I visited the small nesting colony at Preston Rd in Columbus on Sunday. There is still only one active nest, which held at least three large seemingly healthy immature birds, attended by two adults. The other two adults have apparently been unsuccessful in restoring the other nest, which used to be over the middle of the road and south of the active one. The surface of the street was marked by several concentrations of droppings--far less concentrated than those under the active nest--and scattered twigs, which seems to indicate they are still making pathetic attempts to construct a nest. In one of the splotches of droppings were the remains of what appeared to be a night-heron's egg--almost size of a chicken's, pale blue green,including yolk. The nestless adults were perched together on a bare sycamore branch. Perhaps fifty feet to the north was a small nest-like construction, made entirely of twigs like the active one, which could have been a nascent night-heron nest. It was much smaller than a completed one, but offered some hope they'd successfully gotten one started. They weren't working on it while I was there, though. If these birds breed now, a month and a half late, it will be interesting to see if they pull off a brood. Certainly weather shouldn't be an obstacle: in some years, young night-herons from this colony have fledged and departed by the fourth of July, leaving, you'd think, plenty of warm nights and presumably food for late nesters. One can be dejected by the failure of these birds to do something as basic as construct a new nest, even if they've never done so before. But it is also inspiring to see them keep at it. This is a very durable colony, with many records of five young per nest, and they seem to evade predation pretty well, sharing the block with a longstanding pair of Cooper's hawks. Let's wish them well. Bill Whan Columbus ______________________________________________________________________ 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]