Welcome to Ocellated
Family, friends, and complete strangers – I now have a blog. It’s actually been a lot of fun (and a little stressful) getting it all setup. For me (and my intended audience) to enjoy this, I wanted something more substantial than the many free blog services around the internet. I wanted multiple categories to allow people to sift through my posts to see things of greater interest to them. I wanted picture galleries where I could share what I capture with my camera as I travel places. And particularly, I wanted a solution that was skinnable, meaning I could give it my own design from top to bottom. I didn’t want something that placed limitations on me. For those that know me, you’ll know that I don’t particularly do things half-heartedly. And so in that spirit, I give you Ocellated.
Keeping up to date with RSS
One thing that can be a huge help in keeping track of what’s going on at Ocellated is my RSS feeds. (See the Syndication link in the navigation). For those unfamiliar with RSS, on that page, I’ve linked to a post describing what it is and how you can get it. By using RSS, you can see what I’m posting about, without having to come to the site. This way, you can subscribe to an RSS feed of everything that’s getting posted to the site, or (and this is the cool part) you can subscribe to only those categories that interest you.
So what is Ocellated?
Ocellated Antbird
I would imagine that many of you are wondering what Ocellated is and thinking I misspelled oscillated. I didn’t. Ocellated comes from the latin word ocellatus, which means little eyes. Basically, it’s a biology word that means spotted. One of the very cool birds I’ve seen in the tropics is Ocellated Antbird (pictured here), and so it seemed a good fit for my website. (Not to mention the domain name was available).
What is the purpose of Ocellated?
I guess there are a number of things I hope to achieve with this site. First and foremost, I’ve noticed that when good friends move away, there’s a tendancy to talk at best every few months, and when you do, the conversations are boring and stale. “Hey, what’s going on…” “Not much, really busy. Got a new job. School’s great.” And after a year with three or four conversations like this, the friendship has mostly died. Since we are likely moving in a few months, I hope that my site will serve the same purpose for the many friendships I’ve formed over my life. I also hope it will better connect me with distant friends I don’t talk with much.
I also want to use my blog to talk about issues that interest me. It will become apparent what those are by looking at the categories I post under. Issues of science, particularly evolutionary biology and ecology. I also have a deep interest in technology, and I’m sure there will be a healthy dose of that.
So sit back, grab a cup of coffee, and let the fun began. In the future, I’ll add a contact form for getting ahold of me, but for now, most everybody has my email address, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Thanks for stopping by, leave a comment and say hi, and I hope you’ll come back often.
When/where did you see Ocellated Antbird? We saw a few at a swarm in Ecuador…definitely one of the coolest birds I’ve ever seen! I look forward to seeing you next week in Harlingen.
Nick
I saw a pair of Ocellated Antbirds in lowland forest in northeast Costa Rica, in May of 2001. It was the coolest ant swarm I’ve ever seen, and there were birds everywhere. In addition to Ocellated Antbird, there were Bicolored, Spotted, and Chestnut-backed Antbirds.
There were also several species of Dendrocolaptids (can’t remember which ones off the top of my head). Plus a whole bunch of other stuff nearby. All going nuts on the thousands of ants darkening the forest floor. It’s one of my most vivid and exciting birding memories, thus making Ocellated a good name for a website.
Hey Jay! Too bad I have not idea how to use XHTML or I would use caps and block letters and stuff. Ha! Anyway, I’m glad your blog is not just a boring-regular-everyone-has-one-now-because-they-think-they-are-cool blog. It is true that the two line conversations at church are hardly sufficient to keep the friendships alive. Monty and I were just saying the other night how we never talk to you and Amy enough anymore, and we were sad. Thanks for the email letting us know about your page…
Hi Jay,
What a great treat browsing thro’ your blog sites…loved the picture galleries! You helped me more than you’ll ever know on butterfly identification…love the picture of the Crescent on the grey plants! You have two pics labeled ‘pale-banded caterpillar’…but one seems to have ‘graduated’ to butterfly status! You have some amazing shots…which also tells me you have amazing patience and tenacity as such pictures don’t come easily. Thank you so much for sharing them…would you mind if I sent your blog address to Jim Alexander who would enjoy it so much…he has cultivated a terrific butterfly garden at this home on Elm Creek (1158 Elmwood), and I would love for you to meet him sometime. Your So. Texas and Mexico trips sound exciting…will be anxious to read your reports. If ever you want to go to the ranch(Spring Gap in Callahan Co) please feel free to call me…still remember the good Audubon field trip several years ago and appreciated your sending me the bird list so much. Peggy B.
Jay,
This is such a cool website! Thanks for including me on your mailing list. Your photographs are beautiful! I especially like the fat chipmunk–haha. Have fun on your trip to South Texas. Will you be passing through San Antonio?
Mary
Peggy, feel free to pass the site along to whoever you wish.
Mary, no, since I´m getting to fly to south Texas and back, I won´t be coming through San Antonio. But I´m sure we´ll be down there soon enough since Amy´s parent still live there and they will eventually insist on seeing their daughter again.
Jay:
DEET doesn’t work as well as “flowers of sulfur” for repelling ticks. (Pour the sulfur into an old sock, tie it at the top, then beat your jeans with it.)
Permethrin, which you can buy in an aerosol can at Wal-Mart, is the best in my opinion. It may be packaged under the name REPEL. Read the label.
BE SURE TO FOLLOW DIRECTIONS FOR USE, as this stuff shouldn’t be breathed or allowed to get on your skin.
Of course, whatever chemical defense you use, you also need to have the cuffs of your pants tucked into your socks and then rubber boots over the socks.
Chiggers and ticks will grab hold of skin or fabric but not rubber.
Bill