You are lost

I saw a 17 year Cicada yesterday.  I was tidying up the yard when I raked over it, causing it to make the shrieky noises.  I didn’t know what it was at first, so I looked it up online.  These things are neat.  It starts as a nymph (I saw a nymph in my garden the other day t00 btw) and lives underground as deep as 6 feet.  After 17 years it emerges to molt (I’ve found some molts too) then lives for about 5 weeks above the surface before it dies.  Sweet.  Kinda like graduating from school only to die the month afterwards.

Other odd sightings include a couple of Praying Mantis’.  We had 4 of them on the porch the other night.  I didn’t realize that they came this far north. We had a Road Runner in the driveway the other night; they don’t look anything like their cartoon representation.

Apparently there are around 15 different species of hummingbirds native to this area, of which I’ve seen at least 4.  I’m learning more about identifying the local birds as I get time.