Once again the H.M.S. Hoover set sail at Hoover Reservoir. Today Captain Shaune Skinner and I were joined by Katrina Schultes and Ann Cramer. The weather obliged us by being better than the day’s prediction. The temperature stayed reasonable and the rain held off until we were heading back to the dock. My primary goal was to assess the status of the Prothonotary Warblers in my nest boxes and those using natural cavities along the northeast shore of the reservoir and Big Walnut Creek. The recent rains during the June 21 through June 25 period raised the water levels at Hoover Reservoir to the highest level in decades. Much to my relief the water level stopped inches below most of the nest boxes. The water had however inundated the habitat along the reservoir’s shore and the shores of Big Walnut Creek. There were far fewer males singing in these areas than our previous trip. The timing likely affected the results as many Prothonotary Warblers are currently feeding hatchlings and fledglings and they are less prone to sing during this stage. However, undoubtedly a number of low lying natural cavity nest sites will have been flooded out. We did observe 21 Prothonotary Warblers, several of which put on a good show for us. We observed 15 Red-headed Woodpeckers during the day. We found active nest sites spread along the reservoir shore and Big Walnut Creek. The Bald Eagle nest has fledged. We saw the two eaglets perched closed to the nest. They were calling (begging?) for the adults to bring dinner. The adults were nearby and provided us with a nice low flyover. Further north we located a third adult and to the south a third-year juvenile. Ospreys were in abundance, more so than they should have been based on prior knowledge. I was aware of the two pairs using the platforms near the boardwalk in Galena and a pair with a natural nest below Oxbow Road. These were observed carrying fish in their talons and flying to the platforms. But south of the lower pair we observed two or three more adults. Are there additional nests we haven’t located? Recently I was informed that the nests at the platforms had failed. To misquote Will Rogers, the reports of their death are greatly exaggerated. We watched the two young hatchlings at platform number 2 as we passed it. Two Black Vultures were spotted among the Turkey Vultures. We observed 4 Yellow-billed Cuckoos. Warbles in addition to the Prothonotaries included Northern Parula, Yellow Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler and the surprise, a Cerulean. The day produced 62 species (listed below) along with great company to share them with. Charlie Bombaci Hoover Nature Preserve Species List Double-crested Cormorant Great Blue Heron Green Heron Black Vulture Turkey Vulture Canada Goose Wood Duck Mallard Osprey Bald Eagle Red-tailed Hawk Ring-billed Gull Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Yellow-billed Cuckoo Chimney Swift Belted Kingfisher Red-headed Woodpecker Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Northern Flicker Pileated Woodpecker Eastern Wood-Pewee Acadian Flycatcher Eastern Phoebe Great Crested Flycatcher Eastern Kingbird Yellow-throated Vireo 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 Wood Thrush American Robin Gray Catbird European Starling Cedar Waxwing Northern Parula Yellow Warbler Yellow-throated Warbler Cerulean Warbler Prothonotary Warbler Song Sparrow Northern Cardinal Indigo Bunting Red-winged Blackbird Common Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird Orchard Oriole Baltimore Oriole American Goldfinch House Sparrow ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Please consider joining our Society, at www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: listserv.miamioh.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]