The weather was acceptable with the temperature in the low 70’s when Shaune launched the SS Hoover this morning but by the time we returned to shore it was starting to really cook on Hoover Reservoir as the temperature raced for the 90 degree mark. We set out from the Twin Bridges boat launch at Redbank Road and covered areas along the east shore going south to Area Q. We located multiple active Prothonotary Warbler territories. I’m not calling them nest sites as the hatchlings have mostly fledged the nests and are lurking in the button bushes and low branches of black willow or cottonwood trees. we did spot a few females heading out to dispose of fecal sacs, implying nests with hatchlings still in residence. Some of the fledglings we observed were quite well along in growth, now as big as the parents, but still not completely into their immature plumage. At this stage they really look motley with patches of their soon to be golden-yellow coming in, but with splotches of gray pinfeather sticking out here and there. Next year they get to impress us with their. brilliant torch golden-yellow as they live up to the title of the golden swamp warbler. We observed high numbers of Great Blue Herons all along our trek. With the water level at Hoover Reservoir down, it prevented us from getting into some nooks that have been productive in past years, but now providing east prey for the herons. The Cliff Swallows under the bridges were numerous and are having a successful year. The hatchlings are almost ready to leave the roost and we spotted little heads popping out in most nests. Several adults flew right next to us as they hunted insects for their nestlings. A complete of our observations from the boat follows. Charlie Bombaci Hoover Nature Preserve SPECIES LIST Double-crested Cormorant Great Blue Heron Great Egret Green Heron Turkey Vulture Canada Goose Wood Duck Mallard Osprey Red-tailed Hawk Killdeer Ring-billed Gull Mourning Dove Chimney Swift Belted Kingfisher Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Northern Flicker Eastern Wood-Pewee Acadian Flycatcher Willow Flycatcher Eastern Phoebe Great Crested Flycatcher Eastern Kingbird Warbling Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Blue Jay American Crow Tree Swallow Northern Rough-winged Swallow Bank Swallow Cliff Swallow Barn Swallow Carolina Chickadee Tufted Titmouse White-breasted Nuthatch Carolina Wren House Wren Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Eastern Bluebird Wood Thrush American Robin Gray Catbird Northern Mockingbird Brown Thrasher European Starling Cedar Waxwing Yellow Warbler Prothonotary Warbler Common Yellowthroat Field Sparrow Song Sparrow Northern Cardinal Indigo Bunting Red-winged Blackbird Common Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird Baltimore Oriole House Finch American Goldfinch House Sparrow ______________________________________________________________________ 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]