vastateofmind

It's funny, too, when a stiff breeze goes through, the "overall volume knob" on the cicada chorusing gets turned down a notch or two...I picture them stopping their song to dig in and hold onto their branch until the worst of the breeze passes through, and then they turn that knob back up to 11! BTW, consistent and pretty loud cicada song yesterday and today -- though not annoyingly so. We've had to increase the volume on our outdoor patio speaker by a couple notches, as the cicadas were pretty effectively drowning out the music this weekend. I can't remember from 2004...do we peak for 1-2 weeks like this, and then the drone dies off as the mature adults start concluding their orgy and dying off?

I remember the pic of your beautiful weeping cherry. I'm sure it wasn't that tall 17 years ago, but I would think that, with its "skinnier" branches, that it would be desirably easier for mama cicadas back then to place those eggs in the finer branches of that type of tree than other tree types. Who knows with these buggers? I've got mature dogwoods and hollies that they totally ignore, while the nymphs and fliers routinely storm our oaks and maples.

You guys are at a slightly higher elevation though, right? As high as where, say, PSU lives? I wonder if that has anything to do with it....

Oh, and we'll be waiting with all of the good over-the-hill memes...

I hope you have an awesome milestone birthday, @H2O!!

I know, right? But I've always loved @H2O's avatar...it brings up great memories of watching Harvey Korman on all the Carol Burnette reruns I grew up with. Also, his video of periodical carcasses surrounding the base of his tree mirrors that of two mature trees on my property. The last several mornings, the tree trunks themselves, as far up as about 8-10 feet have been covered with newly molted cicadas drying in the morning sun. Also have been hearing sustained chorusing since about Tuesday (not unlike the vid that @Paleocene shared a few posts back), and getting a bit louder/stronger each day but it still comes and goes in waves...and sometimes in the middle of the day it just stops. I just searched but didn't find a definitive answer -- do the periodicals sing all day long, just at daybreak and nightfall mostly, or on some other schedule?

Thanks for this...I'm getting good pics and video of individual, or small groups of, the periodicals, but it's hard to record the sound of the general chorusing like you did here! Great capture. I said it yesterday, and will say it again -- I find the periodical cicada song pretty soothing. I know it can, and likely will, get much louder than what we're all hearing right now, but I still like it. It reminds me of a higher pitched version of an Alexa skill called "Warp Core," which is a looping recording of the low, ambient engine "thrum" of the Enterprise-D (from Star Trek: The Next Generation) while traveling at warp speed. It's a great ambient sound (the periodicals AND/OR the Warp Core loop) to work to throughout the day. #GeekAlert

Haven't seen Galaxy Quest in too many years, but as a lifelong Trek fan, I love how it sends up all of the tropes and cliches from all of the Trek series/movies. And yeah, Enrico Colantoni (in addition to many others!) were so good in GQ...we are working our way on Hulu through NBC's "Just Shoot Me" sitcom from the late 90s/early 2000s, and he's a hoot as Elliott in that show.

Yep. Hearing sustained chorusing from the Brood X periodicals this morning. Much preferred to the mid-late summer screeching buzzsaw of annual cicadas!

That's exactly what I was hearing yesterday morning....some in the early afternoon, too. Nothing sustained, though...yet.

...days to hang with the pupper, soaking up the rays in the outdoor seating area at a (or several!) local brewery(ies). Sorry, your dream...I just started getting caught up in it. BTW, currently 68 and a beautiful morning out there. Opened the windows for awhile to let in some fresh air, and to hear the occasional, light cicada song.

Just snapped these emerging and newly-emerged friends in the morning sunlight. Also, it's not consistent...and very faint...but I just heard off-and-on cicada song for the first time this morning. Kinda like they're warming up and getting in tune.

FWIW, I like the switch-up in your profile avatar...

So I'm curious....do you find that your cats prefer to A) play with/bat at cicadas, B ) eat them, or C) both? Our yellow Lab gorged herself on cicadas the latter half of last week and over the weekend (and we've got the proof of "intestinal distress" piles around the yard to prove it), though she's sort of over the snacking now. I wondered if cats eat cicadas, or simply enjoy the hunting/playing with them...and I don't have any nearby to observe.

I love when they're in this fresh-out-of-the-molt, "Groucho Marx eyebrows" stage....

@FXW176's enthusiasm is contagious....I just created this album of all of my Brood X-related pictures/video going back to late April, and as there is continued activity in our little corner of FfxCo (which I assume will ramp up considerably in the next week or so), I will just add it to this album going forward: https://photos.app.goo.gl/1KpTfqSuQojkVNwE7

We have friends in Catonsville who converted their pool to salt water several years ago and love it...said they wished they'd converted long ago, just for the more efficient maintenance. We belonged to the neighborhood pool the entire time our kids were still at home and that worked well. Sometimes I think I'd love having our own pool...and then I hear more sobering observations from current pool owners (like yourself) who make me second-guess that wish.

I'll bet you and @wxtrix start seeing SOME evidence this week, especially with forecasted temps. It's definitely time! Yeah...I thought I heard some slight churring from the Coast Guard property today. My big backyard oak looks like this all around the base...and at sunset, the grass around it kind of gets that "boiling" look...

Maybe it was the combination of my power washing as well, which I FINALLY finished at 7 p.m. Saturday night. Can finally cross that annual though despised task off for another year...

Yeah, it was odd, as there was only like a 20% chance of "scattered showers" forecasted, but skies grew pretty dark to our north around that time, and even here in NoVA I heard a rumble of thunder or two with just a few sprinkles. Radar definitely looked more vigorous up your way and in southern PA.

Funny that you mention this. I believe you and I mentioned the heavy occurrence of spinners on maples this year, several times -- the maple isn't mine, it's my neighbor's, however it behaved exactly as you described here AND with the bulk of the spinners finally off/down, I noticed that some of the topmost branches weren't leafing out. In fact, I wondered if those branches had died, but I've just noticed over the past few days that they were just behind in leafing out with the rest of the tree. In 20 years of living with that damn PITA maple tree (my neighbor misses most of the mess from HIS tree, as it hangs mostly over MY backyard), I've never seen the spinners this heavy.

Wowzers! Beautiful pool! Even more beautiful slices of meat!! I'm excited, as I spent 4-5 hours power washing two backyard patios today, and I'm DONE for another year.

They grossed me out 17 some years ago...I never killed any but avoided them like Randy did/does. And yeah, I've let FIVE crawl all over my hands today. They're basically a ladybug....with pterodactyl-sized wings and blood-curdling giant red eyes. Actually, the ones I held today were perfectly content to hang out on my fingers or hand...my previous experience with cicadas is that they fled us giant beings with great effort. They're humorously clumsy.

TY....that is a damn cute puppers.