Philly Area Banter

[CoolHandMike]

Would anybody mind if I started a Cicada thread? I know there's one in the MA sub but I'm more interested in what's going on in our neck of the woods.

[FPizz]

11 minutes ago, CoolHandMike said:

Would anybody mind if I started a Cicada thread? I know there's one in the MA sub but I'm more interested in what's going on in our neck of the woods.

You can probably just post about it in this thread.  I haven't seen any in my area of NJ so far.

[Birds~69]

2 minutes ago, FPizz said:

You can probably just post about it in this thread.  I haven't seen any in my area of NJ so far.

Watching the 11am news....Del report sightings so I guess slowing but surely coming out more N.

[CoolHandMike]

Just now, FPizz said:

You can probably just post about it in this thread.  I haven't seen any in my area of NJ so far.

Yeah none in Reading though I think I might have seen some of their burrows at Blue Marsh Reservoir last night. Didn't see any shells on the trees though.

[KamuSnow]

10 minutes ago, Birds~69 said:

Watching the 11am news....Del report sightings so I guess slowing but surely coming out more N.

Haven't heard any here yet, seems a bit early, especially with the coolness lately.

[JTA66]

Nothing here yet either. Typically I don’t hear them until late June/early July.

 I don’t recall 2004 being anything special imby. Curious to see if 2021 is different.

[Birds~69]

2 minutes ago, JTA66 said:

Nothing here yet either. Typically I don’t hear them until late June/early July.

 I don’t recall 2004 being anything special imby. Curious to see if 2021 is different.

Same here. I don't even remember them (media) talking about it? If so, not much like this year... 

[zenmsav6810]

On 5/19/2021 at 8:49 AM, Birds~69 said:

Snotty brat? Just stating the facts. I drive a 4 banger and work from home so the cost of gas really doesn't concern me...

I just don't like people calling diesel not normal vehicles when most of the world drives diesel cars which is also a fact. I just find complaining (which in your defense you weren't doing) about the price of gas very self-centered conventional thinking. 

[Birds~69]

1 hour ago, zenmsav6810 said:

I just don't like people calling diesel not normal vehicles when most of the world drives diesel cars which is also a fact. I just find complaining (which in your defense you weren't doing) about the price of gas very self-centered conventional thinking. 

No harm man, not a problem. Diesel cars seem to be way more popular in Europe and not in the States. Haven't looked up any stats just a observation...

[CoolHandMike]

Wife came home with a baker's dozen of new plants to put in one of our new mulch beds yesterday. She figured she'd plant them while I was mowing last evening, no problem, right? WRONG. Turns out my soil back there is SO compact that I needed to attack it with a pick axe and a 3" auger to break it up. She had one plant barely in the ground after I finished mowing (after about 45 minutes) and was near tears because there was no way we were going to be able to get these all in before it got too dark (and then too hot/gross this weekend). So I put off the string trimming until later and jumped in.

Queue one marathon, 2-hour digging/picking/drilling sweat-fest later and we juuust got them in before the light completely went on us. Holy smokes were we drenched. Humidity came up quick last night! But in the end, well worth the effort. It's going to look awesome when they all grow up. 

[KamuSnow]

1 hour ago, CoolHandMike said:

Wife came home with a baker's dozen of new plants to put in one of our new mulch beds yesterday. She figured she'd plant them while I was mowing last evening, no problem, right? WRONG. Turns out my soil back there is SO compact that I needed to attack it with a pick axe and a 3" auger to break it up. She had one plant barely in the ground after I finished mowing (after about 45 minutes) and was near tears because there was no way we were going to be able to get these all in before it got too dark (and then too hot/gross this weekend). So I put off the string trimming until later and jumped in.

Queue one marathon, 2-hour digging/picking/drilling sweat-fest later and we juuust got them in before the light completely went on us. Holy smokes were we drenched. Humidity came up quick last night! But in the end, well worth the effort. It's going to look awesome when they all grow up. 

Nice job! Don't forget to water them (lol). Depending on what they are, generous watering. We planted some green giant thujas about 3 weeks ago and have dialed it back now to 3 times a week.

[ChasingFlakes]

On 5/19/2021 at 11:28 AM, CoolHandMike said:

Would anybody mind if I started a Cicada thread? I know there's one in the MA sub but I'm more interested in what's going on in our neck of the woods.

My sister just got married at Goodstone Inn near Middlesburg, VA this weekend and holy crap were there a ton of cicadas.  Little tiny holes in the ground everywhere, molten skin clung to all wooden objects and bigass ones flying all over.  Beautiful weekend and venue though.

Do cicadas eat lantern flies because that'd be nice.. 

[CoolHandMike]

So we got a new fire ring on Wednesday but it came after I'd already gone out to do some chores and I didn't feel like going back out just to get some firewood (especially since traffic was all messed up due to a water main break). Didn't get to use it last night (for obvious reasons) but I think tonight may be the night. And then earlier today, it hit me: I've got a 40-gallon curbside trash bin full to the brim with woodshop offcuts that I'd been saving for the last 5 years.

I'd been meaning to offload them to a friend, and then the whole pandemic thing happened and then we moved and so I still have a crap ton of wood scraps. I weeded out all the nasty stuff (laminate, pressure-treated, etc.) so it's just good, dry pine with a smattering of hardwood scraps here and there.

Sure wish I'd remembered that a couple of days ago. Oh well

[RedSky]

23 hours ago, ChasingFlakes said:

My sister just got married at Goodstone Inn near Middlesburg, VA this weekend and holy crap were there a ton of cicadas.  Little tiny holes in the ground everywhere, molten skin clung to all wooden objects and bigass ones flying all over.  Beautiful weekend and venue though.

Do cicadas eat lantern flies because that'd be nice.. 

Actually I don't think they eat once they emerge 

 

[RedSky]

No cicada's in the old country.. err umm Horsham 

But they are in south Quakertown off of 309. Still nada here.

 

 

[RedSky]

My picnic with the Brood X 

 

[RedSky]

Walk carefully 

 

[KamuSnow]

7 minutes ago, RedSky said:

Walk carefully 

 

No wonder there are none down here, you've got them all!

[etudiant]

On 5/27/2021 at 6:28 PM, RedSky said:

Actually I don't think they eat once they emerge 

 

Afaik, they do, but is seems sort of pointless, they only need to live long enough to mate and lay their eggs. Maybe Nature is hedging her bets in case of bad weather

I've no idea whether males mate multiple times, in which case being able to eat might be a real advantage, unlike the situation with Mayflies.

[Birds~69]

3 hours ago, etudiant said:

Afaik, they do, but is seems sort of pointless, they only need to live long enough to mate and lay their eggs. Maybe Nature is hedging her bets in case of bad weather

I've no idea whether males mate multiple times, in which case being able to eat might be a real advantage, unlike the situation with Mayflies.

I have no clue but eat or not eat I'd say yes...they've been underground for 17yrs.

49F / mist

[CoolHandMike]

WW2 airshow at the Reading Airport this weekend. I live right under one of the approach/takeoff paths. Like, RIGHT under it. Just snapped this from my back porch:

 

[Hurricane Agnes]

11 hours ago, CoolHandMike said:

WW2 airshow at the Reading Airport this weekend. I live right under one of the approach/takeoff paths. Like, RIGHT under it. Just snapped this from my back porch:

 

Wow.   I know my area is under the flight path of circling planes headed for PHL and PNE, as well as some of the small airports nearby like Wings Field, but not right up next to any of them.

Excellent pic of that though!!!

[JTA66]

No photo, but a P-51 Mustang just flew over. Might be a good day to keep an eye on the sky.

I do miss the Willow Grove air shows since the base closed. Used to see all sorts of aircraft flying overhead in those days.

[KamuSnow]

4 hours ago, JTA66 said:

No photo, but a P-51 Mustang just flew over. Might be a good day to keep an eye on the sky.

I do miss the Willow Grove air shows since the base closed. Used to see all sorts of aircraft flying overhead in those days.

One year we saw the Canadian Snowbirds do a long banking 180 turn out near Wayne, Pa, around July 4th. We were playing softball and had a great view with no trees nearby. Pretty awesome. I'm sure they were flying at Willow Grove that day.

[RedSky]

4 hours ago, JTA66 said:

No photo, but a P-51 Mustang just flew over. Might be a good day to keep an eye on the sky.

I do miss the Willow Grove air shows since the base closed. Used to see all sorts of aircraft flying overhead in those days.

Yeah got to see them up close and personal living a couple miles off the end of the runway. Close enough sometimes I could toss up a water bottle or frosty IPA to a thirsty pilot, those were the days  

 

[JTA66]

Okay, this is a new one...I’m trapped in my house by a swarm of bees out front. Looks like they’re settling into a pine tree of mine.

[RedSky]

3 minutes ago, JTA66 said:

Okay, this is a new one...I’m trapped in my house by a swarm of bees out front. Looks like they’re settling into a pine tree of mine.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078350/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

[CoolHandMike]

13 minutes ago, JTA66 said:

Okay, this is a new one...I’m trapped in my house by a swarm of bees out front. Looks like they’re settling into a pine tree of mine.

That's, like, my worst nightmare! What are you going to do?

[JTA66]

Turns out my neighbor is a bit of a bee expert. Who knew? Anyway, he's says they're relatively harmless at the moment. They've settled about 15 feet up in a pine, all huddled around the queen. He says they'll be there of a day or two while the scouts go out and look for a spot to establish a new hive. He said they'll probably swam again around dawn.

Last year I had bold-face hornets build a hive on a bird feeder. They say they are pretty aggressive, but the feeder was out of the way, so I let them be. It was pretty cool watching the hive grow in size all summer long. It was probably about the size of two footballs by September.

[JTA66]