Hello Everyone, I just wanted to take the time to make a quick announcement about an exciting new atlasing tool that is available at the Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas II website (http://www.ohiobirds.org/obba2/blockmap/latlon2block.php). This tool will allow you to determine an Atlas block ID by entering latitude/longitude coordinates. If you frequently use a GPS receiver while in the field or driving around, this web tool will make block determination of bird observations very quick. The Coordinates Block Tool will be important for capturing many of those "incidental" observations. Recording important breeding bird observations for the Atlas doesn't necessarily have to occur while on specific atlasing trips in known Atlas blocks. For example, I was driving up to Lorain County on April 18th. Somewhere on I-71 between Columbus and Mansfield, a Pileated Woodpecker flew across the highway. Fortunately, my GPS receiver was running so I quickly marked the location. Since April 18th is well within that species' safe date range, this simple detection could be submitted as Atlas data. Until now, determining the Atlas block where this observation occurred could have been a rather time-consuming process. Now, it takes about 20 seconds! We would like to thank Ned Keller for his work in creating this great new resource. Thanks Ned! If you have questions about the Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas II or would like to know more about how you can participate, please contact us at [log in to unmask] or call (614) 247-6458. Good birding everyone! Aaron Boone Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas II Ohio State University 210 Kottman Hall 2021 Coffey Road Columbus, Ohio 43210-1085 Phone: (614) 247-6458 www.ohiobirds.org/obba2/ ______________________________________________________________________ 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]