Hello, I just wanted to remind everyone that it's not too late to register for the "Big County Early-Season Atlasing Competition" (February through April 2009). If you would like more details about this event and how to participate, please send me a private email ([log in to unmask]). If you're not interested in the competition but still want to help survey for early-season nesting species in Ohio, please do so! In particular, we really need additional help in trying to document nocturnal species like Great Horned Owls and Barred Owls (safe dates began on February 1st). Great Horned Owls are especially vocal right now. I sometimes find it very difficult to detect Great Horned Owls during the summer months when the majority of atlasing activities are taking place. And this species tends to not be as responsive to tape playback as are other owls (like Barred or Eastern Screech-Owls). Our current lack of detections for some nocturnal species may simply be the result of a lack of appropriately allocated effort. For optimum survey results, try to select nights that are clear & calm...noise from excessive wind can make it terribly difficult to hear calling owls. Also, there are results from research that indicate that moon-phase plays an important role in call-frequency of owls. However, other research indicates that it's less important. Moon-phase may or may not play a factor in owl call frequency in Ohio but for those that are curious, the next full moon is on February 8th. Typically, owl survey protocols recommend that you conduct surveys 1 hour after sunset and before mindnight but birds can also be very vocal just before dawn. Please consider making an effort to track down some of these fascinating birds. Please contact me for advice on looking for owls or appropriate areas that still need survey coverage. Good birding! Aaron Boone -- 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]