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/

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