Hello all, I think this is a good idea. I would really like to see something like this added to the MOU online seasonal reporting maps, if it's feasible. I realize this would be quite an endeavor, but I think it would be worthwhile. Exact dates and locations provide good information for people wishing to see a particular bird, or to know what's been seen in a particular area. Also, the scientific value of accurate mapping is important, not only in keeping accurate records, but in determining bird distribution patterns within a county or state. Something to consider is the type of map that could be used to plot the data (if this is possible). I'm currently compiling North Dakota tiger beetle records and plotting them on a county outline map overlayed on a physical geographic map of North Dakota that I generated in Adobe Photoshop. It's useful to visually depict where collection records come from in terms of an area's geography. Distributional patterns that are not immediately evident from reading LATLON coordinates or township-range data become clear when they are precisely plotted on a map.
Good Birding! Pat Patrick Beauzay Department of Entomology 217 Hultz Hall, Bolley Drive North Dakota State University Fargo, ND 58105 701-231-9491 [email protected] http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/entomology/ http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/ndsu/beauzay/tigerbeetles/index.htm http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/ndsu/beauzay/Mounting_Chalcidoidea/Chalcmount.htm > Google has recently announced the release of their mapping technology to > the public. It would now be possible to post your sighting using a map > interface, like Google Maps. Think something like this, only birds: > > http://www.mywikimap.com/?tag=regular&zip=56001&radius=10 > <http://www.mywikimap.com/> > > Sightings could be submitted via a form on the page. Once entered, each > sighting would be represented by a red marker, visible to anyone. > Sightings could be filtered by species and/or genera, as well as zip code. > This is a very powerful tool that could quickly allow anyone to find the > exact location of a sighting anywhere in the state at a single glance. > This would be free to put together and implement on the mou site. If > anyone thinks this might be a useful tool, let us know. > > > Alex Watson > Tom Rogers > > _______________________________________________ > mou-net mailing list > [email protected] > http://cbs.umn.edu/mailman/listinfo/mou-net > >
