Today we headed out atthe north end of Hoover Reservoir in the H.M.S. Hoover for a late monitoringsession looking for Prothonotary Warblers and several other priority species.Shaune Skinner, Ann Cramer and myself monitored an area from the EastshoreYacht Club north along the shoreline to Big Walnut Creek and Little WalnutCreek.  Generally theProthonotary Warblers begin their southern migration in late July and most aregone as August arrives. This year I have observed an unusually high number ofsecond broods. Second broods are an exception rather than the norm for thespecies this far north. Today we located 6 males that were still acting veryterritorial. The water level at the north end of Hoover Reservoir has beenextremely high this year and there are several areas I usually monitor that Icould not access due to the high water. First because sunken downed trees madeit dangerous to wade, and second, the areas were not accessible by boat becauseof dense flora. A preliminary look at the 2015 nesting season at HooverReservoir shows 153 confirmed territories, a minimum of 10 with second broods.An exciting new chapter is being written this year. Dr. Christopher Tonra ofThe Ohio State University with the assistance of two graduate students havebeen working at the Hoover Nature preserve all through the nesting season. Theyhave banded 47 adult Prothonotary Warblers with color coded leg bans and, theyhave attached geolocators to 25 Prothonotary Warblers. The geolocators shouldenable Dr. Tonra (and me - yeah!) to determine where the Hoover ReservoirProthonotary Warblers overwinter. This is a question I have pondered for 29years, now maybe an answer. But life is more thanProthonotary Warblers, therefore ... the rest of the story (in part): Double-crestedCormorants were everywhere, on snags, in trees and in the water. I counted 206and likely missed many. Herons - 37 Great Blue,4 Great Egret, and 16 Green Herons.  The latter included immature whosecrowns currently resemble a Don King hairdo. Osprey - 18 in all,including adults and young at 3 nest sites, plus multiple adults away from theknown nest sites. Bald Eagles - 6 includedthe Hoover nest that has fledged. The juveniles were squawking loudly for theadults to provide food. Also seen were an lone adult and what appears to be a2nd year immature. Shorebirds - Thiscategory is a bust with the high water. 1 Killdeer and 4 Spotted Sandpipers. Gulls - MostlyRing-billed with 7 Herring. With the boardwalk closed they are using the peaceto assemble on the railing. Cuckoos - 3yellow-billed Hummingbirds - 3 femaleRuby-throated. Belted Kingfisher - Goodnumbers at 11. We watched some dive for fish along Little Walnut Creek. Woodpeckers - Red-headedwere the bird of the day with no less than 30. All along the shore and on bothBig Walnut and Little Walnut Creeks they were everywhere. At one specificlocation there were so many flitting about we couldn't keep up with them. Red-bellied,Downy, Northern Flicker and Pileated were also seen.  Flycatchers - None withhigh numbers. Observed were Wood-Pewee, Phoebe, Great Crested, Acadian andEastern Kingbird. Vireo- Almost absent.Only a lone Red-eyed. Swallows - Many TreeSwallows, 3 Barn and no others. The Cliff Swallow nests are now empty andabandoned. Mimics - only 3 GrayCatbirds Waxwings - 45 CedarWaxwings. Warblers - The 6Prothonotary mentioned above, 1 Yellow and 1 Common Yellowthroat. We may haveheard an American Redstart but no one would commit to the call. Blackbirds - 5 BaltimoreOrioles, some Common Grackles and a few Cred-winged Blackbirds. Plus the expected commonspecies. We also saw fawns alongthe shore, a downed tree with a nest box (darn beaver) and a pair of very, verylarge snapping turtles working on the next generation. Not a bad list forbirding by boat. Nice weather, great friends and time to relax and enjoynature's show. Charlie BombaciHoover Nature Preserve

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