Today’s nice weather was too good to waste and the time left to monitor Prothonotaries is getting shorter. I headed into the back 40 at Area N and along Big Walnut Creek in Galena (Delaware County). The water level at Hoover Reservoir continues to drop like a bathtub missing its plug and I was able to walk in areas that normally would require wading with hip boots. The Prothonotary Warblers established their territories back in late April and early May when there was plenty of water below the nest boxes and natural cavities. Now with the severe lack of rain the water has receded to the point that the majority of my nest boxes have dry ground under them. The Prothonotaries though are persistent and dedicated parents and have tufted it out, incubating their eggs; hatching the young and seeing them fledge the nest. I didn’t see much evidence of hatchlings still in the nest today, but I found fledglings in good numbers in the back areas of the preserve. The fledglings were raising a racket and this made locating them an easy task. At one point there was so much activity that I sat on the trunk of a downed tree for a half hour enjoying the show. The youngsters were chasing the adults through the foliage stopping to vigorously flap their wings, flare their tails and stretch their necks to get in the adults face to beg for a handout. It worked pretty well. They were oblivious to my presence and some came to within feet of me. I enjoyed the show but it is the first hint of the oncoming southern migration. On average Prothonotaries begin migration in mid to late July with the adults departing first. The juveniles follow later and with only a small number of exceptions they are gone by late July. The occasional pair that has a second brood sometimes is found as late as early August. Birders might consider getting their spotting scopes ready for the shorebird migration. Mudflats continue to grow along the shore at Hoover Reservoir. Unless there is significant rain soon the mudflats should be extensive by mid July. They may also get a chance to scope in the Bald Eagle juveniles as they have taken a liking to the cottonwood trees at the edge of the reservoir. 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]