An interesting idea, but one has to ask: won't the use of a single hotspot obscure real data about the local movements of a bird? Each of Paul's examples holds great data about where birds are seen. For the black-tailed gull, I would think all of those locations are legitimate sightings, and demonstrate where the gull is seen and where to look. 

It seems to me that eBird wants greater detail in it's sightings, not less.

Andy Sewell
Columbus, OH


Sent from my iPod

On Dec 27, 2011, at 3:23 PM, Paul Hurtado <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Rob Ostrowski recently shared some excellent advice (I've reposted his
> message below) for using shared personal locations to report popular
> rarities without resorting to an eBird Hotspot.
> 
> I'll let you read his email below, but gist of his advice is to share
> an empty checklist for the location with your own email address (see
> details below!) then post that link to a local listserv or web forum
> so others can "accept" the shared checklist & have that location show
> up in their "My Locations" list.
> 
> Excellent idea! :)
> 
> If you're unfamiliar with the issue of messy rarity maps in eBird,
> here are a few OH examples to compare with the map mentioned by Rob.
> 
> 1. Black-tailed Gull:
>     http://tinyurl.com/AshtabulaOH-BTGU-ebird-map
> 2. Kirtland's Warbler in Columbus:
>     http://tinyurl.com/ColumbusOH-KIWA-ebird-map
> 3. Yellow-crowned Night Heron nests, Bexley:
>     http://tinyurl.com/BexleyOH-YCNH-ebird-map
> 
> Good (e)Birding,
> Paul Hurtado
> 
> Original post at
> http://groups.google.com/group/ebirdtechtalk/browse_thread/thread/8aabe6cd773f963d
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> From: Rob Ostrowski
> To: eBird TechTalk
> Date: Dec 23, 8:41 pm
> Subject: Heavily Twitched Rarities and Personal Locations
> 
> The problem: a rare bird shows up where no hotspot exists, nor where
> one should be created anyway. Many birders twitch the bird and each
> create their own personal location.
> 
> The result: three dozen different map markers for the same bird and
> spot - some wildly imprecise - some partially or entirely obscuring
> the markers created by other observers.
> 
> Solution! Create a personal location at the spot where the rarity is
> being seen. Using that location, create an incidental checklist with
> zero species and "No" checked for the question asking if all species
> are being reported. Share the checklist with your own email address.
> From that email, copy the shared checklist URL and post it to your
> local listserv. Anyone can then click on that URL, accept the blank
> checklist, and by doing so, add it to their list of locations. Users
> can then create a new checklist using that location, and every one who
> does will have their observation under a single personal location.
> Users should then delete the blank checklist using Manage My
> Observations.
> 
> This makes for a much cleaner presentation and consequently a much
> more readable and useful species map. It also keeps us from having to
> create a hotspot for a random city street where a mega just happened
> to show up. This is a method that Bill Hubick and I have developed in
> Maryland with great success. I'm sure many of you have encountered
> this problem and might have your own ideas on how to combat it, so
> please share if that's the case.
> 
> The Maryland eBird/birding community has been nothing but thankful and
> ecstatic to play along. For a recent success story, check out the map
> for the Black-headed Grosbeak currently being seen in a small town on
> the Eastern Shore of MD:
> http://ebird.org/ebird/map/bkhgro?neg=true&env.minX=-79.75040205937495&env.minY=38.12374389755781&env.maxX=-71.84024580937495&env.maxY=41.15176464572806&zh=true&gp=true&mr=1-12&bmo=1&emo=12&yr=1900-2011&byr=1900&eyr=2011
> 
> And here's the accompanying post that I posted to the local listserv, MDOsprey:
> 
> "For those of you who use eBird and are planning to chase this
> vagrant, Bill Hubick and I have put together a quick and easy way to
> enter your observation while maximizing the cleanliness and
> readability of the species map. Many of you are already familiar with
> this process, which we implemented with several of our western
> hummingbirds this fall. Well, we've
> simplified it even further. By clicking the link below, you can accept
> a blank checklist that's already plotted at the bird's location. After
> accepting it, you will have this location in your drop down menu of
> locations, as well as on your map. You can then proceed to create a
> new checklist like you normally would (using the shared location), and
> once you
> delete this original blank checklist, you're all done.
> 
> This allows everyone's observations of this bird to be listed under a
> single location, rather than have 30 different locations scattered
> around the vicinity. It also keeps us from having to create a hotspot
> for a location that might not ever be birded again once this bird
> heads off.
> 
> So to accept the checklist and get started, please click the link
> below. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask Bill and I.
> 
> http://ebird.org/ebird/shared?subID=UzkzODEwMDQ.&s=t
> 
> Thanks,
> Rob Ostrowski
> Crofton, MD
> [log in to unmask]"
> 
> I hope this helps, and again, I would be interested in any feedback or
> alternative methods you have come up with.
> 
> Rob
> 
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