Ed and all,

Like words in the dictionary, the term Swan Creek comes from usage.  It was
Matt Grey who put the place on the map for birders a couple years ago, and
he always called it Swan Creek.  The official name for the facility is
something like "Cox Creek Dredged Material Containment Facility and Swan
Creek Wetland."  Well, it is the Swan Creek Wetland that is the biological
heart of the property.  This mitigated wetland is where the greatest
diversity of species occurs; it is the home of virtually all the Marsh Wrens
and rails on the property, and gets a large share of the waders as well.
Local rarities such as Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Whimbrel, White Ibis, and
Nelson's and Clay-colored Sparrows have all occurred in this wetland.
Nesters include Marsh Wren, Red-winged Blackbirds, Orchard Orioles, Blue
Grosbeak, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Tree Swallow, and several other species.
Those of us who do surveys there do the equivalent of ten different
checklists, identifying birds with a specific part of the property.  The
mitigated wetland is by far the most species-rich of these sub-areas.

The dredge cells, the Cox Creek part of the facility, get limited diversity,
but get the shorebirds, and thus the rarities among them.  To birders they
are extremely important with the migrants, but they are only a home to a
limited number of species, larids primarily in the winter, and a few nesting
species such as Canada Goose, Mallard, and Song Sparrow, and possibly
Spotted Sandpiper.

Based on usage, when the ebird hot spot was created, the place was named
Swan Creek Wetland.  Acknowledging that the Cox Creek dredge cells were a
critical part of the overall property, the ebird name was recently changed
to Swan Creek Wetland and Cox Creek DMCF.  From a birding standpoint, the
name is valid, even though that is not the name that you will find in the
city directory or on the entry sign.

Hope this answers your question.

Stan Arnold
Ferndale




On Tue, Jun 7, 2011 at 2:29 PM, Ed Boyd <> wrote:

> This morning I visited the Cox Creek Dredge Fill area (otherwise known as
> Swan Creek) in Anne Arundel County from 8:30 to 9:00. On arrival I was
> immediately able to locate the continuing 2 Black-necked Stilts in the SW
> corner of the northeast impoundment. There were also 7 Semipalmated Plovers
> and 8 Least Sandpipers on the mud flat of the northeast impoundment. The
> Lesser Scaup also continues in this same body of water.
>
> Since Maryland Environmental Services refers to this location officially as
> Cox Creek, why is it referred to as Swan Creek by some?
>
> Ed Boyd
> Chestnut Hill Cove, MD
>
>
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