Bird Spotting with Google Maps

GeoBirds

Geobirds provides a 'Range Maps' service to show sightings of different bird species in the USA. The site uses data collected by the United States Geological Service.

GeoBirds Range Maps allows you to search for bird sightings in summer and winter at any location. To search the map you first need to choose a location and then choose a bird species from the map sidebar.

Geobirds then displays the results of your search on a Google Map. The blue markers on the map represent bird sightings in winter and the yellow markings display summer sightings. Year round sightings are shown by purple map markers.

Beaky Birdsearch

Beaky Birdsearch is a geographical search engine of UK bird species. The application uses Google Maps to allow users to search for the distribution of birds throughout the UK.

The data for the application is from the 2009 RSPB Big Birdwatch survey which asked members of the public to record the birds that they spotted in their own gardens. To search the map you can enter a bird species or you can select one from the drop-down menu.

Other Birdwatching Maps

• Birdpost
• Birdtrack India
• Birds of Central Park
• White Tailed Eagles - site tracking two eagles on the Isle of Mull in Scotland
  
• Aviatlas

Real-Time University Bus Maps

Transloc - Transit Visualization System

Transloc TVS have produced a large number of real-time Google Maps showing the locations of buses on a large number of US university transit systems.

Using a Transloc map students can view in real-time the position of buses on a campus map. The maps show the buses in real-time actually moving on the map. Each map also includes the bus routes and the position of stops on that route.

Using the map sidebar you can select to view any route or any combination of routes on the map. Transloc is also available as an iPhone application.

New Google Earth Imagery - October 19

As pointed out by GEB readers 'Jorge' and @NoelBallantyne, Google has just pushed out some fresh new imagery!

As is usually the case, you can use Google Maps to determine for sure whether or not a specific area is fresh. This new imagery isn't in Google Maps yet, so you can compare Earth vs. Maps to see what's new; the fresh imagery is already in Google Earth, but the old imagery is still in Google Maps. If you compare the two side-by-side and they're not identical, that means that you've found a freshly updated area in Google Earth!

[UPDATED -- 19-October, 1:28pm EST]

• Ireland: Various areas -- thanks 'Noel'
• Peru: West part of Lima and Callao -- thanks 'Jorge'
• Russia: Near Kimry -- thanks 'AlexeiD'
• Thailand: Various areas -- thanks 'Andy'
• United States: Medford, OR -- thanks 'Steven'
• Uruguay: -- thanks 'Enrique'

If you find any other updated areas, please leave a comment and let us know!

Sharing Your Movements with Google Maps

MapHook

This free iPhone application allows you to tag locations on a Google Map. The application lets you search for interesting places nearby, view other users' MapHooks, read Wikipedia entries about local points of interest or read Yelp reviews of nearby businesses.

When you leave your own MapHook at a location you can attach photographs, submit information and add a category to the MapHook. You can also attach Wikipedia entries and Yelp reviews.

It is possible to set different privacy settings for each MapHook that you post, giving access to 'Everyone', 'Co-Workers', 'Family', 'Friends' or 'Me'. MapHook also allows you to combine your entries so that you can create a collection of MapHooks that could, for example, record places you visited on a vacation.

Low Carbon Travel Ideas with Google Maps

Loco2 Low Carbon Travel

Loco2 is a new website featuring low carbon holiday and travel ideas. Currently the site is concentrating on travel routes and holiday ideas for Europe.

The Loco2 Journey Planner uses Google Maps to show the location of submitted destinations. If you click on any of the destinations you will be taken to the details of the journey. On the journey plan site for each destination you will find a Google Map that shows the steps on your journey, the estimated time of the journey and the carbon footprint.

The journey planner explains each step on the journey and also provides information for each of the locations that you pass through. The information on locations includes links to travel articles from The Guardian, 'things to do' from Qype and details about hotels and hostels.