Sunday, October 25, 2015

Bear Creek Park, Greenbelt and Cherry Creek Reservoir

October 19, 2015

Richard Stevens:

Rebecca Kosten and I started birding at Bear Creek Park (Jefferson) at sunrise.  Winds were 6 mph; temperatures were in the low 50s.

One Eastern Screech-Owl called from the tall cottonwoods below the parking area off Kenyon Street.  Few passerines flew around this rather long, large park.

Our next stop was Bear Creek Greenbelt (Jefferson).  We circled the lakes looking in the cattails for the Swamp Sparrow reported by Art Hudak on 10/17; without success.

Then we walked around the large dried cattail fields north of the two lakes.  Finally, a Swamp Sparrow popped out of the cattails in response to my recordings.  The sparrow was at the north end of the boardwalk, not far south of Estes Street.

Later we stopped at Cherry Creek Reservoir (Arapahoe) and scoped the lake for two hours (from the swim beach area).  A Red-necked Grebe swam along the border of a raft of 700+ Western Grebes.  Dozens of Eared Grebes and a few Horned Grebes were in the same area.

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