First, the Baird's: Location: Prairie loop, Ch Crk SP. If one views the
Prairie loop as an eyelet (like a screen door hook and eyelet latch), and if
one enters at 6 o'clock, the bird was at 7 to 8 o'clock. Identification
included size, short streaking, particularly the lateral neck spot, back and
neck streaking.
I was at Cherry Creek from 8 until 11 AM 5/12, always under moderate steady
rain, and almost all time spent creeping up on sparrows.
The park is semi-flooded. Flooding extends over the road where Cherry Creek
itself crosses it. Pairs of geese sat by the road, some likely with
underwater and eventually nonviable eggs. Temperature 38 degrees. The
Cottonwood Creek Pond was overflowing, and 20 plus ibises were standing to
the north side of the road.
Having birded this park since 1974, I was happy to see one lark bunting on
the road out to the firing range. But in the Prairie loop, flocks of 8-10
were present. It seemed that whenever a flock would leave (to the north or
west), another small flock would appear. Same species by the road generally
driving around. This is a real migration push from the east/southeast.
But...no Cassin's sparrows or longspurs.
White-crowned and vesper sparrows were the most numerous...hundreds in
total, all over the park. A few clay-colored,few Brewer's, Savannah
(usually pairs), lots of chippings...random and very small flocks.
As wet as it was, a green-tailed towhee took a two-minute bath in a roadside
pool. After about an hour, lark sparrows arrived in great numbers.
Using the car as a blind, I crept around Prairie and Lake loops, studying
sparrows.
Alert: On the Lake loop, entering from the eastern arm, at the north end of
the parking area, were two small sparrows with yellowish cast to their upper
bodies and heads, with size, etc, that if I were in northern Minnesota I
would have called Nelson's sharp-tailed (yellower supercilium than
grasshopper). Not a good enough look, poor nondigital photo taken in the
rain.
Note also: Yellow-headed blackbirds, though in decreasing numbers, have
been hanging around the lakeshore from the Lake loop all the way around to
the marina for about 2 weeks, though in decreasing numbers.
For 5/13: It rained most of 5/12, with slow clearing and a cool night, so
many of these sparrows should remain. Also, in a phenomenon I have seen in
the past: wet swallows may try to dry out on the asphalt apron at the apex
of the Lake loop.
Karl Stecher
Centennial
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