J.P. Blogger Belatedly Links To Article, Spots Deer On Morning Run

Although it has been over a month since John Ruch's story about my site in the J.P. Gazette, I thought somebody or other might appreciate a direct link to the story. Here it is: http://jamaicaplaingazette.com/node/2738

Sorry for the delay.

Since the story's publication, a number of J.P. residents have reported sightings. Once I've figured out the exact locations (more or less), I'll add them to the interactive map on jamaicaplaincoyotes.com.

One a non-canine J.P. nature note, it seems there's at least one deer in the Arnold Arboretum.

I saw it -- a doe -- on my last run there, on Friday morning around 11. The doe stood on the side of the road for a couple of minutes as I jogged in place, staring. We were maybe 40 feet apart, and it stared back. I didn't want to leave, but it seemed I had to make the first move, or we might have been there all day. I wonder now what else is in the tall grass near the Arborway gate.

J. P. Coyotes In The News

Jamaicaplaincoyotes.com was featured in a story this week in the May 16 issue of the Jamaica Plain Gazette.

In his article, reporter John Ruch provides a good overview of my inspiration and intentions for the site. I hope to be able to link to the story soon at jamaicaplaingazette.com. For now, though, the story appears only in the print version of the gazette.

A New Name (Again)

The Jamaica Plain Coyotes Web site now can be found, appropriately, at http://jamaicaplaincoyotes.com. No more of that jo540 stuff.

The previous URLs were through the Boston University server, which I was told would be wiped clean of student sites within a few weeks. So, to keep the JP coyotes site going, I registered a fitting domain name, found a hosting service, and that's all it took (with a little help from tech support).

To continue the coyote pup analogy, I guess my site has now shed its deciduous teeth, and the permanent canines and incisors are starting to poke through.

It would have been a shame for the site to disappear on the verge of going "public." I'll explain that in a few days.

The Real Jamaica Plain Coyotes Web Site

I've made a few changes to my site over the last few days. The new and improved site can be found at its new, and shorter, URL: http://j0540.bu.edu/jbberk. I'm not quite vain enough to require a double typing of my name to get to my Web site.

The biggest changes are in my audio slideshow. The "audio" and the "slideshow" are now a little better in sync, and I've added and subtracted a few photos.

Over the rest of the site, I've added a few links of interest here and there, and I've changed some text ever-so-slightly. Although the entire site still is 800 x 600 pixels for the benefit of the smaller screens out there, it is now centered, which is a bit of an aesthetic improvement.

I'll do my best to improve and add to the site in the near future. For now, though, I think it will remain just about as you see it.

A Coyote Web Site

I put my Jamaica Plain Coyote Web site (aka http://jo540.bu.edu/jbberk/jberk) online this afternoon. There might be a few changes over the next couple of weeks, but the site is up in its initial version at least.

Looking through all of its seven pages this afternoon, I realized that it might not deliver in the content area to the extent I had hoped and planned. But, I think I have provided at least a short overview of the coyote situation in Jamaica Plain for those who might be interested.

A Few Megabytes Dilated, Almost Time.

Despite doing what I thought was pacing myself over the last two months, I have now worked on my site for 16 hours since yesterday afternoon. I hope the site turns out prettier than the process has been.

I've had many of the big tasks done for a while now -- traveling to Cape Cod for the interview with Jonathan Way, editing my audio, putting together the framework of each page -- there have just been these "little" things here at the end that have provided some major headaches.

Not least among them is the fact that, for one reason or another, I never spoke with the Boston park ranger whose first-hand information about sightings I had been so counting on. In its place, I've had to settle for blog entries, news articles and reports of reports -- not ideal sources of information for journalistic purposes.

I'll post more later or tomorrow when the coyote pup's all the way out.

Online in 33 Hours

Today (and yesterday) was a marathon day of technical stuff for the Web site. After hours of needless frustration in Photoshop and Dreamweaver, my pages are almost ready to go. I'll spend Tuesday on a few final little details, and the site should be up Wednesday afternoon.

I'll provide a more detailed account later of what I went through today.
Good night.

Audio Slideshow

I've made some good progress on my audio slideshow over the last few days. It took a little time to figure out Adobe Premiere, but now that I have, I realize how useful a program it is.

As I was putting together my slideshow -- choosing photos, editing audio, lining it all up together -- I realized how much time one could spend on all the little details of a Web site. I experienced the same thing last week working on my homepage in Photoshop. I could easily have spent a half hour choosing between two shades of gray for the background.

With the slideshow, my aesthetic hang up was over the level of background howling behind Jonathan Way's entrance. I had lined up two clips of howling next to each other, the second somewhat quieter than the first to simulate a fading effect. behind way's voice. I imagine there must be a simple fade button that would do a much better job. Now I just need to find it.

Map Success

I finally spent some time figuring out the map resource I'll use. It seems so perfect for my site that I almost feel guilty for having it. There is even a dog (coyote) paw option as the location marker.

I've entered three locations so far: The Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica Pond and the address of David Sherris, the JP resident whose dog was killed by a coyote in 2005.

The map is a Google map, although the mapping resource is not run by Google. I'll be able to easily embed the map in my site within its own window. I'm not sure at this point if I will create individual pages for each locale as I originally had planned. That depends on how much information I end up with on each sighting. At the very least, I'll learn how to create a drop-down menu from my nav bar so I have the option for the extra pages.

Progress Resumes

Despite the fact that I last posted nearly a month ago, I have been moving along in my site construction.

I have page design well under way, and I'm in the process of editing my audio and video for the all-important multimedia element of my multimedia Web site. The most daunting task still ahead is the creation of my interactive 'sightings' map, which I still haven't figured out how to accomplish. I expect to use yourgmap.com, a mapping resource recommended by Karla Valance, but I haven't yet explored the site, so I don't know what's involved.

One way or another, my site should be up and running in 11 or 12 days. I'll surely have much more to post between now and then.

J.P. Photos

My possible background scenes are below. I haven't yet decided if the photo will cover the entire page. It might be less crowded just to have it as a partial backdrop, alongside a small coyote photo.

Background Search

Today is find-photos-for-my-website day.

It's bright and sunny out, so I took a walk around the neighborhood this morning looking for some good shots. I had a few particular photos in mind, but I was also on the quest for an appropriate Jamaica Plain homepage background scene.

With little hope of catching a coyote saunter down Centre Street at 11 a.m., I figured I'd find the right scene and tastefully (and obviously) add the animal in later. I took quite a few shots, the best of which I may post soon for readers' comments and opinions. I have my favorite or two, but I won't tell for now.

Before looking for the right background, I walked to and through the Arnold Arboretum to find a "Warning: Coyotes" sign I had seen there some time ago. Luckily it was still hanging around. I probably gave the sign far more attention than it's ever had before, but every Division of Fisheries & Wildlife posting deserves the spotlight once in a while, no?

On the way out I took a thrilling short video of a dog-walker at a distance. I had thoughts of passing the pooch off as a domesticated coyote pup, but the in-house-counsel angel on my shoulder advised against it. Shame.

Sound Bites

I took the bus out Hyannis, Mass. today to meet with Eastern Coyote expert Dr. Jonathan Way.

Jon leads a busy life, teaching science at Barnstable High School and maintaining his almost- full-time job of catching, tracking and studying coyotes. His classroom is a testament to his "extracurricular" activities, with multiple coyote posters and photos, at least one complete skull and what looked like a row of bone or tooth casts on the windowsill.

Beyond just to meet with Jon, I went to record him talking about urban coyotes. At some point soon, I'll edit down the great material he provided and use it as the backdrop for an audio slide show on my site. Jon also was kind enough to give me some video footage that I'll definitely find a use for.

To see Jon's site on Eastern Coyote research, click here.

In Search of Sightings

Welcome to Jamaica Plain Coyotes.

Over the next month or so, I will be creating a multimedia website about Eastern Coyotes in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. The purpose of my site is two-fold: to act as a final project for a graduate course in multimedia journalism (a noble cause), and to provide an informative, engaging and interactive resource for anyone interested in the coyote sightings in Jamaica Plain over the past few years.

I will use this blog to chronicle the research, reporting, writing and overall creation of my upcoming site. For now, I am gathering all the information I can about coyote sightings and reports in JP.

Any comments, information about sightings or resources that might help my search would be much appreciated. I will be posting my progress on a regular basis, so stay tuned.