Not having heard any cicadas to date prompted me to write to Max Moulds
from the Australian Musuem.
Would be interesting to hear how it goes in other parts of the east
coast of the continent,
cicadas being a fairly important supplement to our birds' menu.
The following should be read from bottom to top, with my last response
to Max at the top:
Max,
It was almost as if, at my request, the cicadas began their song tonight
at 7:40pm.
Was it something I said? ;-)
They're now in full swing.
Our resplendent crickets are also throat-singing.
Perhaps a harbinger of rain?
I hope so.
Yours gratefully,
Peter
Max Moulds wrote:
Hi Peter,
The dry weather very likely has something to do with the low
numbers. If
there was a good fall followed by warm weather i'm sure there would be a
better emergence. However numbers do naturally fluctuate and some seasons
are good and others bad for no obvious reason.
regards
Max Moulds
Peter Adderley wrote:
Hi Max,
I live on the Central Coast NSW, just north of Gosford.
It seems to me that the cicadas are quite late in arriving this year.
I've asked people from Woy Woy to Lake Munmorah and no one has yet heard
any.
From the information on the ABC website I see that the Green Grocer
variety normally
starts hatching around early November.
Perhaps it's because of the dry weather. Any ideas?
So far I've heard just one for a very short period at dusk last week,
but nothing since.
Many thanks,
Peter Adderley
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