This morning Rick and Richard Oxley and I set out for a work session at the
preserve. We installed 20 new nest boxes and repaired several old nest boxes.
There are now 230 nest boxes in the Prothonotary Warbler Nest Box Trail and
20  more that I've helped private land owners installed on their property near
the  preserve. It's great to see a teenager take an interest in conservation
and  preservation of habitat. Richard has rolled up his sleeves and made some
great  contributions to the preserve this year. I applaud him and all other
young  adults who get involved.

An aspect that made this morning almost amusing was the reaction of the
Prothonotary Warblers. We had males come to bushes close to us as we installed
the nest boxes. It was almost like they understood that the boxes were for them.
 We finished one set of 4 boxes for a territory and began walking on when we
heard a male Prothonotary calling from the middle of the new nest box group.
The  message seemed like, New Luxury Condos, Reserve Yours Today While They
Last!

While we were working in the back part of Area N we observed more
Prothonotary Warblers than I expected to still be there, especially with the low  water
level (none in much of the area). We heard them singing all morning.  A
Red-headed Woodpecker was coming and going to a cavity in a barkless tree and  we
discovered an Acadian Flycatcher nest. We made a stop at the Ruby-throated
Hummingbird nest as we worked our way back to the car.

We finished by checking the status of the mudflats at Area M. The mudflats
are emerging quickly off the Area M boardwalk and the number of shorebirds is
picking up. This morning Killdeer, Lesser Yellowlegs, Semipalmated, Least,
Pectoral, Spotted and Solitary Sandpipers were present. One Osprey was on the
nest platform and the other in a tree very close by. Looking under the bridge
over Little Walnut Creek we noticed additional activity on the mudflats in the
 cove at Dustin Road. As we reach mid-July the activity should begin to pick
up  pace. Maybe we will have another 30 shorebird species year like in  2005.

Charlie Bombaci
Hoover Nature Preserve
Delorme 58 C (2) & (3)




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