Shaune Skinner, Al LaSala and I kicked off the 2011 season for the H.M.S. Hoover. The H.M.S. Hoover is Shaune's boat, "birders on board" sign and all. Our main objective was to monitor Prothonotary warblers in some areas very difficult or impossible to access by land. The weather was with us as it was comfortable with mild temperatures, light winds and sunny. Today we covered areas along the northeast shore from Twin Bridges to Big Walnut Creek. The day was a success with 30 Prothonotary Warbler territories identified. Now I'll cross my fingers that all of them have a successful nesting season. Each time I see one of these beautiful golden-yellow wonders it puts a big smile on my face. This marks my 25th year working with them at Hoover Reservoir and I have loved almost every minute of it (bee stings, multiflora rose and tripping in the water excluded). Some enjoyable distractions included 8 Red-headed Woodpeckers, 2 pairs of Green Herons, 2 nesting pairs of Osprey, and an Osprey chasing then dive bombing a Bald Eagle, lots of Cliff Swallows at their nests and lots of Cedar Waxwings. We tallied over 70 species from the boat. It's a different approach to birding, but lots of fun when done with great company. Charlie Bombaci Hoover Nature Preserve ______________________________________________________________________ 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]