Cicadas Have Arrived
Sunday, July 10th, 2022 10:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoozefestaudioSo, it was one week ago, Sunday July 3rd that I heard the first cicada of 2022
In that day's entry, Calendrical Clocks & Lammas I was still very certain that Cicadas and Crickets both, don't really get going until August 1st, and that the one I had heard was a loner who had hit maturity too soon.
Then, on Thursday the 7th, in Island Blocks after hearing several more cicadas here and there, I said, "...it's looking like I may have to disabuse myself of the idea that cicadas don't get going until August 1st."
And indeed, I do have to disabuse myself of that idea, because they did increse in number over Friday and Saturday, until Today... There were so many cicadas out there, near and far, really committed, and calling repeatedly all afternoon, and at sunset...
...That there can be no doubt the Cicadas have arrived!
Now, they're still not at the peak numbers they will be in August, and haven't established the total dominance of the soundscape from dawn to dusk that they will by August... but there are enough now to say with confidence, this is not some fluke.
------------{=0=}------------
I'm still a bit stunned, that they really get going so early in July. But, these are the kinds of misconceptions that can build up over a lifetime of not really paying attention.
I guarantee you this is the first July of my entire life (in which I just turned 53) that I paid special attention to whether or not I was hearing cicadas.
------------{=0=}------------
As for crickets, no such luck, so far.
Still only one single loner out there. A new one, I think, based on his location. I heard him last night, and again today during the day, in a neighbor's yard, two houses south.
Is this the same loner I was hearing last Sunday across the street? I have no idea.
But it is still just one lone cricket. And I don't think it's the same guy I was hearing in late june, from a different location entirely.
--<>--
The other thing I've noticed this summer, about these lone field crickets, is that their call pattern is different from the ones you hear later on, when they've fully populated the area.
The lone field crickets, since last June, always do what sounds like a distress beacon. It's a fast-tempo, constant stream of short, single chirps, like, "Chrp chrp chrp chrp chrp chrp chrp chrp chrp..."
It's as if they know they're alone, and they don't know what else to do but send out this distress beacon in the hopes of a response one day.
Are they local field crickets doomed to hit maturity too soon? Or are they accidental vistors from regions south, carried here by train or car?
I don't know.
Either way, it could be that their fast-tempo call may be more than just a distress beacon.
We know there are millions of nymphs out there right now, very close to adulthood, who may not be able to sing yet, but can very much hear.
So... do these early loners encourage the boys to... eat their spinach and get their wings?
Are they, making the girl nymphs swoon, like a bunch of bobby soxxers... I want a boy cricket who can sing like Larry!
------------{=0=}------------
Whatever the case, my idea that cicadas and crickets both populate the soundscape together, was too simplistic.
Starting with one loner cicada, and one loner cricket last week... it's looking like the cicadas ARE increasing at a steady rate, day to day, and week to week.
But the crickets may still be on an exponential curve that won't really explode until August 1st.
One week on, and it's still just Larry.
------------{=0=}------------
July 31st is exactly three weeks from tonight, so I'll be keeping my ears open day and night to let you know how the crickets actually populate the soundscape.
That's all I've got for tonight.
No more thunderstorms in sight for a while.
Stay tuned.
°¦}
https://soundcloud.com/snoozefestaudio
In that day's entry, Calendrical Clocks & Lammas I was still very certain that Cicadas and Crickets both, don't really get going until August 1st, and that the one I had heard was a loner who had hit maturity too soon.
Then, on Thursday the 7th, in Island Blocks after hearing several more cicadas here and there, I said, "...it's looking like I may have to disabuse myself of the idea that cicadas don't get going until August 1st."
And indeed, I do have to disabuse myself of that idea, because they did increse in number over Friday and Saturday, until Today... There were so many cicadas out there, near and far, really committed, and calling repeatedly all afternoon, and at sunset...
...That there can be no doubt the Cicadas have arrived!
Now, they're still not at the peak numbers they will be in August, and haven't established the total dominance of the soundscape from dawn to dusk that they will by August... but there are enough now to say with confidence, this is not some fluke.
I'm still a bit stunned, that they really get going so early in July. But, these are the kinds of misconceptions that can build up over a lifetime of not really paying attention.
I guarantee you this is the first July of my entire life (in which I just turned 53) that I paid special attention to whether or not I was hearing cicadas.
As for crickets, no such luck, so far.
Still only one single loner out there. A new one, I think, based on his location. I heard him last night, and again today during the day, in a neighbor's yard, two houses south.
Is this the same loner I was hearing last Sunday across the street? I have no idea.
But it is still just one lone cricket. And I don't think it's the same guy I was hearing in late june, from a different location entirely.
The other thing I've noticed this summer, about these lone field crickets, is that their call pattern is different from the ones you hear later on, when they've fully populated the area.
The lone field crickets, since last June, always do what sounds like a distress beacon. It's a fast-tempo, constant stream of short, single chirps, like, "Chrp chrp chrp chrp chrp chrp chrp chrp chrp..."
It's as if they know they're alone, and they don't know what else to do but send out this distress beacon in the hopes of a response one day.
Are they local field crickets doomed to hit maturity too soon? Or are they accidental vistors from regions south, carried here by train or car?
I don't know.
Either way, it could be that their fast-tempo call may be more than just a distress beacon.
We know there are millions of nymphs out there right now, very close to adulthood, who may not be able to sing yet, but can very much hear.
So... do these early loners encourage the boys to... eat their spinach and get their wings?
Are they, making the girl nymphs swoon, like a bunch of bobby soxxers... I want a boy cricket who can sing like Larry!
Whatever the case, my idea that cicadas and crickets both populate the soundscape together, was too simplistic.
Starting with one loner cicada, and one loner cricket last week... it's looking like the cicadas ARE increasing at a steady rate, day to day, and week to week.
But the crickets may still be on an exponential curve that won't really explode until August 1st.
One week on, and it's still just Larry.
July 31st is exactly three weeks from tonight, so I'll be keeping my ears open day and night to let you know how the crickets actually populate the soundscape.
That's all I've got for tonight.
No more thunderstorms in sight for a while.
Stay tuned.
°¦}
