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Date: | Fri, 30 May 2008 14:58:59 EDT |
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This morning Linda joined me as I monitored the Prothonotary Warblers in
Area N of the Hoover Nature Preserve. It was a pleasant day with mild
temperatures and little wind or humidity. From the moment I opened the car door I began
hearing the delightful “sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet” call of the males. As
we walked down the old roadbed we were met by the official welcomers at the
vernal pool on the right. Both resident males presented themselves for a
sing-off. Farther down the road the males were singing everywhere. We walked to the
point where the water is currently over the trail, counting an additional 7
males singing. We observed 5 of the males and 2 females. This section of Area
N was badly damaged by the ice storm in December 2005 and many of the trees
were uprooted and much of the canopy was lost. Now the Prothonotary Warblers
in this section are generally farther back from the roadbed than before when
they were right on top of you when you walked this area.
From here we went off-trail to the back 40 where the majority of my nest
boxes are located in Area N. Everywhere was the sound of singing male
Prothonotary Warblers. I located 19males and 8 females and heard many more. We enjoyed
watching the adults make repeated sorties to nest boxes and natural cavities
with insects and caterpillars. There are numerous nest sites that already
have hatchlings. All indications are that this will be another good year for the
Prothonotaries. The first indication was back on April 26th when I led a
field trip for an Ohio Young Birder’s Club Chapter and we had so much activity,
much of it close, and the youngsters began taking pictures of the
Prothonotary warblers with their cell phones.
As Linda and I were working the area we had several other interesting and
unusual observations. We located a very young white-tailed deer fawn, which
makes 3 during my last two trips in this area. We kept our distance and took an
indirect route to go around the fawn.
Next, I located an active Ruby-throated Hummingbird nest for the second
straight year in Area N. Like last year, the new nest was constructed in a tree
branch that hangs out over Big Walnut Creek.
The final observation, and the one I found most unusual, was a Common
Grackle catching fish. I had never heard of this type of behavior by the species,
never mind observed it before. I initially though the grackle was starting to
wade into shallow water to take a bath. Then it suddenly it lunged its head
down to the water and came up with a fish about 5 inches long. The grackle
then smacked the fish against a log on shore and then flew off with it. After I
got home I reviewed my reference materials but I didn’t find any references
to this behavior. If anyone has experience or references to this behavior I
would be interested in it. You can email me direct rather than post on the Ohio
Birds web site.
Charlie Bombaci
Hoover Nature Preserve
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