Greetings---This has been a fascinating month of June so far in Ohio for birds.  I am one of the many who used to consider this time of the year as the doldrums.  Thanks in large part to the Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas 2, that is certainly no longer the case.  Species found so far this month in the state include gadwall, blue-winged teal, n. shoveler, green-winged teal, redhead, bufflehead, all 3 mergansers, ruddy duck, n. bobwhite, common loon, eared grebe, Am. bittern, least bittern, reddish egret (first Ohio record), yellow-crowned night-heron, Mississippi kite, black rail, black-necked stilt, marbled godwit, western sandpiper, Wilson's phalarope, Bonaparte's & great black-backed gulls, Caspian & black terns, etc. etc.  And that's just the non-passerines!!  The loggerhead shrike I saw in Ashtabula Co. was completely unexpected, and like the marsh birds Sean Williams discovered in Harrison Co., was pretty much "stumbled" upon while atlasing.  When you get out and do a
 thorough search in just about any atlas block, it's truly amazing what habitats and birds can be found--especially at places you pretty much figure have never been scrutinized by birders.  Lark sparrow in Lake Co., wow.  How many blue grosbeaks, dickcissels, Bell's vireos, common ravens etc. are out there?  Add in the other fauna and flora enountered incidentally, and you begin to see the importance of atlasing.  OK, I'll get off my soap box now...if you're reading this and not yet involved in OBBA2, please consider joining in.  ALL areas and ALL their birds are important, and ALL birders can make valuable contributions!!  Thanks, Craig

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