During this week we will note the autumnal equinox (Sept. 22; 10:44 a.m.): the first day of fall. For the next six months, darkness will be longer than light for each day.
In this new season, we'll watch the waning of summer. Roadside goldenrods that gave us such a glow for the last month are starting to fade now. Maples, sumac and Virginia creeper are wearing their bright red attire while yellows show from the birch, poplar and box elders. Ripe apples add more red to the scene.
The shorter days are sending birds south after some have lingered here throughout the last few weeks. Skies over Hawk Ridge are crowded with their flight each day. Local woods host abundant songbirds as they move through, and the large numbers of warblers passing by lately are being joined by diverse sparrows as well.
This time is often marked by mild days and chilly nights. It is these cool times that begin to stop the insects of late summer. Insects active through September are mostly seen in the open sunlit fields. Here they gather around late-blooming flowers for floral foods. Bees, moths and butterflies collect some nectar and pollen while nearby wasps, dragonflies and spiders seek insect meals. At night, they drop down near the ground. Fewer arrive the next day for breakfast among the plants.
Grasshoppers and crickets tend to last longer than most of the present insect population. As we walk here, each step sends grasshoppers jumping in front of us. Not as likely to be seen, but often heard, are the crickets. These dark cousins of grasshoppers will sit among the debris on the ground in a claimed territory. Like many territorial animals, the males proclaim ownership with chirping songs throughout this time.
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Both cricket males and females have wings folded over their backs. Male wings are longer and it is he who will vibrate these appendages to make the chirping sounds that we so often hear in late summer around the house. Responding to temperature, they call faster in the warmer temperatures than in the cold. And, as the nights continue to get colder, they call less. Usually, we continue to hear these common field crickets all of September.
Field crickets are about one inch long and all dark. They hold long antennae on their head and two tail-like cerci on the abdomen. Silent females also have an extended tube here that is used to place eggs in the ground, before it gets too cold.
Field crickets are bigger than their cousins, the ground crickets. These tiny insects, also common in our lawns, make continuous trill sounds, often overlooked as a "background" noise. Similarly, the light-colored tree crickets call their trills from shrubs.
We don't always appreciate crickets when their search for a home territory brings them indoors, but such inconveniences are minor when compared to their constant chirping calls in late September as they try to hold onto summer as warmth wanes.
Retired teacher Larry Weber is author of several books that are available now. He lives in Carlton County.
