Today I did atlas work in my Block 58C3NW. Linda joined me as she wanted to see how the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird was progressing. She’s still sitting on the nest waiting for the blessed event. If my calculations are correct she should hatch her eggs this weekend or early next week. She has lots of company in the maternity ward as there are birds incubating or feeding hatchlings and fledglings everywhere. I discovered yet another Prothonotary Warbler nest cavity today, bring the year’s total to 147. Highlights for the day included locating a Hooded Merganser hen with fledglings. This is the second Hooded Merganser I have located with fledglings this year. They are in separate blocks about 5 miles apart. I am aware of 2 other reports of nesting Hooded Mergansers in Delaware County this year, one is near Olive Green and the other near Alum Creek north of Route 37. The four confirmed sightings make me wonder if the species is expanding its nesting southward. My next item Linda doesn't think qualifies as a highlight. We were walking along Big Walnut Creek when we observed a Mallard hen with 6 ducklings. One duckling wandered from the rest and then suddenly began running along the water and then down came a Cooper’s Hawk that snatched the duckling off the water and banked into the woods. This was a well advanced duckling and bigger than I would have expected a Cooper’s Hawk to pursue. Linda was hoping to see a cuckoo as I have been seeing and hearing them constantly at the preserve. During the first 2 hours we heard about 15 Yellow-billed Cuckoos and got fleeting views of about 3. Then as we returned to the car and were within sight of it I stopped Linda and pointed right ahead as a Yellow-billed Cuckoo came out onto a branch 10 feet in front of us and began feeding on caterpillars. It stayed in the open and fed for a good 10 minutes before moving into thicker foliage. After things seemed to be slowing down with the Prothonotary Warblers, they were active today with about 15 males vocalizing in the area we were in. Several provided us with great views including the newly discovered nest cavity where we watched the adults coming and going with offerings for the hatchlings. The dead tree had two close openings, one above the other. The adult male would enter the lower and exit the upper, whereas the females entered and exited from the lower opening. Birds observed with or feeding their young included Canada Geese, Wood Ducks, Mallard, Hooded Merganser, Cooper’s Hawk, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Tree Swallow, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, American Robin, Prothonotary Warbler, Northern Cardinal, and Song Sparrow. Birds observed included: Great Blue Heron Green Heron Canada Goose Wood Duck Mallard Hooded Merganser Turkey Vulture Cooper’s Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Killdeer Spotted Sandpiper Mourning Dove Yellow-billed Cuckoo Ruby-throated Hummingbird Belted Kingfisher Red-headed Woodpecker Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker Northern Flicker Pileated Woodpecker Eastern Wood-Pewee Acadian Flycatcher Willow Flycatcher Eastern Phoebe Great Crested Flycatcher Tree Swallow Cliff Swallow Barn Swallow Blue Jay American Crow Carolina Chickadee Tufted Titmouse White-breasted Nuthatch Carolina Wren House Wren Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Wood Thrush American Robin Gray Catbird Cedar Waxwing European Starling Warbling Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Northern Parula Yellow Warbler Prothonotary Warbler Northern Cardinal Indigo Bunting Song Sparrow Red-winged Blackbird Common Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird Baltimore Oriole American Goldfinch Charlie Bombaci Hoover Nature Preserve Delorme 58 C (2) & (3) Block 58C3NW ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]