First I headed to west Ann Arbor and the Bird Hills Nature Area where I’d heard reports of cicada mounds, which indicate their eminent arrival. I saw a bunch of cicada holes, some dead cicadas, a few cicada husks (shed by cicadas after emergence), and a single live cicada, but I might have been too late to catch the cicadas there. When I walked over to the Barton Nature Area, I possibly heard/saw a couple cicadas flying around, but mostly saw cicada wings (from cicadas eaten by birds?).
Cicada husk |
A few days later, I biked in the opposite direction to Matthaei Botanical Gardens east of Ann Arbor. On the way over, I could hear the cicadas, so I had some hope of meeting some. When I made it to Mattaei, the greenhouse/conservatory was still closed, but the trails have been open throughout the pandemic. I looped up and around Fleming Creek, first saw several trees with cicada husks hanging off their leaves, then found the cicadas. They’re not scared of people (or anything else) because they’re only around ~1% of the time and rely on their sheer numbers to survive, so there were a whole bunch just hanging out on the trees, flying around, and making noise. Like the partial solar eclipse a few years ago, it was pretty cool. With that, it was mission accomplished. Until my next quest.
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