The NY BBA III blocks are based on USGS ‘topo quads’ that have been divided into sixths.
The first Atlas Essential is to respect atlas blocks. When you go out atlasing, make sure that all observations on a single checklist are from within a single block.
The NY BBA III divides New York State into 5,710 ‘atlas blocks’—roughly 3 x 3 mile squares used to map New York’s breeding birds. Atlas blocks are based on 7.5’ USGS Topo Quads that are broken up into 6 smaller blocks. Each block is named with the name of the topo quad followed by the position of the block within the quad.
For the final year of the Atlas, we ask you to focus your efforts on Center East (CE) blocks.
Use the Final Season Block Tool to find a map of blocks labeled by priority level.