Wordless Wednesday: The DC Cherry Blossoms

Wordless Wednsday: The Shenandoah River at Harper's Ferry, West Virginia

Stinkbugs on My Mind

No, not really, but they make good fodder for articles these days. Personally, I only see a few here and there in the city. They drop in through my bathroom skylight and end up in the bathtub. I hear from friends that actually have sheds and other outbuildings full of them. Plus, they are all over the news as the critters are busy worrying about summer crops, so I guess stinkbugs won't go away soon.

Last week I needed a quick article for Examiner and wrote "How to protect your garden from stinkbugs". Then I forgot about it and didn't post it until today, mainly because I was busy playing with Squidoo. I'm investigating this as a different source of residual writing. I used to get residuals from old articles I wrote for eHow. But, they had an author buyout recently because everything is now commissioned by Demand Studios (which I also occasional write for).

So far I'm enjoying Squidoo and the freedom to add lots of stuff. (I often end up with too much research to put in those 400-500 Demand Studios articles and Examiner also likes things short.) I never played with it before because it seemed a bit confusing. Well, I put aside other things on Friday and Saturday to just spend time learning and got my first Squidoo lens up. I called it "Stinkbug Invasion!" which is not the best title, but it works. I will add more later, but for now I just wanted to finish one for the expierience. I have other topics for there in the hopper, time permitting.

This great photo of stinkbug eggs and nymphs at various stages is by Gary Bernon, USDA-APHIS, on Wikimedia Commons. I couldn't find many decent pictures of stinkbugs but when I searched for the Latin name of the brown marmorated stinkbug (Halyomorpha halys) his excellent work came right up. I'm going to use some more of his work when I get a chance to refine the Squidoo lens.

Wordless Wednesday - Beach Wood at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge

Wordless Wednesday: Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge

That Elusive Delmarva Fox Squirrel

I’m sure I’m going to tell you lots of squirrel stories as I write this blog. In my neighborhood we are blessed/cursed with the common gray squirrel, which is cute but can be destructive. I am more enamored with the Delmarva fox squirrel, which my friend and I have had brushes with on the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge.

The first time I went there I read about this squirrel in the visitor’s center. Oh, they are shy, retiring, hard to spot and endangered. People we knew had been coming to Chincoteague for years never saw one. Well, yes, we saw one, on that very trip. As we made one last trip through the wildlife loop before driving back to Baltimore, there he was! The elusive Delmarva Fox squirrel was sitting on the side of the road and sunning himself. Well, since we were leaving the cameras were packed and by the time we finished our fumbling he was gone.

This squirrel, though shy and retiring, likes to sit by the road and taunt passers by. We saw them on subsequent trips, but they always ran just out of camera range. In fact, most of my pictures of them show them streaking away. But, one day last fall this squirrel decided to pose for me, and in range of my zoom lens.

So, that is what prompted me to write “Types of squirrels found in Maryland”. I was just curious about the Delmarva Fox Squirrel in particular. It was also interesting to see that we have gray, red and flying squirrels in Maryland as well.

Next, I’m going to write an article about deterring them as pests, which is less romantic but more practical.