Hi everyone,

Are you one of the top birders in your county? Ohio eBird Hotspots could use your help! I recently helped Ken Ostermiller by proofreading county webpages as he migrated our hotspots from Wiki to a new host. I was sad to see how few hotspots have tips for birding from local birders. How many times have you gone to a new place and wished you had more information? That is the whole purpose of Ohio eBird Hotspots, and you could contribute to make it even better. Here is a sample of tips I wrote for a Summit County hotspot:

O’Brien Cemetery:  There is a long, single-lane gravel road leading from Hudson Drive back to the cemetery. Along the road, the habitat includes open grassy areas, marshy areas, and woods. The cemetery was established in the 1880s, and there are some very large, old trees that attract a variety of birds. Once you walk through the cemetery, there is a pond to the west. Hotspot highlights: Wild Turkey, Eastern Wood Pewee, Baltimore Oriole, Rose-Breasted Grosbeak, Magnolia Warbler, Golden-Crowned Kinglet, Ruby-Crowned Kinglet, Wood Thrush.

The best tips for birding I saw was from Vinton County, and you can read here: https://www.birding-in-ohio.com/Vinton/Zaleski-State-Forest
Please, take a moment to look at your county on the new website: https://www.birding-in-ohio.com/. Look at individual hotspots and decide if you could write a short tips for birding to add to the hotpot page.  Your tips could include where to park, good trails, whether a scope is helpful, bird highlights, and more. Since writing might be intimidating for some of you, as a retired business teacher, I will review your tips for spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc., and suggest edits before they are ever added to the website. Please send tips to me, including the county and hotspot name, at [log in to unmask]  

I firmly believe that we have a responsibility to give back to the birding community, and I hope many of you will share your wealth of knowledge of your local hotspots with Ohio eBird Hotspots. Thank you!

Susan Carpenter
Stow, OH

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