This morning I had the enjoyment of hosting two newer birding enthusiasts, Tim and Jan Waggoner, at the Hoover Nature Preserve. They had contacted me about seeing a Prothonotary Warbler. Their request was right up my alley since I have been playing with the species for 27 seasons now. I started at Oxbow Road where we quickly located a male that although he showed himself, did not meet standards for savoring. Oxbow Road is often well populated with fishermen this time of year and rather than seek a better view there I opted to go with Plan B, my secret weapon of mass Prothonotary Warblers, Area N in Galena. The first sounds we heard when we got out of the car in Galena were about three different Prothonotaries singing. We walked the old road south from Front Street to where the water level still runs over the road. A male was singing loudly from the vernal pool as you enter the forested area. He stayed too far back to enjoy, therefore we continued until we entered the section of the road that has water on both sides. At this point we had enough Prothonotaries singing to need a score card. It was at this time that they decided to be cooperative and began showing themselves. We had Prothonotaries high, low and every level in between. Now I was more content that my guests were enjoying their visit to see the Prothonotaries. Males sang, preened and foraged for us. The females were absent, most likely all in the nest boxes and cavities working on adding to their clutches. We did take time to occasionally observe some of the other birds active around us. These included the Osprey on Platform 2, Warbling Vireos, Red-eyed Vireos, Baltimore Orioles, Ruby-throated Hummingbird and a cast of the usual other players. After Area N I took them to Hoover Meadows, a mitigation project wetland off Sunbury Road. Green Herons were plentiful as we saw about 7 or 8 easily. A few of the other species that were observed include Baltimore Oriole, Orchard Oriole, Eastern Kingbird, Swamp Sparrow, Common Yellowthroat and Phoebe. Things were fairly quiet as it was almost noon, but the walk was pleasant and the company first class. 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]