This afternoon I had the fun of hosting some marvelous boys and their adult leaders from the Ohio Young Birders Club associated with the Black Water Bird Observatory. Darlene Sillick and Nadya Bennett of the Columbus Audubon Chapter were leading the south trip for the boys. They began their day at Greenlawn Cemetery in the morning and met me after lunch at the preserve. Afternoon is not supposed to be the best time to go birding but someone forgot to tell that to the birds. I met them in the Area M parking lot. We started by walking out on the boardwalk to observe the nesting Osprey and other birds present. One Osprey was on the nest except for when two very inconsiderate men tied up their boat next to the nest platform to go fishing. This distressed the Osprey on the nest and caused her to temporarily leave the nest. The mate was perched in a tree nearby. Using my spotting scope the boys got good views of the Osprey and a raft of Double-crested Cormorants and a pair of Eastern Kingbirds. They also learned that not all adults act maturely. From Area M we went to Area N and walked the old roadbed. The Prothonotary Warblers near the trail sang for us but initially didn't cooperate as they stayed concealed. This problem didn't last long. At first 3 or 4 Prothonotary Warblers males came out so the boys could get a decent look at them. Then I took the boys off-trail into an area that is off limits to the general public, but open to preserve sponsored walks. In this area the boys had trouble keeping up with the Prothonotary Warblers. They were everywhere, they came close and sang, they foraged, and we watched one checking out natural nest cavities. After about 30 to 40 Prothonotary males I began to hear "it's only a Prothonotary Warbler, what's that over there?" "Over there" included very cooperative Northern Parula's, Yellow-throated Warblers, Palm Warblers, Louisiana Waterthrush, Black and White Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Yellow Warbler, Wood Thrush and Warbling Vireos. When it became time to leave there was a lot of procrastination so the show could go on. Overall I think the boys located about 40 species during the afternoon which is not bad considering the small area we worked during the walk. The boys were a pleasure to host. After they departed for home I stopped briefly at Dustin Road and Oxbow Road on my way home and logged in another 14 male Prothonotary Warblers including two of those we banded in 2004. Charlie Bombaci Hoover Nature Preserve **************Need a new ride? Check out the largest site for U.S. used car listings at AOL Autos. (http://autos.aol.com/used?NCID=aolcmp00300000002851) ______________________________________________________________________ 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]