I haven't taken a normal walk for a while - didn't feel up to it or too busy. Just hadn't. Last week I went around the block really looking for cicadas and saw some, a few nymphs and cast off skins and just one emerged adult. I think the indecisive temperatures led them to trickle out instead of emerging in one sudden wave. We only recently hit the sustained warmer summer temperatures. Spouse mentioned that since they stay underground 17 years they may also not be present in areas that had had extensive construction or landscaping done semi recently, which is why maybe we weren't seeing many directly around our apartment.
Yesterday I went on the normal walk around the lake and they were pretty easy to spot, some places much more common than others. For a dozen or so clinging to the tree trunk there might be hundreds of empty skins on the ground below, and another dozen or so dead or crippled on the sidewalk. There's not many squirrels out foraging like normal and the birds seem excessively chirpy. It's unlimited buffet time.
What surprised me was I thought cicadas all made a super annoying, raspy grating buzz saw sound in the trees. But I heard a hollow sustained whistling from the treetops, almost eerie like a frog chorus, or the sound the giant ants made in the classic monster movie THEM. Not unpleasant.
They don't seem to fly much and none fell on me. Maybe it was the time of day but they seem docile. I poked a couple to see if I could provoke them into flying and they didn't do a darn thing.
People are still wearing masks outdoors, not everybody but maybe 60%. I think we've all just gotten used to it at this point. Masks, no masks, whatever. It also ensures you can't get a cicada in the mouth by accident, and I am all for that. Many friendly neighbor nods exchanged. So much nicer than walking on Sundays!
I did see a koi fish in the lake for the first time. Large, over 12 inches long, maybe 18", pearl white with an orange head and spots. Purple and yellow irises in bloom. Dragonflies are out.
No otter.