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Now I always find this topic confusing. By "rainbird" do you mean Katydids or Cicadas? We have both. Our gardener killed a giant green Katydid the other day, he says they are poisonous, but Google says no - but they can deliver a nasty bite. Also the tree frogs at night.

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As near as I can tell after 8 years, this "rainbird" business is a myth.  These insects seems to emerge about the same time every spring as the days get longer and hotter.

Flew from Oaxaca yesterday.  It had just finished raining at the Mexico (City) airport when we landed there and it appears they had some measurable rain around the GDL airport as well, earlier.

 

 

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Who cares if it was a rainbird or if it was something else? What does it matter if the connection to hearing them and the beginning of the rainy season is true or not? It has always been a fun tradition in which some people enjoy participating. If you do, then join the threads about it and have a good time. If you don't, then do not read the threads. Certainly there is no reason to get on the threads and rain on the parade of people having fun with it.  (Pun intended.)

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I wonder how they'd react to the 18 inches of snow they just got in Boulder, CO.

Yikes.

I've no doubt the OP has heard these insects.  It is hard to mistake that sound.  However, my recollection over the last 8 years is that there seems no direct connection with their arrival to actual significant rainfall.  In the last week or so, both cloudiness and humidity have been elevated, one or both may have some relationship to the early arrival.

It's OK Xena we don't need you to police this board and tell everyone how they are supposed to discuss things.  

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As a board member.  You haven't done anything to warrant a visit by a moderator.  If you'd like a free sample of an official visit just request one and I'll be glad to accommodate the request.

Also you don't have to constantly remind this board I am both as I think by now most everyone knows it.  They also can remember that without your assistance.

This board is available to any and all for free and non personal discussion within the guidelines required by its owners.  That is what is going on in this thread and we do not need your help with that, thanks.

 

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I did a little reading up on this and got the impression we have "annual" cicadas.  That means most of them emerge either in one or two years.  That emergence seems to be related to season, heat and/or moisture if I understand the literature correctly.

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OT but I was just down at the lake getting some graffiti and noticed that the lake doesn't appear to have dropped nearly as much as usual this year.  Since ChapalaWeatherNet isn't getting updated level information I can't decide if this is my imagination or not.

BTW the anti-graffiti effort is still very much in operation and we appreciate your reports of any tags you see.  PM them to me and I'll get them to the right volunteer.  For best results, tell us if it is a spray/brush paint tag or a "scrawlie" and what color wall it is on along with enough location detail we can find it easily.

Thanks.

 

 

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It is extraordinarily quiet up in the suburb mountains. I have heard that many of the summer critter noises, and the owls, often keep people awake! I was looking for a funny story along these lines. A man who has lived his life in the heart of the city, moves to the "peace" of the country, but the night noises, all new to him, keep him awake night after night. Finally, he breaks down and gets a recording of a busy, urban nightlife, and he has to play that nightly to get to sleep!

I thought the cicadas slept for something like 16 years. MC are you saying that the local ones are different, as "annual" cicadas?

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Yes, apparently there are varieties of Cicadas that are described as annual.  In actuality that means that some emerge in one year, some in up to five years.  Given we have them here every year and the pictures sure seem to agree I wonder if those are the ones we have here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicada

 

 

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