Today Linda joined me at the preserve as I went back to see how the  
Ruby-throated Hummingbird I've been watching  was coming along. Last  Tuesday she 
began creating the base of her nest and this afternoon Linda and I  watched her 
sitting in the nest.  The nest is situated out on a branch,  about two feet 
above a creek, with a sprig of leaves over her that provides both  shade and 
camouflage. 
 
While at this little piece of Eden I've discovered in the preserve we were  
able to also watch the closest Prothonotary Warbler coming and going from its  
cavity in an old stump. Sometimes I think they recognize me after twenty years 
 of working with them. They don't mind my presence and often come extremely  
close, like hopping between my boots. It’s a different perspective to view a  
Prothonotary Warbler between your field glasses and your stomach.
 
As we sat there I heard the Northern Parula that has its territory  
overlapping the Prothonotary‘s. He called and then dropped down and foraged in  front 
of us for about thirty minutes, gathering  insects, flying off and  returning, 
time after time. He perched in front of us and sang with his field  marks 
clear to the naked eye, doing a 360 to ensure we didn't miss  anything.
 
Several other Prothonotary Warblers with abutting territories sang and  
flitted about for us to see. It’s nice to have some undisturbed habitat where  you 
can sit and enjoy nature as it should be.
 
Birds seen or heard (H) at this location were:
Great Blue Heron
Green  Heron        
Red-tailed  Hawk    (Likely Nesting)
Mourning  Dove    (Nesting)
Black-billed  Cuckoo (H)    (Right over our heads but we couldn't get  a 
clean look)
Yellow-billed Cuckoo    (Liekly  Nesting)
Ruby-throated Hummingbird    (Nesting)
Belted  Kingfisher    (Nesting)
Red-bellied  Woodpecker    (Nesting)
Downy  Woodpecker    (Nesting)
Acadian  Flycatcher    (Nesting)
Great Crested  Flycatcher    (Nesting)
Blue  Jay    (Likely Nesting)
Carolina  Chickadee    (Nesting)
Tufted  Titmouse    (Nesting)
White-breasted  Nuthatch    (Nesting)
Blue-gray  Gnatcatcher    (Nesting)
Wood  Thrush    (Nesting)
American  Robin    (Nesting)
Gray  Catbird    (Nesting)
Cedar  Waxwing    
Warbling Vireo    (Likely  Nesting)
Red-eyed Vireo    (Likely Nesting)
Northern  Parula    (Likely Nesting)
Yellow-throated  Warbler    (Likely Nesting)
Prothonotary  Warbler    (Nesting)
Louisiana  Waterthrush (H)    (Likely Nesting)
Northern  Cardinal    (Nesting)
Common  Grackle    (Nesting)
Brown-headed  Cowbird    (UGH)
Baltimore  Oriole    (Likely Nesting)
 
Charlie Bombaci
Hoover Nature Preserve
Delorme 58 C (2) &  (3)




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