Saturday, May 22, 2021

Brood X cicadas making themselves heard in Bethesda, if not always seen

A Brood X cicada explores
Bethesda Row on Friday

Brood X cicadas in some parts of Bethesda have been lagging behind in emerging in great numbers so far. In some places, only a stray cicada is seen here and there. Other residents report it's already getting hard to avoid stepping on the creatures in their neighborhoods. But even where few are seen, the sound of mass numbers of cicadas has become extremely audible over the last 48 hours.

A cicada in the Westbard
area of Bethesda


3 comments:

Beau said...

Interesting you post about the sound of cicadas. Just this morning I said to my wife these are the most quiet cicadas. All I hear are birds. By now I would have thought the woods would be a cacophony of buzzing cicadas multiplied by millions, but nope. Not a buzz, not even a warm-up. Not sure what they're waiting for.

Robert Dyer said...

8:11: The number seems to vary by neighborhood, some slower than others to emerge. Also, a higher bird population in a neighborhood may pick off significant numbers of early cicadas before the majority come out.

Cinco de Mayo said...

Silver Spring is humming loudly.