I recently upgraded from a not so smart phone to the Droid — and I have to say, I’m finally getting what all the buzz with apps has been about. I’m not sure you can really call these devices phones anymore but they do make calls so that’s a benefit 😉
Anyway, as I wander through this forest of technology I’ve been coming across some neat tools for us to use in the field.
One is certainly iBird, which got a lot of attention when it came out for the iPhone. It’s now available on the Droid too and was actually the first app I downloaded. It’s pretty cool – similar to a portable field guide, with bird calls and you can use it to keep bird lists.
Another is Google Sky Map. If you see a bright object in the sky, just turn on Google Sky Map and hold it facing the night sky and it shows a map of all the stars and planets.
There are also some sun, moon and tide apps that are handy – you can even enter in dates in the future, which is handy if you’re planning a trip or field trip or something like that.
I know there are some apps for the iPhone that can help with stream monitoring but they’re not available on the Droid so I haven’t been able to try them out. Here are a couple in case anyone with a mac/iphone wants to give them a try:
– USGS River levels – this one pulls from USGS monitoring stations and provides an easy way to monitor the amount of water flowing in your favorite streams and rivers right from your Dashboard.
– Creek Watch – I really wish this was on the Droid – it looks pretty neat. After you upload a photo, you can check the data here: http://creekwatch.researchlabs.ibm.com/call_table.php and they have it linked to google maps so you can “Explore your Watershed“.
– Virginia Map iPhone app: “Virginia Map,” from the iTunes App Store. It showcases the Virginia Base Mapping Program aerial photography and the Virginia Base Map created by VGIN and now includes a GPS “locate me” capability.
If you’ve found some wildlife or nature apps that you’d like to share, please post a comment and let us know. We can navigate the forest of apps together!