded by a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. Although I've been to Cherry Creek several times over the years, I'd never seen one in Colorado before, and had considered it a bit of a jinx bird. To fall back on that cliche, "it never rains but it pours" I saw two more during the course of the morning! A group of 6 Eared Grebes was a nice sighting from the birding trail overlook. From there, I reversed my direction and worked my way around the south end of the lake. I had great opportunites to study Yellow-rumped Warblers. I saw many Audubons, and at least two Myrtles, and a definite hybrid with yellow confined to the throat and white extensions onto the "cheeks". Your Yellow-rumps, like your juncos, are much more interesting than they are further east! I had a couple of sightings of Say's Phoebes as I worked my way around the lake. Eventually, I reached the beach & fishing areas on the other side. While scanning, I found a pair (or at least, two fairly near each other) of Clark's Grebes among a dozen or so Western Grebes. As the temperatures were cool, there were many swallows flying low over the water. Cliff was the most abundant by far, with a goodly number of Barn, and very small numbers of Bank, Northern Rough- winged, Tree & Violet-green--I think I literally had one of each of the last three species. Nearby, I had a sighting of a swift. It looked like a Chimney Swift, and I would have unhesitatingly called it that had I seen it at home, but I would have assumed it was a Vaux's Swift here. As I say, "would have" until I saw the post from Eric DeFonso! Now I'm not sure *what* to think. Can anyone enlighten me on swifts in the Denver area? I then headed back toward the way I'd come, getting a look at a couple of Orange-crowned Warblers and eventually seeing an initially somewhat hard-to-see Yellow-breasted Chat. I paused at the new wetlands and found the Least Sandpiper numbers had increased to a dozen, and a Semipalmated Plover had also materialized. Cheers, Rob Parsons Winnipeg, MB CANADA [email protected] (temporarily in Arapahoe County) -- 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] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en
