2007 was an amazing year at the  Hoover Nature Preserve and Hoover Reservoir 
in several ways. The year began as  most years with spring rains and high 
water creating what appeared to be  excellent habitat conditions for the 
Prothonotary Warblers. New nest boxes were  installed at Mudhen Marsh and Area F with 
help from Rick and Richard Oxley in  conjunction with Richard’s Eagle Scout 
Project. Thus 2007 began with 201 nest  boxes in place at the preserve and 20 
more on adjacent private land. 
In mid-April the male  Prothonotary Warblers began to arrive and establish 
territories. Numbers were  excellent as I began monitoring activity and I wasn’t 
concerned that rain had  been minimal since April 1st as the water levels 
were high and short  periods of low rain totals are not uncommon. 
By May 1st the first  female Prothonotary warblers appeared at Hoover and 
things began to get serious.  The males became more territorial and the females 
began pairing with them and  selecting nest sites. As I located nest sites I 
put up my territory markers to  make it easier to monitor the nests. I began the 
year with 60 pre-numbered  markers and quickly realized I need to make up 
more which turned out to be an  understatement. I have been participating in the 
Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas II  project and therefore I have been monitoring 
beyond my nest box trail. Shaune  Skinner and her father Jim Skinner have provided 
me with the opportunity to  monitor areas which would otherwise be 
inaccessible as we have headed out in  Shaune’s boat to monitor the islands in Hoover 
Reservoir, along the east shore  and several areas along the west shore and up 
Big Walnut Creek. Everywhere we  monitored there were Prothonotary Warblers in 
numbers and concentrations beyond  expectations. The young fledged in earlier 
years are returning to Hoover  Reservoir and every location with adequate 
habitat seemed to have nesting  Prothonotaries. 
As May and June passed the rains  still did not come and the water levels 
began dropping at Hoover Reservoir but  the Prothonotaries pressed on undisturbed 
by the conditions. This enabled me to  walk to areas that normally would be 
deep water, especially in the back recesses  of Area N. Area N has always been 
a hotbed of Prothonotary activity where I have  located many nest sites and 
heard other males singing beyond where I could wade.  This year I was able to 
easily walk to these back areas and I was stunned as I  located 33 nest sites in 
Area N. There is one location that was spectacular as I  could sit on a large 
log and watch 6 different Prothonotary Warbler nest sites  at once, the 
closest being less than 10 feet from the log. This same spot hosted  a 
Ruby-throated Hummingbird that I got to watch build her nest, incubate the  eggs and 
fledge the young; several pairs of Northern Parula’s, a pair of  Red-headed 
Woodpeckers, Yellow-billed Cuckoos, and a pair of nesting Cerulean  Warblers that had 
a territory across the creek but often the male would drop  down to forage 
very close to where I sat. 
Every year I have been taking  people out with me to see the Prothonotary 
Warblers as I enjoy sharing the  bounty of the preserve with others and the 
pleasure they have getting close to  these delightful birds. Everyone I hosted this 
year went home with smiles on  their faces as they had positive experiences 
at the preserve. The topper was the  day I hosted a lady birder who initially 
planned to stay until noon but ended up  staying until 5:00 PM. Sometimes you 
just can’t turn and go, especially on a day  that you log in 45 Prothonotaries. 
 
With the help of many friends  and visiting birders I managed to GPS the 
location of 176 Prothonotary Warbler  territories at Hoover in 2007. The general 
locations are outlined in the chart  that follows. Now I get to clean and do 
maintenance on the nest boxes. 2008 will  present more of a challenge as Richard 
and Rick Oxley and I installed 20 plus  new nest boxes and we will have about 
230 nest boxes in the preserve along with  the 20 on adjacent properties. 
Hoover Nature Preserve 
2007 Prothonotary Warbler  Results By Area** 
In 
In                             Natural 
Area                                                                      
Boxes                       Cavities                                Total  
Area F                                                                        
0                                 3                                  3 
Area I                                                                        
 0                         12                                       12        
  
Area K                                                                        
0                                 2                                       2 
Area M                                                                 1      
                            3                                     4 
Area N                                                                   12   
                             21                                    33 
Big Walnut Creek                                                      0       
                         10                                   10 
Duncan Glen                                                               0   
                              1                                  1 
Dustin Road                                                                7  
                               6                                 13 
Eastshore Yacht Club                                                  2       
                          0                                2 
Hoover Woods Road                                                     2       
                           1                                3 
Little Walnut Creek                                                4          
                        8                              12 
Mudhen Marsh                                                           9      
                            7                             16 
Old Sunbury Road                                                      9       
                           7                                          16 
Oxbow Road                                                              7     
                             5                                           12 
Pelican Island                                                            0   
                               3                                             
3 
Red Bank Bridge Cove                                                0         
                         4                                             4 
Twin Bridges                                                              4   
                               6                                           10 
White Tail Deer Island                                                 0      
                          11                                           11 
Wiese Road                                                               7    
                               2                                             
9 
Totals                                                                       
64                              112                                         
176   
** Note that area titles are for  general vicinity and include some adjacent 
habitat. 
Charlie Bombaci 
Hoover Nature Preserve 
Delorme 58 C (2) & (3) 




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