Excuse the late posting but AT & T came to upgrade the local telephone system and managed to take our entire neighborhood off line. So much for modernization. Monday I cleaned and repaired nest boxes in areas M and N at the Hoover Nature Preserve. This provided me with the opportunity to check the area for breeding birds for the OBBA and also check the mudflats off Areas M and N and along the Big Walnut Creek. The mudflats off Areas M and N are becoming extensive and the shorebird activity is increasing daily. The highlight was an early Red Knot near the end of Area N. Other shorebirds I observed were Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Solitary Sandpiper, Spotted sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, and a lone Short-billed Dowitcher, The mudflats at Wiese Road and along the eastern shore from the East Shore Yacht Club north are also becoming very active, whereas the cove at Dustin Road is drying up rapidly and activity is waning there. After finishing work on the nest boxes I walked the back off-trail areas of Area N for the OBBA. I located several nice species feeding fledglings, including Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Red-headed Woodpecker, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Eastern Kingbird, Red-eyed Vireo, Tree Swallow, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Wood Thrush, Gray Catbird, Northern Parula, Prothonotary Warbler, Scarlet Tanager, and Indigo Bunting. The Osprey chick has fledged from the nest platform and the Ruby-throated Hummingbird has fledged its two hatchlings. At an area near the tip of Area N I found a Prothonotary warbler feeding 6 fledglings. They were obliviously to my presence and at times came within 5 feet of me as I sat on a downed tree and enjoyed the show. I wondered whether this was this a late fledging or second brood? Some species observed included: Double-crested Cormorant (11) Great Blue Heron (57) Green Heron (9) Osprey (3) Semipalmated Plover (2) Killdeer (123) Greater Yellowlegs (2) Lesser Yellowlegs (22) Solitary Sandpiper (12) Spotted Sandpiper (19) Red Knot (1) Semipalmated Sandpiper (27) Least Sandpiper (11) Pectoral Sandpiper (6) Caspian tern (7) Yellow-billed Cuckoo Ruby-throated Hummingbird Belted Kingfisher Red-headed Woodpecker (4) Pileated Woodpecker Eastern Wood-Pewee Acadian Flycatcher Eastern Phoebe Great Crested Flycatcher Eastern Kingbird Tree Swallow Northern Rough-winged Swallow Bank Swallow Cliff Swallow Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Wood Thrush Gray Catbird Cedar waxwing Warbling Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Northern Parula Yellow Warbler Prothonotary Warbler Scarlet Tanager Indigo Bunting Charlie Bombaci Hoover nature Preserve Delorme 58 C (2) & (3) ************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour ______________________________________________________________________ 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]