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August 2015

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From:
Charles Bombaci <[log in to unmask]>
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Charles Bombaci <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 10 Aug 2015 01:31:48 +0000
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  Todaywe headed out at the north end of Hoover Reservoir in the H.M.S. Hoover for alate monitoring session looking for Prothonotary Warblers and several otherpriority species. Shaune Skinner, Ann Cramer and myself monitored an area fromthe Eastshore Yacht Club north along the shoreline to Big Walnut Creek andLittle Walnut Creek.  
Generallythe Prothonotary Warblers begin their southern migration in late July and mostare gone as August arrives. This year I have observed an unusually high numberof second broods. Second broods are an exception rather than the norm forthe species this far north. Today we located 6 males that were still actingvery territorial. The water level at the north end of Hoover Reservoir hasbeen extremely high this year and there are several areas I usually monitor thatI could not access due to the high water. First because sunken downed treesmade it dangerous to wade, and second, the areas were not accessible by boatbecause of dense flora. A preliminary look at the 2015 nesting season at Hoover Reservoirshows 153 confirmed territories, a minimum of 10 with second broods. An excitingnew chapter is being written this year. Dr. Christopher Tonra of The Ohio StateUniversity with the assistance of two graduate students have been working at theHoover Nature preserve all through the nesting season. They have banded 47 adultProthonotary Warblers with color coded leg bans and, they have attachedgeolocators to 25 Prothonotary Warblers. The geolocators should enable Dr. Tonra(and me - yeah!) to determine where the Hoover Reservoir Prothonotary Warblersoverwinter. This is a question I have pondered for 29 years, now maybe ananswer.
 Butlife is more thanProthonotary Warblers, therefore ... the rest of the story (inpart): 
Double-crested Cormorantswere everywhere, on snags, in trees and in the water. I counted 206 and likelymissed many. 
Herons- 37 Great Blue, 4 Great Egret, and 16 Green Herons.  The latter includedimmature whose crowns currently resemble a Don King hairdo. 
Osprey- 18 in all, including adults and young at 3 nest sites, plus multiple adultsaway from the known nest sites.
 BaldEagles - 6 included the Hoover nest that has fledged. The juveniles weresquawking loudly for the adults to provide food. Also seen were an lone adultand what appears to be a 2nd year immature. 
Shorebirds- This category is a bust with the high water. 1 Killdeer and 4 SpottedSandpipers. 
Gulls- Mostly Ring-billed with 7 Herring. With the boardwalk closed they are usingthe peace to assemble on the railing. 
Cuckoos- 3 yellow-billed 
Hummingbirds- 3 female Ruby-throated. 
BeltedKingfisher - Good numbers at 11. We watched some dive for fish along LittleWalnut Creek. 
Woodpeckers- Red-headed were the bird of the day with no less than 30. All along the shoreand on both Big Walnut and Little Walnut Creeks they were everywhere. At onespecific location there were so many flitting about we couldn't keep up withthem. Red-bellied, Downy, Northern Flicker and Pileated were also seen.  
Flycatchers- None with high numbers. Observed were Wood-Pewee, Phoebe, Great Crested,Acadian and Eastern Kingbird. 
Vireo-Almost absent. Only a lone Red-eyed. 
Swallows- Many Tree Swallows, 3 Barn and no others. The Cliff Swallow nests are nowempty and abandoned. 
Mimics- only 3 Gray Catbirds 
Waxwings- 45 Cedar Waxwings. 
Warblers- The 6 Prothonotary mentioned above, 1 Yellow and 1 Common Yellowthroat. We mayhave heard an American Redstart but no one would commit to the call. 
Blackbirds- 5 Baltimore Orioles, some Common Grackles and a few red-wingedBlackbirds.
 Plusthe expected common species. 
Wealso saw fawns along the shore, a downed tree with a nest box (darn beaver) anda pair of very, very large snapping turtles working on the next generation.
Nota bad list forbirding by boat. Nice weather, great friends and time to relaxand enjoy nature's show. 
 CharlieBombaci   Hoover Nature Preserve













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