Sunday August 30, 2015 - Notes 2

 
  Weather Notes for Sunday the 30th
  Bird Sightings and Absences
  Insects Seen 
  Bat Sighting at Dusk

  Sunday August 30th turned out to be partly sunny for most of the day with cumulus clouds really piling up through the middle to late afternoon. There were also a lot of altocumulus clouds around. It was a very hazy and humid day (and I believe that we still had a lot of high-altitude smoke drifting in from wildfires that were blazing in the Pacific Northwest and the Southern Great Plains). Isolated cells of showers and even some isolated thunderstorms sprang up in Central Indiana from afternoon through evening. Between 6:00 PM - 6:30 PM one cell of heavy rain passed through downtown Indianapolis from Southwest to Northeast, and sprinkles of rain started falling on the Southeast Side from it. It just missed us; there was even sunshine coming down as it was raining! We ended up getting just a trace of rain from this system.

  Sunday's morning low was 69°F while the afternoon high reached 87°F. Dew Points wandered around between the upper and lower 60's°F all day. Winds were mostly light with some moderate gusts around noon and late afternoon. It was a humid and summer-like day, and many more were in the forecast for the upcoming week.

  Birds still don't seem to be very active, but I did see a lot of American Robins, Northern Cardinals, and Blue Jays today; especially during the late morning.

  Perhaps more importantly, even though I spent a lot of time by the creek, I didn't see or hear a single Red-Winged Blackbird today. In fact, I don't think I've seen any throughout August. They were still very active there in July, but they must have moved out once breeding season was done.

  I also didn't see or hear any Chimney Swifts today. I looked for them as sunset neared and as dusk was coming on, but saw none. I DID spot one lone Little Brown Bat zipping over the back yard as the sky was getting dark.

  I spent a lot of time in my first entry today writing about Dragonflies, but insect life is peaking these days, and there's a lot more to write about.

  Cicadas are still everywhere and their buzzing went on all day long. Crickets are all over the lawn and the weedy areas, chirping all through the daylight hours and increasing their volume after dark. Other Long-Horned Grasshoppers can be heard buzzing outside through the day and then, after dark, the buzzing, whirring, and clicking becomes extremely loud.

  Monarch Butterflies are still fluttering around all over our area and are still often visiting that patch of Narrow-leaved Milkweeds that grow next to my backyard shed. During late afternoon, I spotted a Monarch Caterpillar munching away on the leaves of one of those plants. In addition to the Monarchs I also saw several white (Cabbage?) Butterflies fluttering around the back yard today.

  Those Milkweeds that I mentioned in the last paragraph are, strangely, covered with bright yellow Aphids these days! I didn't realize that these poisonous plants ever become hosts to them.

  Bumblebees and Wasps of several species were active today especially around flowering plants. And, one final note, in spite of our lack of rain for the last couple of weeks in August, we still have a lot of Mosquitoes swarming around after sunset!