Hey WI and MN birders- The number of Snowy Owls thus far reported in the upper midwest makes it clear this is an invasion year for this species. To get a sense of their distribution so far this winter I plotted all the sightings I could find on a google map, and I thought I would share. Currently the public may add new sightings as they occur. A couple of major points: all of the points on this map are intentionally plotted inexactly. The point here is to get a look at the overall distribution in our area. Because google maps is a very different sort of public forum than either of our listserves, I want to keep this points with significant error for the safety of the birds. I have generally plotted the point to the nearest population center mentioned in the posting to the listserve. If you want to get more information on a particular sighting, you'll need to check the appropriate listserve. If you are going to add points to the list, please use the rule of major population center noted above. DO NOT USE THIS MAP FOR BIRDING! Another major point! Only a small fraction of the reported individuals are currently in eBird <http://ebird.org/>! (And at least one sighting is in eBird <http://ebird.org/> but was not reported to the list.) Ideally, I wouldn't have to make my own map, because everyone sighting these birds would put their list into eBird <http://ebird.org/>. However, I can't legitimately add someone else's sightings to eBird <http://ebird.org>. If you haven't tried this amazing tool for recording and viewing bird sightings, I suggest you give it a shot. You can now even include links to photos if you want to support an ID or simply make your list look snazzy. http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=204094329457575509162.0004b268568ba73710764&msa=0&ll=45.752193,-92.021484&spn=10.164185,23.269043 Please keep posting your general sightings to the lists, with as little or as much detail as you see fit, and keep an eye out for these magnificent birds! Jesse Ellis Madison, WI <%3Ciframe%20width=%22425%22%20height=%22350%22%20frameborder=%220%22%20scrolling=%22no%22%20marginheight=%220%22%20marginwidth=%220%22%20src=%22http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&mpa=0&ctz=360&mpf=0&ie=UTF8&msa=0&ll=46.742908,-92.154142&spn=6.227535,9.853105&t=h&vpsrc=6&msid=204094329457575509162.0004b268568ba73710764&output=embed%22%3E%3C/iframe%3E%3Cbr%20/%3E%3Csmall%3EView%20%3Ca%20href=%22http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&mpa=0&ctz=360&mpf=0&ie=UTF8&msa=0&ll=46.742908,-92.154142&spn=6.227535,9.853105&t=h&vpsrc=6&msid=204094329457575509162.0004b268568ba73710764&source=embed%22%20style=%22color:#0000FF;text-align:left%22%3ESnowy%20Owls%20in%20the%20Upper%20Midwest,%202011-12%3C/a%3E%20in%20a%20larger%20map%3C/small%3E> -- Jesse Ellis Post-doctoral Researcher Dept. of Zoology University of Wisconsin - Madison Madison, Dane Co, WI ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html