Happy Friday, VA Birders.
Good Friday afternoon, Atlasers!
Just a quick message to share an updated Atlas resource and exciting new
data benchmarks.
First, we recently updated the regional coverage maps available via the *Maps
and Tools page *of the Atlas website (www.vabba2.org). These maps are an
up-to-date look at which Atlas blocks have actually been claimed in each
region. While this does not reflect data submission (many checklists
received for unassigned blocks in eBird), it does provide a sense of what
blocks are likely to be completed in the near future and where we are still
in significant need of breeding observations.
Second, this week we jumped over *35,000* checklists submitted to the Atlas
portal and received data in almost *70%* of the Atlas priority blocks!
This means that despite the heat of summer, folks are still out generating
breeding observations for the project. We appreciate those of you who are
braving the heat to get those high summer breeding confirmations. There
are plenty to be had! Check out the latest summary of Atlas data
collection results at:
http://ebird.org/ebird/atlasva/subnational1/US-VA?yr=all
Finally, a special shout out to our top contributors who have each managed
to confirm breeding of 70+ species: *Ellison Orcutt, Todd Day, David
Larsen, Kelly Krechmer, Jon and BJ Little, Candice Lowther, James Fox,
Diane Holsinger, Janice Frye, Cheryl Jacobson, Kurt Gaskill, Fred Atwood,
John Spahr, Bruce Hill, and Kim Harrell. *We appreciate all their and
every atlas volunteer's efforts to further our knowledge of VA's breeding
bird communities
Hope everyone has a great weekend,
Ashley Peele, PhD
Virginia Breeding Bird Atlas Coordinator
Conservation Management Institute - Virginia Tech
Office: 540-231-9182
Fax: 540-231-7019
