First Katydid, High Summer

I heard the first katydid of the summer last evening just as the sun was setting. In addition, I noticed that the deep purple New York Ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis) flowers have appeared in the wet meadow in my favorite natural area. High summer is fully upon us here in the sweltering Mid-Atlantic. Unfortunately, for the last few days, it's been so hot and humid I have been keeping the air conditioner on and the windows closed, so I can't hear the katydids singing at twilight.

Firefly numbers are dwindling, too. I think they peaked early and then experienced a precipitous decline during the last week. I recall that fireflies used to be abundant until the end of July, but if current trends prevail, they'll be all but gone by the end of the month this year.

I wish that the same could be said of the mosquitoes, which seem to be doing just fine despite the bone-dry, rainless conditions.

First Firefly--Really!

I know, I know... In my last post, I said that I wasn't going to make my blog phenological. But, I just have to report that, last evening, at 9:30, I spotted the first firefly of the year near the top of a large tree near my house. It's very, very early!

A Nighthawk (at last!)

Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor)
Image from www.bentler.us

I start to scan the evening skies at the end of August each year for the first migrating Common Nighthawks (Chordeiles minor) patrolling for aerial insects over the fields and meadows of my local natural area--so far to no avail. Now that it's the last third of September, I'd all but given up hope of seeing them this year. I figured that I had either missed them, or that the population had gotten so small that they simply weren't to be seen, since the species is in severe decline (likely for lack of appropriate undisturbed nesting habitat).

Then, on a lark (so to speak), I decided to take a walk just before dark last evening. The sky was mostly cloudy, though the clouds weren't so thick that a gauzy crescent moon couldn't shine through in the southwestern sky. A neighbor of the natural area was finishing-up mowing his lawn in the growing gloom, and over his yard there appeared a Common Nighthawk, undoubtedly taking advantage of the insects sent skyward by the lawnmower. This sighting was about three weeks later than I usually see these birds.

A colleague of mine, playing Frisbee golf in an urban park last weekend, reported seeing five Common Nighthawks cruising over the park. Now I know they're just migrating a little later than I am used to seeing them, not that they've disappeared altogether.

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During the remainder of my walk, I noticed that there were still plenty of fireflies to be found, mostly in the lower, damper portions of the natural area. A large amphitheater of a wet meadow near the natural area parking lot offers the very best firefly show in the area each year, but the fireflies have been absent from that meadow for weeks. I was surprised to see them so abundant in other parts of the preserve.

When I got to work this morning, a colleague asked if I'd gone for a walk in the natural area last evening. When I told him that I had, he said that he'd gone for a walk, too, and had been surprised by the fireflies, just as I had. He thought that the last time he recalled seeing a firefly was the end of August. A wondrous event.