I spent the morning in the back parts of Areas M and N cleaning nest boxes
as the mud has dried enough that I can walk on most of it without sinking.
There  are 46 nest boxes in the areas where I did cleaning and maintenance during
the morning. Of these 20 contained Prothonotary Warbler nests (5 had one
unhatched egg each), 13 had Tree Swallow nests, 9 had House Wren nests, one had
an Eastern Bluebird nest and only 3 boxes weren't used. This is one housing
market that's bubble hasn't burst! During the breeding season I also  located
28 active Prothonotary Warbler nest cavities in Area N, which tallies a
remarkable 48 nesting pairs of Prothonotary Warblers there in 2008. The area  also
hosted 3 nesting pairs of Red-headed Woodpeckers, at least 7 pairs of  Northern
Parula, 3 pairs of Yellow-throated Warblers, 3 pairs of Louisiana
Waterthrush, several Green Heron nets, a pair of Great Horned Owls, a pair of  Barred
Owls, and one nesting female Hooded Merganser. I figure there are  Eastern
Screech Owls to be found there, but alas, they've eluded me so  far.

As I came back onto the old roadbed and started back to the car, I did a
quick check of the mudflats between the roadbed and the boardwalk. The peeps are
increasing in number and variety. There were Killdeer (30+), Semipalmated
Plovers (7), Greater (4) and Lesser Yellowlegs (5), Solitary Sandpiper (2),
Spotted Sandpiper (5), Semipalmated Sandpiper (8), Least Sandpiper (15+),
Pectoral Sandpiper (2), Stilt Sandpiper (1), and Short-billed Dowitcher (1).  There
numbers aren't impressive, but at least we are finally seeing some signs  of
the migration. Other birds of note were 5 Red-headed Woodpeckers, 6  Great
Egrets, 4 Osprey, and 3 Caspian Terns.

121 nest boxes cleaned, 129 to go.

Charlie Bombaci
Hoover Nature Preserve




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