Hello Everyone! I have really enjoyed reading all of the interesting reports to Ohio-Birds about recent atlasing discoveries and observations. It is encouraging to see how much atlasing activity is actually taking place out there. The data entry website ( http://bird.atlasing.org/Atlas/OH/Main/) has been instrumental in providing the means to track atlasing progress across the state. For example, there were around 45,000 observations that had been logged online by mid-spring of this year. Now towards the beginning of July, there are already well-over 74,000 observations that have been logged. This is HUGE! It's also interesting to scroll through each of the species and view current observations for each (check out the "View Results" quick-link towards the top of the page). Take a quick look at Bald Eagle! We all know that they've made a huge come-back in Ohio but the actual change since the mid-'80s is more meaningful when actually viewing a map. When viewing species distribution maps, click on the "View Previous Atlas Data" to access the maps from the first Atlas. If anyone would like more information about using the online data entry website, please let me know as we now have a recently published tutorial that outlines all of the useful features that this website has to offer Ohio atlasers. I can either email a PDF of the tutorial or mail you a paper copy. Just let me know! Recent weeks have seen some very interesting observations...multiple pairs of Bell's Vireo, a few Upland Sandpiper observations, Blackburnian Warbler fledglings, some additional Clay-colored Sparrows, Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, Northern Saw-whet Owls, Blue Grosbeaks in lots of places...and let's not forget the Mississippi Kites (breeding confirmation pending at the moment)! Atlasing is a great way to explore Ohio and potentially make some very interesting discoveries. I encourage everyone to take a look at a map and find an area that hasn't been covered yet (the fastest way to get this information is by using the website although you can certainly give us a call if you'd rather avoid the net). Even those blocks surrounded by a sea of agriculture can provide fantastic birding. Besides, it's a lot of fun to try and top 75 species in some of these habitat-challenged areas, but it can be done! Give it a try...I'm sure that all the regional coordinators in these regions would be extremely grateful! Again, we would like to thank everyone who is out there braving the heat and the insects to provide the Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas II with valuable data. This project wouldn't happen without your continued support. If you're still wondering about whether or not you might be able to participate in the project, please feel free to give me a call or slide me an email. I'd be more than happy to discuss ways in which you could contribute to the Atlas. Good birding! -- Aaron Boone Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas II School of Environment & Natural Resources The Ohio State University 210 Kottman Hall 2021 Coffey Road Columbus, OH 43210-1085 614.247.6458 (office) 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]