This afternoon I had the fun of hosting some marvelous boys and their adult
leaders from the Ohio Young Birders Club associated with the Black Water  Bird
Observatory. Darlene Sillick and Nadya Bennett of the Columbus Audubon
Chapter were leading the south trip for the boys. They began their day at
Greenlawn Cemetery in the morning and met me after lunch at the preserve.  Afternoon
is not supposed to be the best time to go birding but someone forgot  to tell
that to the birds.

I met them in the Area M parking lot. We started by walking out on the
boardwalk to observe the nesting Osprey and other birds present. One Osprey was  on
the nest except for when two very inconsiderate men tied up their boat next
to the nest platform to go fishing. This distressed the Osprey on the nest and
 caused her to temporarily leave the nest. The mate was perched in a tree
nearby.  Using my spotting scope the boys got good views of the Osprey and a raft
of  Double-crested Cormorants and a pair of Eastern Kingbirds. They also
learned  that not all adults act maturely.

From Area M we went to Area N and walked the old roadbed. The  Prothonotary
Warblers near the trail sang for us but initially didn't cooperate  as they
stayed concealed. This problem didn't last long. At first 3 or 4  Prothonotary
Warblers males came out so the boys could get a decent look at  them. Then I
took the boys off-trail into an area that is off limits to the  general public,
but open to preserve sponsored walks. In this area the boys  had trouble
keeping up with the Prothonotary Warblers. They were everywhere,  they came close
and sang, they foraged, and we watched one checking out natural  nest cavities.
After about 30 to 40 Prothonotary males I began to hear "it's  only a
Prothonotary Warbler, what's that over there?"  "Over there"  included very
cooperative Northern Parula's, Yellow-throated Warblers, Palm  Warblers, Louisiana
Waterthrush, Black and White Warbler, Yellow-rumped  Warblers, Yellow Warbler, Wood
Thrush and Warbling Vireos. When it became  time to leave there was a lot of
procrastination so the show could go on.  Overall I think the boys located
about 40 species during the afternoon which is  not bad considering the small
area we worked during the walk.

The boys were a pleasure to host. After they departed for home I stopped
briefly at Dustin Road and Oxbow Road on my way home and logged in another 14
male Prothonotary Warblers including two of those we banded in 2004.

Charlie Bombaci
Hoover Nature Preserve




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