This morning Linda and I birded at Highbanks Metro Park in southern Delaware County. We walked the Scenic River Trail, Big Meadows Path and portions of the Dripping Rock Trail. Activity was sporadic, but somewhat constant, and several of our finds were overly cooperative. There seemed to be a wave of Canada Warblers present as we found them in multiple locations and got some great close up looks. Canada Warblers are beautiful birds and always a treat to see. We got excellent looks at Yellow-breasted Chats and I located an area with between 5 and 6 babbling from the top of shrubs or saplings. They sounded like they were working hard to outdo each other. Then there was a Pileated Woodpecker just feet off the Dripping Rock Trail feasting on a trove of insect larvae. It looked at us once and then continued feeding as if we were not around. I think they know when you didn’t bring the camera with you. Birds of interest we observed were Great Crested Flycatcher, Swainson’s Thrush, Northern Parula, Yellow Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, American Redstart, Canada Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, Summer Tanager and Scarlet Tanager. During the afternoon we headed over to the Hoover Nature Preserve and monitored my nest boxes along Old Sunbury Road. The numbers were excellent and the nest sites were spaced out all along the shoreline. We got great looks at the pairs interacting and I noted that there is a higher than normal ratio of females using the nest boxes rather than natural cavities. I expect this is a result of the high number of old stumps and trees that were lost in the wind storm last September and the two wind storms that hit the area during the winter. With the loss of so many natural cavities the birds have taken to the nest boxes as a main source of nesting sites. Birds observed at Old Sunbury Road included Green Heron, Wood Duck and ducklings, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Swainson’s Thrush, Wood Thrush, Cedar Waxwing (pair mating), Northern Paula, Yellow Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, American Redstart, Prothonotary Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Scarlet Tanager, and Orchard Oriole. Charlie Bombaci Hoover Nature Preserve **************An Excellent Credit Score is 750. See Yours in Just 2 Easy Steps! (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1221823248x1201398651/aol?redir=http://www.freecreditreport.com/pm/default.aspx?sc=668072&hmpgID=62&bcd=May Excfooter51609NO62) ______________________________________________________________________ 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]