Here on Flint Ridge in western Muskingum Co. it seems like the spring season has extended well into a wet summer. It's raining again this morning, and if the farmers get a dry week of weather to bring in the second cutting of hay that is growing well it should be some really nice food for the sheep and horses this coming winter. Qhite unlike last year. Anyway, warblers continue to sing. Yesterday morning Jane and I took the full circuit walk over the hill and into the deepest (southeasternmost) ravine. At the entrance into the forest I heard a strange warbler song. It had the quality of a hooded, but an unusual rising pattern, and none of the over-the-top "tee-o" punctuation at the end. I searched around in the thick foliage for the elusive bird, testing Jane's patience. Once found it looked like any other garden-variety (I guess that's really forest-variety) adult male hooded warbler. These guys have caused me some lengthy searches before with their occasionally anomalous songs. Three evenings ago, I guess that makes it Friday evening, I heard a cerulean burst forth with two standard repetitions of its song. Common yellowthroat song is persistent. And in the overgrown field thicket a yellow-breasted chat continues to sing frequently. I doubt if any of these birds are second-brooding, except possibly the yellowthroats. But it does make you wonder. I don't recall hearing a hooded as late as July 21 before. Wood thrushes lend their voices to the chorus, as do many of our standard residents. Maybe life is just good, what with the rain and the resultant bugs. Various mushrooms have been digging it as well. Fungus fruiting everywhere in the forest. Bob Evans Geologist, etc. Valhalla Acres Fiber Farm Hopewell Township, Muskingum County ______________________________________________________________________ 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]