stemwinder

3 hours ago, KamuSnow said:

Heard one Wednesday night here, then 2 or 3 last night. Agree about the early part. They don't usually overlap with lightning bugs much, but those guys are still at it, although winding down a bit.

Glad you think that they are early too.  Thought I was going nuts.  Usually don't hear any until late in the month.  Likely the last week.

Interesting that they overlap with the lightning bugs which are still around.Insert other media

Heard my first katydid tonight.  Yakking in the tree outside my Apartment. Seems a bit early for them, but the times are crazy.

5 hours ago, LibertyBell said:

lol here's something funny.....I actually played some common bird sounds I hear on my iPad and I heard those birds calling back from my yard......one was a Grosbeak and the other was an Oriole.

 

That is entirely believable.  I've imitated birds and occasionally they've looked into my Apt to check it out.  Then: Oh! it's that joker!  and fly away.

BTW, heard my first katydid tonight.  Seems a bit early for them, but the times are crazy.

3 hours ago, forkyfork said:

the chipmunks are insane this year. probably because last year was a mast year and winter was mild

The owls must be happy too!  

11 hours ago, Hurricane Agnes said:

I ended up getting 0.3" of rain between 11 pm and 1 am (0.21" + 0.09" respectively, at one point with 3/4"/hr rates).  So my monthly total is now up to 7.31".  Had been watching the front pushing the scattered cells this way before I went to bed and figured I might get hit by some, although I'm surprised they didn't fizzle before getting here.  (image below from when the last batch was exiting)

It was also relatively "cool" this morning with a low of 69 (had the same yesterday morning).  Currently mostly sunny and 78.

Got around a quarter inch, and one thunderous boom at around 1AM.  

2 hours ago, forkyfork said:

fay's impact on the sst anomalies was small

Since I've been blathering, I'll bump this one down.  interesting that little pool of cold water off Delmarva.  

The SST may not have been affected by such a paltry storm, but the aquifers are happy, I'm sure.  At least here in NJ.  

6 hours ago, Juliancolton said:

Fireflies are definitely facing existential threats from multiple directions, although I think year-to-year variations can be attributed more to microclimates than overall population health. This has been the best firefly season of my life up here in the hinterlands. They came early (first sighted on May 25th) and are still going berserk every night as we head deep into July. 

You are hopefully right about the fluctuations in the firefly population.  Someone else has put pix on Facebook showing them in the Middletown area of NY.  Abundant there too.  Magical creatures for sure.

EDIT - it's after 9 PM, and the fireflies are around, in abundance.  Even picked one off my screen, to avoid it flying around the apartment.  I stand corrected, and am glad of it.  

2 hours ago, rclab said:

I’m in walking distance of the promenade. I was a letter carrier in the neighborhood In 1978 and probably delivered your mail. Sahadis is still there. The Long Island College Hospital is gone, thanks to the proliferation of high cost housing. Both neighborhoods, Heights and Hill are now under landmarks status. I have often enjoyed the promenade. I use it as a power walk alternative to the full Brooklyn Bridge park route. If you ever come back, preferably when the shooting stops, you should see the Brooklyn Bride Park. Very well done for solo or family enjoyment. On a somber note, the sounds of day or night nature are mostly mute. With a block full of Sycamores, oaks, maples, dogwood there is not a cicadas to be heard nor a cricket for that matter.  Being old, my nights rest is often interrupted by pit stops. If I’m fortunate and It’s just before pre dawn the birds begin singing. It’s only their sound. They sing alone. It is a kind interruption to the dawn silence. With the first strong rays and the waking of the city the singing stops. As always ...

The English sparrows make a lot of noise in the dawn hours.  They are very gregarious, and incredibly tenacious birds.  Not related to the song sparrow I mentioned elsewhere.  I have much respect for letter carriers at any time.  BTW, those are great neighborhoods.  

Someone took a photo of an old IND R4 train which at the time was running the D line to Coney Island.  That's me in 1970, joyriding maybe to the Botanic Garden.  I was renting a dump on upper broadway at the time.  Someone took this photo.  You never know...  They ran these old R cars into the ground, and I wish that they had been overhauled for 20 more years of service.   

49 minutes ago, gravitylover said:

The year started out 'bird strong' but has definitely fizzled. I was out in a forest area today that has historically been a bird wonderland but it was mostly quiet today and I don't know that I heard more than just a couple of cicadas. It's so noticeably quiet it's unnerving, the only regular sound is the mosquitoes buzzing in your face. At one point I thought my daughter was behind me so I stopped to point out how dry a terminally wet area was and it wasn't her behind me it was a coyote. It had been running with me for well over a quarter mile. I started talking before I turned around and when I did it was just sitting there looking at me like a dog, it was so cool! Anyway, so bugs in the garden... Japanese beetles and earwigs are a pain in the butt this year, neither of which has been an issue in the past.

Japanese beetles.  My grandmother grew roses in our Jersey City backyard, and they were a real problem there.  This was back in the 40's.

41 minutes ago, gravitylover said:

The year started out 'bird strong' but has definitely fizzled. I was out in a forest area today that has historically been a bird wonderland but it was mostly quiet today and I don't know that I heard more than just a couple of cicadas. It's so noticeably quiet it's unnerving, the only regular sound is the mosquitoes buzzing in your face. At one point I thought my daughter was behind me so I stopped to point out how dry a terminally wet area was and it wasn't her behind me it was a coyote. It had been running with me for well over a quarter mile. I started talking before I turned around and when I did it was just sitting there looking at me like a dog, it was so cool! Anyway, so bugs in the garden... Japanese beetles and earwigs are a pain in the butt this year, neither of which has been an issue in the past.

Wow.  I may have heard a coyote now and then around here, at night.  More likely I heard foxes.  Unearthly sounds of them fighting, no doubt.  I have new windows in my condo, and hear less now as a result.  Another degree of separation from the outside world.  In September the hooting of the owl is often heard.  By then the windows are open.  Also the strange cry of the screech owl.  Like a baby human, almost.  

3 hours ago, etudiant said:

Wood Thrushes normally nest in low shrubs, the kind that deer like to munch on. Deer are currently predator free, so they eat themselves out of house and home. Sadly that also means the potential home of the Wood Thrush. Nature usually solves this kind of excess with a plague, for which there are several candidates such as CWD. Meanwhile, deer ticks carry Lyme disease.

Can anyone bring back wolves??

Thanks - I did not realize the possible connection to the deer overpopulation.  Everything is so interconnected.  Deer are everywhere here in Central NJ.  

BTW another songbird I am missing is the Song Sparrow.  A plus (for me, if the city dwellers will forgive me) is that the English sparrow is seldom seen around forested areas.  OTOH, I have much respect for these tough little critters in the unforgiving urban environment.

2 hours ago, rclab said:

At dusk Saturday night I observed the first firefly in my postage stamp oasis. It felt so peaceful to just stand and watch. Even though I became a smorgasbord for the mosquito population it was worth it. I viewed at least three of the blinkers. I pray at least two were female. If they are all one gender the postage stamp will be back to hello darkness my old friend. Other than the usual city sounds the postage stamp at night is mute. The sounds of nature are long gone from my inner city locale. As always ....

I'm lucky to live where it's GREEN.  However, I miss NYC very much.  You may be close enough to get to the Promenade, overlooking the East River.  Haven't been there since the 60's, but it is one of Brooklyn's under appreciated gems, I think.  Due to close soon, I understand.  Stayed in a loft on Atlantic Ave Summer of 1978,  NYC was really broken down in those days.  My host would have dinner on his back deck.  Railroad trees were his oasis.  I don't remember well enough, but I'll bet there were cicadas too.  

1 hour ago, JerseyWx said:

Heard my first one on Saturday, love that sound.  Grey tree frogs are also in full force here as well.  Waiting on the katydids now.

When I hear the katydids, my summer is complete.  Too bad it keeps getting hotter. One thing I miss big time is the song of the Wood Thrush, in the woods nearby.  They seem to be gone locally,.  Used to be a lot of little bunnies around .  People feed the feral cats, so enough said.

Speaking of insects, fireflies have been scarcer this year in the lawn under my deck.  Fewer insects in general, I think.  I heard the first cicada just minutes ago.  Guessing it has been snatched up already.  Im thinking that some cicadas sing in the twilight, and others in the heat of the day, where they make up whole choruses.  When I hear that, I know that we're deep in Summer, heat or no heat.   The 17 year variety will emerge around here next spring.  They emerged in heaps, last time, Spring 2004.  Their high pitched sound is nonstop during the few weeks they are around.  They are amazing. (The birds will be happy.)

21 minutes ago, Hurricane Agnes said:

This one is definitely smaller than Sandy - like Sandy's little sister.  This was literally scraping the coast on its way north.  I know "Sandy" is verboten on the Tropical forum but...

That's a great loop.  Yeah, Sandy came in from the east, and it all took forever.  No power.  No heat.  Almost November.  

This one was much more benign.  I did not like Sandy at all, no thank you.  

17 hours ago, tdp146 said:

Can anyone identify this guy who bit me and it hurt like hell?

Ouch.  Am guessing that it's an assassin bug.  Beneficial, they say.  A large group of insects, and some are downright nasty.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reduviidae has more info on the group of insects this belongs to.  

Nice picture.

OOPS - sorry I did not see the great reply posted above.

9 minutes ago, Hurricane Agnes said:

Looks like Fay made landfall somewhere near/north of Atlantic City near Beach Haven.

It looks a bit like Sandy, with that easterly fetch to the north. 

I don't have fond memories of Sandy, but this one was fun, if you did not have to be out there.

The aquifers will be grateful.

1 hour ago, MJO812 said:

My building pool finally opens next week. No outsiders allowed.  Temperature taken before going into the pool and have to wear a mask out of the water.

Wondering if the pool chlorine kills the virus.  I hate the stuff, but that's a plus, if true.

These cells have a habit of parting, like the Red Sea - when they cross the canal here.

Not complaining.  Have just enough lately.  Don't want too much.

Just keep the aquifers full, please.

1 hour ago, Hurricane Agnes said:

Looks like Mt. Holly picked up the Watch ball in the past hour now and does include the tristate area (ETA it looks like most of the convection has been backing to the west and south now) -

 

Thanks - that's a big help.  I'm probably located around where the "e" is in "Princeton" on that map. 

Mercer County is not on the list you provided with the Mt. Holly warning.  I did experience the outflow winds noted on radar earlier.  

Weather has become less boring of late. . .  

PS meant to say: map shows the influx of nice (to me) ocean air that cooled us off over here, storm or no storm.

1 hour ago, Hurricane Agnes said:

Wanted to add that Norman, OK had put in the Severe Thunderstorm Watch until 11 pm and the way these cells are building and back-building, that might verify!

 

Thanks for that!  Did Norman include any NJ counties? 

I'm in the Princeton/w Windsor area, and storms were passing by closely, but we got nary a drop.  Of course, I'm in Mercer County.  The NJ warning I saw did not have Mercer County, but the radar looked bad.  I seemed to be in that big doughnut hole, and then cells started collapsing on radar.  

BTW, I've had some rain in the past week.  Measured at least 2 inches, but the rain hits my deck broadside, so not sure how accurate that is.  

Thanks -

A cell just rolled through here in w Windsor.  Over an inch of rain, enough thunder.  No great wind. 

57 minutes ago, ForestHillWx said:

Had that storm hitting Princeton now. Got some good rain, decent lightening/thunder. No hail, no wind. 

It missed me in W Windsor.  Got nudged westward and it looks to be dying over Bucks County.

I just left north Princeton, and a cell was bearing down hard.  Now home in W Windsor, and I think that it will hit here.  Means losing my poor DSL.

Now it's being nudged westward - look out Bucks County.

Edit - 9:47 -looks as though it is dying with the night.  

1 hour ago, Will - Rutgers said:

The last few days have been one of the more interesting setups I've seen for the area, I'll give them that.  Cell to my west is hammering Somerset County and has dropped many nice CTG strikes.

I just left north Princeton, and it was bearing down hard.  Home in W Windsor, and I think that it will hit here.  Means losing my poor DSL.

Edit 9:48 - Looks as though the cell got nudged westward and is dying in Bucks Co.