• Periodic Cicadas

    This May saw the emergence of a swarm of periodic cicadas. We have annual dog days cicadas which start to appear the end of July. The periodic cicadas only appear in 17 year cycles. This is the second time we saw them emerge.

    cicada1

    They emerge from their homes in the soil at night and start to climb. After latching on a surface the cicada’s shell splits along the back and the adult climbs out. Not all cicadas successfully achieve transformation, like this one on a small maple next to a porch.

    cicada2

    In the morning we’ll find adults often near the empty shells. Normally the cicada is black but now and again we find white ones.

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    A cicada near a shell. The shells are found clinging to tree trunks and under leaves.

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    And adult periodic cicada. Their lifespan is long, but they live only a short time as an adult.

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    Spring in the Woods

    We had a dry April mostly with above normal temperatures. We weren’t complaining because it is spring.

    molly in garden_450

    Molly began her garden plan in late winter and started tomato and other seeds indoors. In late March into April she’s been planting onions and potatoes in the garden along with seeds and this weekend she hopes to plant her indoor-started plants in the garden.

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    I’ve been taking walks when there’s been a chance and one day I noticed that the redbud trees were blooming. This is a small redbud tree on the edge of the garden. In the background the large shed and the shack can barely be seen.

    redbud and bug_450

    Along with buds there are bugs!

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    And flowering dogwoods of course.

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    This is a patch of wild dwarf iris on the county line road south of our home. I hadn’t noticed this patch before. There is another patch across the road from our house and even more iris in the hollows. The iris is flowering now.

    We’ve had a week or more of rain and it’s cooler. The rain encouraged the trees to leaf out. Last week we could see our garden from the house, now we can’t because of all the green.