Beyond Pelee

My other spring birding adventure this year was a 4-day trip to southern Pennsylvania.

...well, I say 4 days - two of those were pretty much taken up entirely by driving. But still. It was organized by the Guelph Arboretum, it was affordable, and apparently I was in the mood to take a chance on spending an extended amount of time with strangers in a foreign country.

The purpose of the trip, on paper, was to see the 17-year cicada emergence in West Virginia, and see it we did.

We were there just at the beginning of the emergence, so while they were loud, they weren't holy crap ow my ears loud. There are apparently three different species that are part of the emergence, all synced up on the 17-year cycle, all emerging at once to overwhelm the predators and therefore ensure some survival to reproduce. Nature is fascinating.

And because you can't get 15 outdoor enthusiasts together without looking at All The Things, we also went hunting for snakes and salamanders, hung cloths up for moths at night, found bats under the eaves of our cabin, and did some solid birding at some very lovely parks. I hit nearly all of my target species for the trip, even if most of them were only heard and not seen (because birds are jerks like that, sometimes): Cerulean Warbler, Acadian Flycatcher, Carolina Chickadee, Hooded Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, and Louisiana Waterthrush.

Good scenery. Good times. I'm enjoying this whole 'long weekend' approach to vacationing.