This afternoon I watched a catbird overpower a locust or cicada type insect. We have had cicadas singing since mid-June and it's very noisy here on the west side of the Des Moines metro area in the evenings.
Jane Clark Along dry Walnut Creek in Clive -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jim Schmit Sent: Monday, July 23, 2012 9:07 PM To: IA-BIRD Cc: [email protected] Subject: [ia-bird] Poor Insect Crop I don't have any scientific quantification but observation and logic point to a horrible insect crop this summer. Here I had a bumper crop of songbirds and raccoons - no doubt due to the early spring and mild winter. Nectar and pollen flowers are in terrible shape in my fields. Even the ones I water in my garden look bad. Swallows, swifts and kingbirds, usually abundant here are not. Bat numbers are way down and those I see are hunting much lower than normal. There are almost no moths for my cat to hunt on the decks. I assume the flying insect hunters have moved to areas of natural water to hunt. The wild grapes and cherries have stopped developing. It is almost quiet in the evening very few cicadas or katydids. Very quite at night, very few crickets, no more frogs or toads. I pray Wednesday night will be noisy with thunder. Jim - "urban" Des Moines, miles from rivers or lakes. --- Please contribute your sightings to our list; it is only as good as members make it! --- Birding channel recommendation for FRS/GMRS radio use: Primary selection; channel 5/0 , alternate selection; channel 6/0 --- This mailing list is sponsored by the Iowa Ornithologists' Union. Membership available on-line at http://www.iowabirds.org/iou/PayDues.aspx. ----- You are currently subscribed to ia-bird as: [email protected]
