Hi Greg--
Ample toad population here too but they aren't singing. More and hungrier t=
han usual birds.
The orioles got here 2 weeks before the fruit trees (sort of) blossomed and=
were all over the feeders instead of eating in the woods. People love orio=
les so much one couldn't find a jar of grape jelly or an orange in the groc=
ery stores all spring.
Maybe part of it could be birds feeding on insects earlier and diminishing =
later hatches.
On Jul 19, 2014, at 12:37 AM, Gregory O'Drobinak =
[naturerecordists] wrote:
>
> One thing that I should add is the preponderance of many small, dark (nea=
rly black in color) toads in our lawn.
>
> I never noticed this before.
>
> And the deer are voracio us about eating our flowers!!
>
> Best,
> Greg O.
>
> From: "Gregory O'Drobinak [naturerecordists]" <=
naturerecordist >
> To: "" <>=
> Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2014 12:31 AM
> Subject: Re: [Nature Recordists] lack of insect singing in upper midwest =
of US
>
>
> Rob & John:
>
> I heard a few crickets about three weeks ago and then nothing.
> Things are very quiet this evening as they were about 60 miles north last=
night in an undisturbed prairie area. I do find this somewhat unsettling.
>
> It's been cool ( almost cold ) this year and I have had a fungus growth w=
hich has decimated about half of my lawn due to the lack of sun and the ver=
y wet weather.
> Never had a problem with this since 1994.
>
> The only insects that seem to be somewhat normal are the mosquitos ad the=
fireflies.
> I also have a silver maple that has some strange growth issues and is she=
dding some bark.
>
> We do have a few cicadas, but nothing like last year.
>
> As for songbirds, there are mainly robins and red-winged blackbirds, but =
they are mainly here because of the marsh areas in the Dunes National Lakes=
hore.
> No sign of hummingbirds this season.
>
> The bee activity around or garden seems almost normal, however.
>
> I believe that the cool, wet weather is the culprit, but who knows for su=
re!
>
> BR,
> Greg O.
>
>
>
>
> From: "John Crockett [naturerecordists]" <naturerecordist=
>
> To:
> Sent: Friday, July 18, 2014 7:43 PM
> Subject: Re: [Nature Recordists] lack of insect singing in upper midwest =
of US
>
>
> It's still a little early in the season for much singing insect
> behavior here in Vermont, but so far it sounds pretty typical (which
> is to say not much - a few crickets is about all. Give it another
> month and we should be in the thick of it). Fortunately we have had
> tremendous bird activity this year, where last year we hardly heard a
> bird all year. That was scary.
>
> John
>
> On Jul 18, 2014, at 1:33 PM, Rob Danielson
> [naturerecordists] wrote:
>
> > Hi-
> >
> > Have others in the upper midwest US noticed almost no insect
> > singing this summer?
> > We had a very cold winter, a very slow fade-in spring and as yet no
> > stretches of really warm days/nights.
> > Could populations just be really low? I've seen only a few small
> > crickets and small grasshoppers.
> >
> > Its very eerie to have the windows open at night in mid July and
> > hear nothing except a single cricket chirp for 2-4 seconds and
> > maybe again in 15 minutes,..
> >
> > Thanks
> > Rob D.
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------
> > Posted by: Rob Danielson <>
> > ------------------------------------
> >
> > "While a picture is worth a thousand words, a
> > sound is worth a thousand pictures." R. Murray Schafer via Bernie
> > Krause.
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------
> >
> > Yahoo Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
>
>
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