There was some nice activity at Areas M and N of the Hoover Nature Preserve today. The probable top on the list was a Lesser Black-backed Gull. Jim Fry had been searching for it in the area of the docks above Hoover Dam. It had been previously reported at that location several times. For Jim – Nada. He gave me a call as he was looking for his FOY Prothonotary Warbler and a Red-headed Woodpecker, both of which I had reported the day before. We went to Areas M/N in Galena and quickly got Jim his Prothonotary Warbler, a beautiful male who was all showoff. As we began to head for the Red-headed Woodpecker nest site we stopped to view the Osprey at Platform No. 2 and in the background we noticed a line of gulls on the boardwalk. Closer inspection disclosed that the elusive Lesser Black-backed Gull might be sitting in the middle of the group. We circled around picking up the Red-headed Woodpecker on the way and headed out on the boardwalk at Area M. There among the Ring-billed Gulls were about 7 Herring Gulls, a dozen Bonaparte’s Gulls, 5-6 Common Terns, and the Lesser Black-backed Gull. Later scanning the water off the boardwalk we spotted a flotilla of Common Loons in breeding plumage and a merganser hen. Tree, Barn and Rough-winged Swallows were do aerobatics over the water, snatching insects in mid-air. Last, the Osprey changed shifts at the nest platform. One adult soared in, and then the other left the nest with the newcomer snuggling down on the nest. After a break for dinner I returned with my wife and we watched an adult land with a fish. Both adults took position at the edge of the nest and little heads popped up looking for their dinners. My total list for the day at Areas M and N follows. Charlie Bombaci Hoover Nature Preserve SPECIES LIST Common Loon Pied-billed Grebe Double-crested Cormorant Great Blue Heron Turkey Vulture Canada Goose Wood Duck Mallard Hooded Merganser Osprey American Coot Bonaparte's Gull Ring-billed Gull Herring Gull Common tern Mourning Dove Red-headed Woodpecker Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Eastern Phoebe Warbling Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Blue Jay American Crow Tree Swallow Northern Rough-winged Swallow Barn Swallow Carolina Chickadee Tufted Titmouse White-breasted Nuthatch Carolina Wren Blue-gray Gnatcatcher American Robin European Starling Northern Parula Yellow-rumped Warbler Yellow-throated Warbler Prothonotary Warbler Song Sparrow Northern Cardinal Red-winged Blackbird Common Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird American Goldfinch ______________________________________________________________________ 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]