Hi All,
I trust that everyone's atlasing activities are being productive this
season. So far, this year has been very exciting for the Ohio Breeding Bird
Atlas II and the cool reports keep coming in. It's been fun to read about
some of your interesting atlasing observations. Keep up the great work
everyone!
I just got a phone call from Sean Williams who's in southern Harrison County
right now. Sean reports that he "stumbled" on a quite expansive marsh just
north of Piedmont Lake (and the small town of Belmont Ridge); southeast of
the intersection of Hwy 331 and Ramsey Rd. Sean was in this area conducting
point counts for the Atlas and noticed a large marsh near a gravel path
along an old railroad bed (a bike path under construction?). He decided to
investigate and walked this path and realized the enormity of the marsh
after estimating 70+ Swamp Sparrows. After just minutes of being at this
marsh, Sean confirmed Virginia Rails when an adult and several chicks walked
right by him. Better yet, an AMERICAN BITTERN started calling just moments
later! As far as I have been able to tell, neither of these species was
recorded in Harrison County during the first Ohio Atlas. Might this marsh
contain other interesting marsh species.I'm sure Sean will track them down
later this evening as he tries to break 80 species for this block in one day
(he's already up to 79 in under 6 hours!)
I think Sean's experience illustrates perfectly the nature of Atlas birding.
You never know what you're going to get! One may not think of a particular
atlas block as containing much of interest from a birding perspective but a
bit of investigation might yield some very exciting records often in the
most unexpected places. Also, this part of the state (Harrison, Belmont,
Guernsey, Noble, Jefferson, Monroe, Morgan Counties) is showing a
significant lack of survey coverage. Regional Coordinators Dan Kramer,
Scott Albaugh, Doug LeVasseur, and Lynda Andrews would greatly appreciate
any atlasing efforts in their respective regions. The counties in this area
of the state have a diversity of habitats and good birds are certainly being
found.
Atlasing is pure fun. Please join us in helping to put Ohio's nesting birds
on the map. There's still plenty of time to get involved this field season.
If you have questions about participation, please contact us at 614-247-6458
or email us at [log in to unmask]
Thanks to everyone who is helping to realize the goals of this exciting
project. Good birding!
Aaron Boone
Project Coordinator
Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas II
(614) 247-6458
www.ohiobirds.org/obba2/
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