I spent a few hours this morning birding around the upper ends of both Hoover & Alum Creek Reservoirs.  At Alum, I stopped at Hogback Rd, the Howard Rd bridge, and Big Run Rd, while at Hoover, I visited Wiese Rd and the Boardwalk and Areas M & N.  Water levels are still very high, so much so that I saw no small herons and quite a few cormorants.  I would guess that neither of these spots will offer much for shorebirds this year.  Landbirds still had some interesting things, including

Ospreys - Hogback basin has 3 nesting pairs, with large nestlings right now, so you probably won't find so many individuals in one place north of the Outer Banks.  One nesting pair was still off the Hoover Boardwalk also.

Broad-winged Hawk - 1 adult was soaring over the Boardwalk.  Since they don't nest nearby, I assume that it was a stray to the area.  There are quite a few records of summering birds at both spots, where the long forest corridors may attract them.

Turkey Vultures - these areas attract them just like Broad-wings.  Hogback had 9, while Galena had another 6.

Caspian Tern - 1 adult was foraging on Alum Creek Reservoir north of Cheshire Rd

Yellow-billed Cuckoos - singing birds were at Howard Rd bridge and at Area N, so they are nesting, or thinking of nesting.

E.Kingbirds - pairs and juveniles were at many locations, possibly starting to flock for their early migration.

Vireos - all the common ones - Red-eyed, Warbling, White-eyed, and Yellow-throated - were along upper Hogback Rd

Cliff Swallows - the birds at Galena have finished nesting, but the birds at the Cheshire caseway at Alum are still nesting.

Parula Warbler - 1 was still singing at Area N at hoover, where they successfully nested this year.

Prothonotary Warblers - a singing bird was still at Hogback basin, while adults feeding fledglings were at Wiese and Area N at Hoover.

Black&White Warblers - singing males were at both Howard Rd bridge and at Big Run Rd, both at Alum

Rose-br.Grosbeaks - a pair of adults were feeding a fledgling along Big Run Rd at Alum Creek Reservoir.

______________________________________________________________________

Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Please consider joining our Society, at www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.


You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
listserv.miamioh.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]