The periodical (every 13 years) Great Southern Brood of cicadas are fascinating creatures and they are everywhere! Walking in the woods we found the one (above) sitting on a sign post. When inadvertently disturbed it flapped its wings and landed down on the leaf litter with its wings spread out.
Returning home, we noticed our dogwood tree was covered with the empty nymph cases, still clinging to the twigs and leaves.
We wondered about the noise they were supposed to be making, but in a few days we started hearing a faint buzz outside which got a little louder each day and soon could even be heard from inside the house. The buzzing is constant. To me, it sounds like a lawnmower in the distance, not at all like the jack hammer some folks were suggesting. But who knows? Maybe they haven’t reached their peak yet.
A few days later we stopped by the botanical garden to check out the American columbo and to take a May Day picture of the trees at my eight seasons spot. It was a very bright and sunny day and for some reason my camera decided to give me a black background for this sun-drenched iris.
Much to my delight the mountain laurel is starting to bloom!
When we got to the American columbo plant the flower stalk looked like it was about three feet tall now. It’s kind of hard to make out in the third picture here, with all the other greenery surrounding it. It looks top heavy, with the bundle of buds bending way over.
The next picture is my scene for Karma’s “same location for all 4 seasons” photo hunt. I made it an 8 season endeavor, including Groundhog Day, May Day, First Harvest and Halloween, which fall between the solstices and equinoxes. If you want to join in please see her instructions at the end of this post HERE at Karma’s When I Feel Like It Blog.
May Day (8 seasons series)
I can’t believe the difference from the first two pictures I took and this one. It will be fun to post them all together at the end of the year. And I will keep on checking the American columbo! It’s getting hot. It was almost 90°F that day, above the average mid 70s, and Tim didn’t last too long. (I was finally in a short sleeve shirt with no jacket!) And the drought monitor officially has us at abnormally dry. It should be an interesting late spring and summer.
Courtyard gardens sounds tempting! Love the photos
Thank you, Leelah! There’s always something new to see every time I go…
Not a fan of cicadas, their eyes are creepy and they’re noisy. Didn’t know you were having abnormally dry weather, we are soggy wet here. As usual your photos are beautiful and peaceful… except for that first one.
A lot of people feel the same way you do about the cicadas but I find them extremely interesting. And the noise, at least where I am, reminds me of white noise, a background buzz or hum. But I’m glad you enjoyed the rest of the photos. 🙂
We’re supposed to get cicadas, too, but perhaps it’s just been too cool and wet for them to emerge yet. I’m bracing for the noise but eager to see what the Monk thinks of them!
Are you in the part of Illinois that will be seeing two cicada broods at the same time? I’m also curious what Monkey’s reaction to them will be. So far, the noise here isn’t deafening, more like a background hum or buzz.
Looks like that, from the maps. Should be interesting!
Interesting, to say the least! Hope you get some pictures when they emerge.
Thanks for the Columbo update, it is a curiosity! 90º sounds icky, poor Tim. Today we’re up to 75º but a bit humid from yesterday’s rain. The daffs are fading fast!
I suppose the fact that daffodils don’t last too long is part of what makes them so special! We got two days of much needed rain this weekend with more due this week. Hope the rain doesn’t mar the columbo blooms.
Only Southwest Michigan is getting the double emerging cicadas – given the fact that Southwest Michigan got four tornadoes on Tuesday, all the cicadas might or might not be a good thing for them. A fellow blogger in Illinois says they will get the Brood XIX and Brood XIII as well. He is a macro photographer, so is planning on taking a lot of photos. I laughed when I saw your photo with the caption “marshallia (aka Barbara’s buttons)” thinking Barbara’s buttons was a name you coined, then Googled and found it was a thing! Barbara, your first Spring in North Carolina is turning out to be a study in NC botany … and beyond.
That’s an interesting question, Linda, I wonder what effect those tornados had on the cicadas? Had they emerged yet? According to Debbie, also in Illinois, theirs haven’t emerged just yet. We had tornados southwest of here yesterday, too. What an adventure we’re having here in North Carolina, solar eclipse, 13-year cicadas, and now the first chance since 2005 for northern lights tonight. There’s no ocean or river near here so botany is my world now. 😉
We do have a chance at seeing the northern lights as well tonight, although they are advising to go where there is less light pollution for the best look. It is going to be cloudy as well. The tornadoes whooshing by would make you think more cicadas would be unearthed from their hiding spots or maybe they can burrow underground temporarily? I hope we can learn what happens Barbara.
We never got to see the northern lights here. Dima & Larisa and the little ones even went camping in the mountains hoping to see them, but no luck. On the news they told us that sometimes they’re hard to see with the naked eye and that a camera picks up the light better. Oh well…
I never saw them personally here, but they were all around and people posted pics from my city. I looked out the front door a couple of times and saw nothing and attributed that to light pollution. Then I also heard that the camera got images we would not see with our eyes – that was on Saturday after the best showing on Friday night. That’s a shame they camped in the mountains hoping they’d be away from light pollution and missed them. Next time for all of us ….
Oh well, scientists say the sun is nearing the peak of its 11-year cycle of activity and we are likely to see more northern lights. Here’s hoping!
Yes, fingers crossed it happens and we both catch them!
The cicadas are prehistoric looking aren’t they? Perhaps they are ..
I’m jealous of your warmth and lack of rain. The northeast has been drowned in rain for months on end it seems, and they aren’t forecast a much drier summer. I love that you turned the challenge into 8 photos – great idea!
The internet says, “cicadas have been around for a long time, with the oldest fossils found in the Triassic period, which means they may have been around when dinosaurs lived.” Definitely prehistoric! I hope your rain tapers off, but having it is much better than the droughts we had for a couple of summers up there!