The H.M.S. Hoover hit the water again today. We covered the last section of the southern east shore of Hoover Reservoir and revisited an area along the upper eastern shore. The southern section of Hoover Reservoir’s east shore from Lake of the Woods south to Area Q was heavily hit by the high water after the rains from June 21 through June 25. It was like a live version of Rachael Carson’s Silent Spring. Where in the past we would have our hands full GPSing nest sites and counting birds we found an absolute silence. All low nesting species usually found along the shore of Hoover Reservoir were non-existent. Not a single Prothonotary Warbler, Louisiana Water thrush, Yellow Warbler or Spotted Sandpiper were to be found. The soiled foliage along the shore line indicated that the high water mark was between 3 to 5 feet above normal depending on the particular area. Events like this are the equivalent of a hundred year flood. The heavy rains of the June 21 through June 25 period ranged from 5.6 to 9.6 inches north of the reservoir. All this water followed the Big Walnut Watershed south and into Hoover Reservoir flooding the shore areas. It was also a worst case scenario; it occurred at night and caught many birds in their nest cavities. Today’s silence was the result. However, the birds will recover from this one-year disaster. On a more positive note we observed hatchlings and fledglings of Bald Eagles, Osprey, Red-tailed Hawk, Canada Geese, Mallard, Wood Duck, Red-headed Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, and Prothonotary Warblers (north end of reservoir). We located another new Red-headed Woodpecker nest site bringing the year’s count to 24. The Red-headed Woodpeckers are flouring at Hoover Reservoir and the Hoover Nature Preserve. We located a new Prothonotary Warbler territory near the Twin Bridges Boat Launch. When Shaune first arrived the male was singing. When I arrived he went silent. Later as we got the boat out of the water he finally started to sing again so I could GPS the territory. It is always hard to see the kind of destruction the June rains caused at Hoover Reservoir, but this is nature. Nature is not restricted to “fuzzy bunnies.” A list of the species observed today follows. Charlie Bombaci Hoover Nature Preserve Species: 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 Herring 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 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher American Robin Gray Catbird European Starling Cedar Waxwing Yellow Warbler Yellow-throated Warbler Prothonotary Warbler Chipping Sparrow Field Sparrow Song Sparrow Northern Cardinal Red-winged Blackbird Common Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird 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]