Hi Everyone, July is almost gone and with that, much of the atlasing activity will be winding down. However, there is still a lot of breeding activity going on out there and the first two weeks of August could still hold thousands of critical breeding bird records. So, if you didn't quite manage the time to head into the field as much as you would have liked, there still might be some time to get out there and secure breeding confirmations, if anything, for your block's list. Because the majority of species safe dates end July 31st, 'probable' or 'confirmed' breeding observations are important for their inclusion in the Atlas database. This time of year, breeding confirmations are relatively easy to come by and the 'carrying food' code (CF) will probably be your best friend. Some important species still within safe dates to keep in mind during early August birding travels: HOODED MERGANSER - safe dates end August 15th MISSISSIPPI KITES - late August of 2007 was when breeding was confirmed for the Brass Ring Birds; does anyone have any new information on the Burr Oak MIKIs? VIREOS - Warbling, White-eyed, Blue-headed, and Yellow-throated can all be added to a block list if simply seen or heard before August 16th CHICKADEES, WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH & TITMICE - each of these three species are good until August 16th; check to see if birds coming to your feeders are recorded for the atlas block you live in. WINTER WREN & other wrens - a recent search at Crane Hollow came up empty handed for Winter Wren; what about this species at other locations in the Hocking Hills Region? I haven't heard any recent reports coming from Conkle's Hollow but this State Nature Preserve has hosted them in years past. PINE WARBLER - still countable if heard or seen before August 16th CLAY-COLORED SPARROW - this was another great year for Clay-colored Sparrows in Ohio! If you know of birds that have been present throughout the summer, please keep tabs on them and try to confirm nesting...we need breeding confirmations for this species!!! And if you observe any Clay-coloreds closely associating with Field Sparrows, please let us know. VESPER SPARROW - in my opinion, this is one of the more fascinating nesting species in Ohio (safe dates through August 15th). Stuck driving through the middle of soybean country on your way to some prime shorebirding flats? Why not try to see how many singing Vesper Sparrows you can pick up while on your way? Looking at the species map for this sparrow shows large gaps where they should be occurring. LARK SPARROW - (safe dates through August 15th) if you've been meaning to check out your local gravel quarry for some interesting birds, now's the time to target this species SPARROW SP. - most of the sparrow species have safe dates through August 15th; checking out random grassland areas/reclaimed strip-mined areas when possible could yield much needed data for many blocks AMERICAN GOLDFINCH - this is prime nest-building season for this species If anyone has any questions about the Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas II, please contact us directly and we'll get you whatever information that you need. 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]