This  morning Linda joined me as I monitored the Prothonotary Warblers in 
Area N of  the Hoover Nature Preserve. It was a pleasant day with mild 
temperatures and  little wind or humidity. From the moment I opened the car door I began 
hearing  the delightful “sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet” call of the males. As 
we walked down  the old roadbed we were met by the official welcomers at the 
vernal pool on the  right. Both resident males presented themselves for a 
sing-off. Farther down the  road the males were singing everywhere. We walked to the 
point where the water  is currently over the trail, counting an additional 7 
males singing. We observed  5 of the males and 2 females. This section of Area 
N was badly damaged by the  ice storm in December 2005 and many of the trees 
were uprooted and much of the  canopy was lost. Now the Prothonotary Warblers 
in this section are generally  farther back from the roadbed than before when 
they were right on top of you  when you walked this area. 
From  here we went off-trail to the back 40 where the majority of my nest 
boxes are  located in Area N. Everywhere was the sound of singing male 
Prothonotary  Warblers. I located 19males and 8 females and heard many more. We enjoyed  
watching the adults make repeated sorties to nest boxes and natural cavities  
with insects and caterpillars. There are numerous nest sites that already 
have  hatchlings. All indications are that this will be another good year for the 
 Prothonotaries. The first indication was back on April 26th when I  led a 
field trip for an Ohio Young Birder’s Club Chapter and we had so much  activity, 
much of it close, and the youngsters began taking pictures of the  
Prothonotary warblers with their cell phones. 
As  Linda and I were working the area we had several other interesting and 
unusual  observations. We located a very young white-tailed deer fawn, which 
makes 3  during my last two trips in this area. We kept our distance and took an 
indirect  route to go around the fawn. 
Next,  I located an active Ruby-throated Hummingbird nest for the second 
straight year  in Area N. Like last year, the new nest was constructed in a tree 
branch that  hangs out over Big Walnut Creek.  
The  final observation, and the one I found most unusual, was a Common 
Grackle  catching fish. I had never heard of this type of behavior by the species, 
never  mind observed it before. I initially though the grackle was starting to 
wade  into shallow water to take a bath. Then it suddenly it lunged its head 
down to  the water and came up with a fish about 5 inches long. The grackle 
then smacked  the fish against a log on shore and then flew off with it. After I 
got home I  reviewed my reference materials but I didn’t find any references 
to this  behavior. If anyone has experience or references to this behavior I 
would be  interested in it. You can email me direct rather than post on the Ohio 
Birds web  site. 
Charlie Bombaci 
Hoover  Nature Preserve



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