I'm beginning to think Ohio has a monsoon season. How else to explain the
amount of rain for the months of April and May. I have found both advantages
and disadvantages to this trend as I monitor my nest box trail at the
north end of Hoover Reservoir. The Prothonotary Warblers using nest boxes
benefit from the high water level as it deters most predators, the exception
being northern water snakes. Those using natural cavities have a mixed bag. If
they use an old woodpecker cavity they remain high and dry, but some chose
low snags, and several of these have been flooded out. It is early enough
that they will likely try again. For me it makes it more difficult to slog
through the backwaters as I can't see where all the downed trees are, the
water is deeper and the flora is growing so fast and large that I think they
are on steroids. Surprisingly I'm encountering fewer mosquitos rather than
more. Apparently the water is too high and has too much current for them
to breed.
Today I checked my boxes at Mudhen Marsh, Oxbow Road and made a stop at
Hoover Meadows. Most of the boxes at Mudhen Marsh are on the north side of
Big Walnut Road with a few along the channel on the south side. The wooded
area is almost completely under water and I found several Prothonotaries
using old woodpecker cavities far from the normal water's edge of the reservoir.
Many of the forest nesters I normally encounter here were totally absent.
I made a quick visit to the south side of Big Walnut Road, this is the
section the public usually visits, and I observed a nice selection of species
there. Common Yellowthroat, Yellow Warbler, Brown Thrasher, Yellow-billed
Cuckoo, Red-headed Woodpecker, Great Crested Flycatcher, Yellow-throated
Vireo, White-eyed Vireo, Indigo Bunting and Scarlet Tanager.
Oxbow Road continues to be overrun with fishermen. Prothonotary Warbler
numbers appear to be down from averaging 6 to 8 pairs annually at this site to
only three singing males today. I've never seen so many people here in the
past. There is constant encroachment on the nest boxes and Oxbow Road may
never be as easy for finding Prothonotaries as it has been in the past. The
road had many Gray Catbirds, Baltimore Orioles, Warbling Vireos and a few
Yellow Warblers, Common Yellowthroats and one Yellow-billed Cuckoo made an
appearance.
Hoover Meadows made the day interesting. The trail is home to a very slick
fungus. Walking on it was like walking on a greased board. I walked the
path back to the third pond and back. The highlights were a Black-billed
Cuckoo at the break from the first to the second field and an Olive-sided
Flycatcher perched in the bare tree near the second pond. Some other species
observed included Red-headed Woodpecker, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow warbler,
Blue-winged Warbler, Eastern Kingbirds, Eastern Meadowlark; Savannah, Field,
Swamp, Song and a lone Lincoln's Sparrows, Willow and Acadian Flycatcher,
and Orchard Oriole.
Charlie Bombaci
Hoover Nature Preserve
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