With the temperatures predicted to be at, or near to the 90's, over the next 5 or 6 days I got out today to monitor my nest box trail. With the lack of rain over the past month the water level at Hoover Reservoir is dropping rapidly and the base of many nest boxes are being exposed. This puts numerous nest boxes at risk to predators which is always a concern. The warmer than usual spring and early summer has provided a partial solution. Many species, including the Prothonotary Warblers, appear to be ahead of their average dates to fledge their hatchlings. As I checked nest sites at Wiese Road, Dustin Road, Oxbow Road and parts of Area M/N I discovered numerous nests that fledged within the last several days. The button bushes held the most recent fledgelings whereas the earlier fledglings have taken refuge in the higher branches of trees close to their nest sites. There still are many nests with either hatchlings or eggs still in them. Other fledglings and hatchlings observed included Canada Geese & goslings, Mallard and Wood Ducks with ducklings in trail, Osprey getting very close to fledging, Red-bellied and Downy Woodpeckers, Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Kingbird, American Crow (a begging young crow is shameless), Tree Swallow, House Wren, Tufted Titmouse and a White-breasted Nuthatch in my boxes, lots of Gray Catbirds everywhere, adult Yellow Warblers feeding their fledglings along a stretch of the old road in Area N where there is water on both sides (not habitat that I expected them to be at), Northern Cardinals, Blue Jays and finally a Baltimore Oriole on its nest. Activity was constant but less than just a week ago but you take what you get. The water level at the northern end of Hoover Reservoir is receding rapidly with no rain to replenish it. Mudflats have begun to be exposed on both the east and west shore of the reservoir. The last time this occurred to this degree was 2005, a year that produced 33 species of shorebirds during the period from July through October including both godwits, avocets, willets and just about every plover and sandpiper except for the rarities. Are we in for another banner year for shorebirds? If we are, now birders have the boardwalk available rather than sloshing through mud the consistency of wet cement. The two days with the best weather this week I was inside assisting with PreK programs at Highbanks Metro Park. No birds but tons of fun as Debbie (Naturalist), Donna (incredible story teller) and I did a program about ecology via the "Lorax." Charlie B. ______________________________________________________________________ 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]