We have finally come to the cabin in the middle of nowhere. The evening of July 8, there was one practicing fire fly blinking in the bushes. There having been a downpour, I assumed the mass of them were huddled in the grass. Not so. That was the first and last firefly on display.
Their high point here is usually the week-end of July 4 with displays thereafter for a few more weeks. Were they here (upstate New York) as early as Katherine reported in early June from Nebraska(?), and are already gone....OR?? Alas.
Plenty still here in Michigan, though they peaked about a week ago. Watched them last night. Temps have been extremely warm--high 80s/low 90s for most of the month. Hot weather seems to keep them around longer.
ReplyDeleteWe have also had a lot of starlings and more bird activity generally.
Waiting for the hummingbirds now that the trumpet vine is in bloom. They usually show up.later in the summer.
Bird sightings:
DeleteScarlet Tanager flew into a window, landed on the deck. Lifted its head a few times, played dead, lifted a wing, dropped its head---and flew off!
Humming bird flew through the door, circled the room, tried for a window exit, and finally from whence it came.
Perhaps they've gotten used to our not being here. Just like the mice, who probably decided to settle in for the summer when we didn't get here in April.
finally "left" from whence it came.
DeleteGlad you get to spend some time at the cabin.
ReplyDeleteWe are still having a few fireflies light up. They didn't really have a peak this year, but have been showing up a few at a time for a month. Maybe they are distancing.
I haven't noticed any around here. I'll have to ask my wife - she's a better noticer than I am.
ReplyDeleteIt would make me feel ill if climate change is having an effect on fireflies.
Yes, like winter without snow!
DeleteJust checking back. I asked my wife. "Yes, we have fireflies this year. They are all over. I caught one earlier tonight."
DeleteIf they want me to notice them, they need to come into the house one evening and fly in front of the television screen.
Lots of cardinals, and Eurasian collar doves around. A couple of oriole sightings, they aren't so common here. Some kind of tiny bird with a very loud raspy chirp has been hanging around. Reminds me of a Chihuahua, loud bark (and attitude) in a small body.
ReplyDeleteI'm told the Eurasian collar doves are an invasive species, but I like them anyway. They're pretty, and have a nice alto coo.
DeleteBirds, all kinds year around in Florida. But here is the thing about fireflies: You have to be outside after dark. At that time, mosquitoes abound carrying various things, like Zika, West Nile disease, Eastern equine encephalitis and dengue fever ("break-bone disease"). I may have missed a couple. You get the point. Eleven cases of one of them in Miami already this year.
ReplyDeleteOutside after the dark?
DeleteFire flies will come up to the window and blink.
Hoping to see the comet after sunset, though it.has been a bit hazy this afternoon.
ReplyDeleteComet?
DeleteVisible after sunset and just before dawn. I couldn't see it this evening because of too much haze and surrounding light. Will try tomorrow. https://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Comet-Neowise-visible-in-bay-area-sf-15407584.php
DeleteI will have to try and see it if we get a clear night. Lately the skies have been hazy in the evening.
DeleteLast comet I have seen was a piece of Shoemaker Levy-9 in (I think) 1990. Didn't see it on purpose, we happened to be on Interstate 80 after dark, and it was in a perfect position for visibility.
I may have looked too late or the comet was below the tree line. It will move closer to the Dipper the next few nights.
DeleteOut here on the Left Coast we don't have fireflies, at least in and around the SF Bay Area. I have fond memories of seeing them in rural Wisconsin when I was a kid. We, of course, caught them, pulled the lights off and put them on our fingers, pretending that we were wearing diamonds. (I wonder if that caused those flies pain? Definitely a subject for Masters or PhD research.)
ReplyDeleteHere is a photo someone took in South Dakota of the comet Neowise.
ReplyDeleteBTW, has anyone heard cicadas yet? I heard the first ones today. They used to say that it was six weeks to the first frost from the time you heard them. But that would be pretty early, the first of September.
ReplyDelete