I went to Kiwanis Park and Twin Lakes, both parts of the "Preserves" overseen by the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department, to clean and do maintenance on the Prothonotary Warbler nest box trails at each. My "second daughter" Darlene who generally looks after these locations has lost her onetime helpers and due to recent surgical procedures on her ankle, would get in trouble with me if she tried to work on the boxes, needed help and TLC. The storm did major damage to both trails and approximately one half the boxes have been destroyed. Hopefully the trails will recover faster than the 9th Ward in New Orleans - they looked almost as bad. Bird activity was slow at each, but there were some good finds. At Kiwanis Park there was an Osprey that was doing better than a couple fishing from their boat. I also observed many Yellow-rumped Warblers, a few Common Yellowthroats, White-throated Sparrows and Swamp Sparrows. Then I went to Twin Lakes where there was a second Osprey. On the mudflats there were a few Lesser Yellowlegs, a Semipalmated Plover, a Spotted Sandpiper and many Killdeer. I headed to the back area where the nest boxes are located and ran into many White-throated Sparrows, a Pileated Woodpecker, a Barred Owl in the pine grove (I instructed it to hang around for Darlene's Christmas Bird Count on January 3rd), a few Common Yellowthroats, 2 Magnolia Warblers and lots of Yellow-rumped Warblers. Then I got my reward for doing the nest boxes - less than 15 feet from me there was a bird sulking in some underbrush. It then hopped onto a bare branch in open sunlight and sat there for a short time for my enjoyment - a beautiful Mourning Warbler. It made me completely forget about my many multi-flora rose puncture wounds. Charlie Bombaci Hoover Nature Preserve & The Preserves You cannot begin to preserve any species of animal unless you preserve the habitat in which it dwells. Disturb or destroy that habitat and you will exterminate the species as surely as if you had shot it. So conservation means that [we] have to preserve forest and grassland, river and lake, even the sea itself. This is vital not only for the preservation of animal life generally, but for the future existence of man himself—a point that seems to escape many people. -Gerald Durrell, The Nature Conservancy **************New MapQuest Local shows what's happening at your destination. Dining, Movies, Events, News & more. Try it out (http://local.mapquest.com/?ncid=emlcntnew00000002) ______________________________________________________________________ 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]