Everyone is always saying what a great source of info eBird is... and I
have played around with it to a degree, but always leave frustrated in not
being able to figure out how to access the information I am SURE must be in
there somewhere!

For example, I am planning a trip to a distant land (another Ohio county)
and want to find some places along my route to bird. I would like to know
WHERE are the locals birding and WHAT are they seeing? And for bodies of
water, specifically, WHERE are the public access points?  (many bodies of
water seem to be surrounded by private property)

Is there a specific tutorial for eBird that lists the steps required to
find birding locations?

Yes, I have read the eBird tutorial page and the FAQ page. It mainly seems
to address submitting data, rather than retrieving it.

Yes, I have tried to use the Explore Data map. It keeps zooming back out
every time I try to input any parameters. I have had mixed results trying
to search for a specific species, but that's not what I'm after. It doesn't
seem to do much of anything if I manage to get my date parameters input
correctly then zoom in to my location. The most that will happen is a
transparent gray screen appears which disappears when I uncheck "Surveyed
locations". Sometimes it shows a progress bar... "loading markers"... but
none appear. OK, now what?

As far as "hotspots" - all I seem to be able to find is a list of GPS
coordinates, which does not help me at all.

Any suggestions appreciated. Other than "buy a GPS unit".  :-)

THANKS in advance!

Karen Gray
Copley

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