Summertime's evening serenade - where have you gone?

July 4, 2017 7:28 AM

Why is it so freakishly quiet at night this summer?

Southeastern Pennsylvania - Philly burbs here.

I have been sitting on my deck at night (at a variety of times if it matters) and have noticed over the past week how eerily quiet it is. I've lived in this area my whole life and nighttime sounds are crickets, frogs, cicadas, and maybe other chirping like insects, similar to what is heard on this video. But this summer, there is no sound at all - its almost like after a snowfall in the winter (without the muffling effect). I didn't have the deck this time last year, so I wasn't sitting outside as much as I do now, but I do recall hearing the usual nighttime cacophony last summer.

I know some cicadas are on yearly cycles, so they might be absent this year, but where are the other musicians? Why is it so quiet?

They have been a summer staple my entire life, and I miss that lovely symphony.

posted by NoraCharles to Science & Nature (13 answers total)

Perhaps it's related to the (not well understood) insect declines in western Europe.

Maybe there's been a lot of vector control in your area that affects more than just mosquitoes?
posted by congen at 7:37 AM on July 4, 2017 [1 favorite]

I have noticed this too, and wondered what was going on. It's definitely a thing with lightning bugs.

I keep holding out for summer to advance, because I believe the noise reaches a crescendo in late summer as many insects reach maturity.

I also think it's important to have as many native plants in one's yard as possible, along with doing away with chemical treatments and golf-course style grass. I also wish everyone would turn off the super-bright outdoor lights, since the light pollution messes with nighttime insects and birds.
posted by whistle pig at 7:49 AM on July 4, 2017 [7 favorites]

!i was just telling my husband that when i was a kid our backyard would be buzzing with bumblebees and such, and that they were so quiet these days. i've since moved to the coast, to a much older neighborhood, and it seems they have a lot more critter action here..
We've (finns) been encouraged to grow old school species and wild flowers in our yards for the very reason that bees prefer them for some reason. i dunno. its quite spooky though.
posted by speakeasy at 8:06 AM on July 4, 2017 [2 favorites]

What ages are all of you? At some point, and it changes from person to person, you won't be able to hear a lot of insect sounds. I can only hear a tenth of what I could hear as a child. It's sad. At first I too thought it was the insects that were gone (also because I lie less in the grass because of a huge surge in ticks), but then I asked the kids, and they can hear all the noise, every day.
I can hear the sounds on the video just fine, they are probably enhanced in some way.
posted by mumimor at 8:20 AM on July 4, 2017 [5 favorites]

I wonder if it's just that this isn't the peak time of year for hearing nighttime frogs and insects. Frogs are more of a spring thing. Crickets are more of a late summer thing. It's probably still too early for katydids, too. It's definitely too early for them where I am. (Cicadas make their sound in the daytime; I wonder if you've got cicadas and katydids confused. It's also too early for cicadas where I am, and likely where you are, too.) I wouldn't be surprised if you start hearing a lot more noise a few weeks from now.
posted by Redstart at 8:31 AM on July 4, 2017

Just to add a note of hope: I'm in the southern midwest. The frogs' chorus is louder than ever at night, and the fireflies are more abundant this year than I've ever seen them.... so at least whatever is happening in PA -- it's not thoroughly ubiquitous. Not that we should get complacent of course...
posted by flourpot at 8:55 AM on July 4, 2017 [2 favorites]

We're having an enormous firefly population this year here. I have noticed a decline in my experience of them, as well as the number of dragonflies, in the past 10 years, but both are robust right now. Also, I just yesterday discovered a new insect for the first time in my life: the tiger bee fly. Some say it's the mild winter.

Amphibians are having a notoriously difficult time because of a fungal infection, all over the world.
posted by amtho at 9:29 AM on July 4, 2017 [1 favorite]

We had a very late-arriving and very wet spring here in the Northeast, and a lot of natural processes were delayed or muffled because of it. Also, I think there's an easy memory bias to identify here - if I think of "summer sounds" I am often thinking of sounds that are much louder and more prominent later in the summer, like the cicadas, katydids, and crickets galore. They take time to ramp up, metamorphose, etc. If it were still quiet in August I'd worry too.

That said, I just moved back to a suburban setting and am utterly repulsed at the number of people who are using lawn services with pesticides (look for the little flags) and dousing their foundations with insect poisons. This stuff is bad news and is undermining the tropic pyramid. If you're motivated, you could look into local regulations and do some public advocacy for non-damaging lawn care practices.
posted by Miko at 11:01 AM on July 4, 2017 [1 favorite]

We're losing insects huuugely, along with all the other negative environmental effects of our civilization: "Insect populations are declining dramatically in many parts of the world, recent studies show" says a Yale report.
posted by anadem at 12:08 PM on July 4, 2017 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: whistle pig: I also think it's important to have as many native plants in one's yard as possible, along with doing away with chemical treatments and golf-course style grass

speakeasy: We've (finns) been encouraged to grow old school species and wild flowers in our yards for the very reason that bees prefer them for some reason.

I'm already a huge advocate of that. I stopped mowing the back 1/2 of my backyard (1/3 of which is very swampy) and have let it turn into a meadow. The deer and rabbits seem to love it. I did mow a path around the perimeter for access, but I'm very much in favor of letting nature do its thing and I don't use any types of pesticides. I do provide a few bird feeders - sunflower seeds, thistle, and suet cakes, and a birdbath - and yes, I change the water frequently to avoid mosquito. I don't believe there has been any vector control in my area.

Some of you mentioned fireflies/lightning bugs - I do have plenty of those over the meadow, so that light show has been lovely.

mumimor: What ages are all of you? At some point, and it changes from person to person, you won't be able to hear a lot of insect sounds.

I'm 50ish, and hope this isn't true. But I will check with my younger neighbors.

Miko: if I think of "summer sounds" I am often thinking of sounds that are much louder and more prominent later in the summer, like the cicadas, katydids, and crickets galore.

Redstart: I wonder if it's just that this isn't the peak time of year for hearing nighttime frogs and insects.....I wonder if you've got cicadas and katydids confused.

I hope you are right about it being too early in the summer, and it is most likely I got them confused.


Thank you everyone for your input, you've given me a lot to think about.
posted by NoraCharles at 6:05 AM on July 5, 2017

Have you checked your hearing? When I got my digital hearing aids, I walked out if the office wearing them and birds.
posted by theora55 at 8:01 AM on July 5, 2017

Hudson Valley NY, and I've been wondering the same thing. No peepers. It is definitely late enough/hot enough for peepers now, and I heard ONE, ONE night several weeks ago, and nothing since. It is bizarre. It was deafening outside last summer. Nothing obvious has changed environmentally in my immediate vicinity, and I live someplace with pretty amazing biodiversity, near lots of national forest land. Haven't noticed fewer birds, have noticed jays this year where there were not anything like this many last year (if any).

In short - no idea, but I've noticed it, too.
posted by you must supply a verb at 11:46 AM on July 6, 2017 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Update:

It's not my hearing!! Yay! A few weeks after this post, I'm hearing the nighttime creatures again. Mostly crickets, but it's not that scary "Silent Spring" kind of feeling from before.
Whew.
posted by NoraCharles at 5:32 AM on July 18, 2017