WBBA II effort map
Have you set your atlasing goals for the coming year? This is the perfect time to do it! Will you hit the 100, 500, or 1000 checklist mark? Will you find that rare breeder? To help jump-start your resolution process, here’s a list of our favorite Atlas challenges for 2018:
- Complete a block – We estimate that it takes about 20 hours, including a few night hours, to complete a block. If you can’t swing that time commitment, we also have blocks that are nearly finished and can be completed with just a few hours of your time. Get started by touching base with the County Coordinator of the area you’d like to work on.
- Complete several blocks – Up for a bigger challenge? Consider taking on more than one block. Survey each block at different points in the year using the Breeding Guideline Bar Chart to help refine what to look for. Start things off now by looking for mating Great Horned Owls! Find your new blocks by using our handy Block Request Tool.
- Submit 50 Atlas checklists from low-effort areas – As we head into year 4, we need to be laser-focused on traveling to Central and Northern Wisconsin to tackle blocks with low effort to date. Where can you travel this summer that has an untouched block?
- Break into (or defend your place on) our list of top atlasers – We’ll be rolling out new atlaser stats in early 2018: make it a point to get top honors this year on one of our lists.
Seek out specific species: We’ll help! – In 2018, we’ll be regularly highlighting blocks that need help, specifying what habitat the blocks contain and what species can likely be found within them. Wouldn’t it be great to confirm a lifer as a breeder? Keep watch on Atlas communications throughout early 2018 as we roll out details on needy blocks.- Find a very rare breeder – Look out for Northern Pintail; Yellow-crowned Night-Heron; Yellow Rail; Barn Owl; Philadelphia Vireo; Worm-eating Warbler; Nelson’s Sparrow; Lesser Scaup; Western Grebe; Snowy Egret; Great Black-backed Gull; Great Gray Owl; Western Kingbird; Rusty Blackbird; Eared Grebe; Tennessee Warbler; Bay-breasted Warbler; and Wilson’s Warbler. Each of these species was at least probable during Atlas I, but none have been confirmed during Atlas II.
- Join us on a field trip or at a blockbuster event – Our plans include atlas blitzes in Door County and Lincoln County, a workshop in Eau Claire, and many more outings large and small. Stay tuned as details are released throughout early 2018.
- Get started with eBird – New to eBird? It’s easy to get started and this is the perfect time to do it! Create an account and start now by recording the birds you see in your yard, and by the time May comes around, you’ll be ready to move to the next level: atlasing!
Confirm a Crossbill – We are now down to only 1 species confirmed in more than 2 blocks during WBBA I that we have not yet confirmed in WBBA II: White-winged Crossbill, a finch that breeds in northern conifer bogs, but primarily after irruption years. Red Crossbills are present in higher numbers this year, so perhaps you’ll luck out and get a White-winged Crossbill in the mix?- Submit 100 checklists during the breeding season, or 500, or 1000 – This one is pretty simple. Just take the bar you set last year and raise it! To find out how many checklists you have submitted to date, head to your My eBird page.
- Confirm 50 species in your home county – You can find out how far you need to go to reach 50 by using the Explore a Region Tool and looking for “Top eBirders” on the right hand sidebar.
We only have two years left to complete 849 blocks! WE NEED YOU! If you have been waiting to get more involved, now’s the time! Not sure where you are needed? Contact your County Coordinator or just email us directly at atlas@wsobirds.org.