After being out of commission with a bug that wouldn't quit, I finally felt good enough to get back in the field. I thought I would start by checking the water levels at the north end of Hoover Reservoir as the area lacked water under many of my nest boxes. I was glad to see the water has risen by over a foot and that most of my Prothonotary Warbler nest boxes now have water below them. No sign of the warblers yet but I expect them to arrive during the coming week. While I was at the preserve I did some birding in select areas and was glad I did. The highlight of the morning was an American Bittern that I was less than 30 feet from when I spotted it while I was watching some Blue-winged Teal. It was in the classic “I'm a sedge” pose initially with its entire frame erect, beak up and brown lines aligned with the surrounding vegetation. I froze in place and the who could outwait who contest was on. After about 10 minutes it decided that I wasn't a treat and it commenced hunting the chorus frogs and other items on the menu. I enjoyed the show for about an additional 15 minutes before I decided to leave carefully and let the bittern enjoy its morning buffet. Things are still somewhat quiet at the preserve but the impending scull regatta that’s scheduled for later I the day probably kept many birds away. Species for the morning included: Common Loon Pied-billed Grebe Horned Grebe Double-crested Cormorant American Bittern Great Blue Heron Great Egret Turkey Vulture Canada Goose Mute Swan Wood Duck Mallard Blue-winged Teal Green-winged Teal Osprey Bald Eagle Red-shouldered Hawk Red-tailed Hawk American Coot Killdeer Ring-billed Gull Mourning Dove Barred Owl Belted Kingfisher Red-headed Woodpecker Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Northern Flicker Pileated Woodpecker Eastern Phoebe Blue Jay American Crow Tree Swallow Northern Rough-winged Swallow Barn Swallow Carolina Chickadee Tufted Titmouse White-breasted Nuthatch Brown Creeper Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Eastern Bluebird American Robin Northern Mockingbird Brown Thrasher European Starling Yellow-rumped Warbler Chipping Sparrow Field Sparrow Song Sparrow Swamp Sparrow White-throated Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Northern cardinal Red-winged Blackbird Eastern Meadowlark Common Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird House Finch American Goldfinch House Sparrow Charlie Bombaci Hoover Nature Preserve **************Join ChristianMingle.com® FREE! Meet Christian Singles in your area. Start now! (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1221246370x1201421635/aol?redir=http://www.christianmingle.com/campaign.html?cat=adbuy&src=pl atforma&adid=aolfooter&newurl=reg_path.html) ______________________________________________________________________ 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]