Hello,

The cicadas here seem to crawl out of their shells in the evening/night as well.  They do come out in  
bunches every day; several days in a row now.  Starting off low to the ground, and having such a  
slow flight, they are easy pickings for thrushes, mimic thrushes, and flycatchers, among others; the  
event does seem to be inspiring a feeding frenzy en masse.

Recent new seasonal Bowie sightings/hearings (late post for all):
"Scaly," young Mourning Doves eating nyjer seed on the balcony at home - Saturday, 15 May
Eastern Wood Pewee - Sunday, 16 May - at home
Y-B Cuckoo - Wednesday, 12 May - at work - seemed late for first Cuckoo
Not birds: Red-spotted Purple - Friday, 14 May + Least Skippers - Sunday, 16 May - at work

Meghan Tice
Bowie, Prince George's County

(The cicadas are pretty darned cute!)

----- Original Message -----
From: Wilkerson, Jordan T.
Sent: Monday, May 17, 2004 8:05 AM
To: 
Subject: Re: [MDOSPREY] Off topic: Periodic Cicadas

MDOsprey,

My local house sparrows are teaming up to take them down.  And the robins
are catching them in flight and racing back to their nest.  I am finding
dozens of just-wings a day in my yard.

I understood they emerged just before dawn as well, but I was out in a field
behind my house last night about midnight to find gobs  of cicadas just
emerging.  Interestingly, I thought the first one I saw was albino, but then
realized all of them were white with red eyes.

In case you're planning on eating them...
http://www.urhome.umd.edu/newsdesk/pdf/cicada%20recipes.PDF


Jordan Wilkerson
Cloverly, MD
Montgomery County



-----Original Message-----
From:   Bob Mumford [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Subject:        [MDOSPREY] Off topic: Periodic Cicadas

Two quick questions, for those who know:

1. I take it the cicadas emerge just about dawn and have turned black and
hard within an hour, right?

2. Do all cicadas in a small area emerge the same day, or over a period of a
few days...or even longer?