I just spent about 10 minutes trying to parse out the exact location of the
king eider reported near Blaine and didnt have much sucess, While doing so
it occurred to me that there is a MUCH better method of conveying location
information.

Check out http://maps.live.com It's Microsoft's online "Virtual Earth".
To show how it can be used for sharing locations of sightings here is an
example I put together for the Emperor Goose near Snohomish:

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=47.894089~-122.105237&style=h&lvl=17&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=2774471&sp=Point.rzfrkf4tqq01_Emperor%20Goose_Location%20of%20Emperor%20Goose%20on%202006-12-09%2009%3a29%3a42.%20%20Note%20that%20the%20attached%20photo%20is%20not%20of%20the%20actual%20goose.__http%3a%2f%2fupload.wikimedia.org%2fwikipedia%2fen%2fthumb%2f1%2f15%2fEmperor.goose.arp.750pix.jpg%2f497px-Emperor.goose.arp.750pix.jpg~Point.rzfqqj4tqs7y_Parking___

Instructions on how to do this:

1. Open http://maps.live.com/ in your browser
2. Navigate to the location of the sighting
3. Click the right mouse button on the precise spot - a menu will appear,
click the Add Pushpin link in this menu
4. You should now have a form that allows you to add a title, description,
image, etc for the pushpin. Enter the information and click the Save
button.

Your pushpin is now complete but there is one more step you need to complete
to be able to share it. As you do your work the URL doesnt change on this
website like it does on most others (for very good technical reasons).
Therefore the URL in your browser doesnt contain all the necessary
information to recreate what you are seeing. To create a link that you can
send out to Tweeters (or anywhere else for that matter) you need to do the
following:

1. Go to the Share Menu at the top of the map and click the Copy Link To
Clipboard link.
2. Go to your email editor of choice and hit paste (CTRL+V) the link into
your text.

This only takes about 5 minutes, and is so much explicit and helpful to
others than a written description. People can even right click on the Pin
and click the get driving directions link. To change your view just click
on the map and drag your mouse. To zoom in or out spin your mouse wheel or
use the + and - keys on your keyboard.

There are many more useful and cool features to this program. For instance
you can also look at the maps in 3D. I only recommend this if you have
broadband and be aware that it requires you to download an ActiveX control
from Microsoft, but trust me it's worth it :

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=47.892682~-122.107183&style=h&lvl=18&tilt=-24.1187132344895&dir=352.267363093598&alt=264.760748773813&scene=2774471&sp=Point.rzfrkf4tqq01_Emperor%20Goose_Location%20of%20Emperor%20Goose%20on%202006-12-09%2009%3a29%3a42.%20%20Note%20that%20the%20attached%20photo%20is%20not%20of%20the%20actual%20goose.__http%3a%2f%2fupload.wikimedia.org%2fwikipedia%2fen%2fthumb%2f1%2f15%2fEmperor.goose.arp.750pix.jpg%2f497px-Emperor.goose.arp.750pix.jpg~Point.rzfqqj4tqs7y_Parking___

If you have any questions about this please feel free to send an email
directly and Ill be more than happy to help you out. I think it's worth the
effort.

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