Hello everyone, March is almost upon us and before we realize it, lots of birds will be in a breeding frenzy. In thinking about the upcoming field season (Year #3) for the Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas II, there are a few things worth mentioning. #1 If you still have Atlas data from 2006-2007, please consider submitting these as soon as possible. #2 If you are currently conducting surveys in specific blocks, please consider finishing up those surveys as quickly as possible in the coming year. (Please consult the article in Issue #2 of the atlas newsletter for ideas on efficiently surveying your blocks. A copy can be found on our website.) #3 Since the first Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas culminated in a large dataset on bird distribution, we will soon be in a position to assess changes in statewide distributions of breeding birds that have taken place over the last 20 years. Because priority blocks received all survey effort in the mid-80s, we must ensure that they once again receive adequate coverage. The first two years of the second Atlas have seen survey efforts in 46% of all priority blocks. It is our hope that this level of effort will increase significantly in 2008. Approximately 400 priority blocks currently have ZERO survey effort. Right now there are 600 birders currently registered as Atlas volunteers. This means that 2008 could see a massive dent in the coverage gap! We would like to encourage everyone to consider taking on new surveys in one of these priority blocks that have yet to receive any attention. A quick scan of the state shows that 46 counties have more than half of their priority blocks with little or no survey coverage (Adams, Allen, Ashtabula, Belmont, Brown, Champaign, Crawford, Darke, Defiance, Fairfield, Fayette, Fulton, Gallia, Guernsey, Hancock, Hardin, Harrison, Henry, Highland, Jackson, Jefferson, Lawrence, Mahoning, Mercer, Miami, Monroe, Morrow, Noble, Paulding, Pike, Preble, Putnam, Ross, Scioto, Seneca, Shelby, Stark, Union, Van Wert, Vinton, Washington, Wayne, Williams, Wood, Wyandot). To help direct survey efforts into these orphaned areas, we have created lists of all priority blocks showing current effort level. The three lists are sorted by County, Block ID, or Survey Effort. To access these PDFs, please visit http://www.ohiobirds.org/obba2/PriorityBlocks.php If you would like a hard copy of this list, please let us know and we'll mail one immediately. If you're new to the Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas, join the fun today. Atlasing is citizen science at its finest and you can easily contribute with your every day birding efforts. Get in touch with us and we'll get you some information to get started. Let's make Year 3 a banner year of data collection for Ohio's nesting birds-good birding! Aaron Boone Project Coordinator - 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) [log in to unmask] 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]