I took advantage of today’s nice weather to get out and monitor my PROW nest boxes. The weather was wonderful after the oppressive conditions over the holiday weekend. Even the birds showed their appreciation by singing and cooperating with me all morning. I covered several areas including Mudhen Marsh, Oxbow Road and some of the shore areas between them. I located 12 PROW territories, 7 at Mudhen Marsh and 5 at Oxbow Road, which I hadn’t previously recorded. I could hear multiple males singing from shore areas I couldn ’t access and from the islands offshore. This coming weekend, all going well, we launch the SS Hoover with Shaune at the helm and chase down the offshore territories. At Mudhen Marsh most of my nest boxes are on the north side of Big Walnut Road. This is an area where most people don’t visit as it is difficult to get to and the terrain is not user friendly. There are several nest boxes on the south side near the bridge. The PROW pair that is nesting there chose a natural cavity in a snag just to the southwest of the bridge. The male flew in a landed about 5 feet from me to reaffirm that he held the territorial rights. He was rather direct about it and even checked out the marker I put out although his interest in it was short lived. A male from the north side of the bridge landed on a branch on the south side and he determinately convinced the interloper that he belonged on the north side. Nothing shy about these guys and when the chase is on it’s like trying to follow two neon orange-yellow blazes through the air. I also discovered a flying squirrel napping in a nest box. Only the second time I’ve found one using a nest box. Neat little guys. I quickly closed the box and let him snooze on. At Oxbow Road the fishing crowd has settled down at last. During the past weeks they had been all along the water’s edge and I was concerned as I had only located one PROW nest site. Today the PROWs were more active and I locate 5 territories. Several are already feeding young which was a surprise considering how they managed to keep their presence undetected during the fish run. My Alpha male was belting away from the cottonwood tree opposite the end parking area. The small cove on the north side is prime territory and usually the first claimed every spring. Prior to today I had not seen or heard a PROW from the large vernal pool on the south side of Oxbow Road. Today made it at least 25 years there has been a pair of PROWs here. The male sang from the tall dead tree in the water then alit and sang from the cottonwood sapling at the road edge where I had just place a territory marker. If I had a camera he would have been too close to focus. That’s my kind of view. He was spectacular as he sang in the sunlight. Following is a list of some of the more interesting birds at each location. Charlie Bombaci Hoover Nature Preserve Mudhen Marsh Green Heron 3 Wood Duck 2 Osprey 1 Bald Eagle 1 Cooper's Hawk 2 Spotted Sandpiper 1 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1 Barred Owl 1 Ruby-throated Hummingbird 2 Red-headed Woodpecker 2 Eastern Wood-Pewee 3 Acadian Flycatcher 5 Eastern Phoebe 3 Great Crested Flycatcher 2 Eastern Kingbird 4 White-eyed Vireo 1 Yellow-throated Vireo 1 Warbling Vireo 6 Red-eyed Vireo 4 Wood Thrush 1 Gray Catbird 9 Brown Thrasher 2 Cedar Waxwing 11 Northern Parula 1 Yellow Warbler 2 Prothonotary Warbler 7 Louisiana Waterthrush 1 Common Yellowthroat 2 Indigo Bunting 3 Orchard Oriole 2 Baltimore Oriole 5 Oxbow Road Green Heron 1 Wood Duck 7, 1F & 6 y Osprey 1 Bald Eagle 1 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1 Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1 Eastern Phoebe 3 Eastern Kingbird 2 Warbling Vireo 4 Red-eyed Vireo 2 Gray Catbird 7 Brown Thrasher 1 Cedar Waxwing 8 Yellow Warbler 2 Prothonotary Warbler 5 Common Yellowthroat 2 Indigo Bunting 1 Orchard Oriole 1 Baltimore Oriole 5 ______________________________________________________________________ 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]