The Symphony of the Seasons
It seems like just a few days ago we could hear the sounds of the Spring Peepers and the frogs announcing the arrival of the spring season. In our woodlands the Trillium graced our hillsides and the flowering trees and colorful shrubs performed their dance of color in our landscapes and along our highways.
Last week I sat out in the freshening cool air of evening to see the dance of the Fireflies calling for their mates and lighting up the night. It’s hard to believe the summer yellow Golden Rod along with purple Iron Weed and my favorite, lavender Joe Pye, are ready to bloom and color our fields. Not to be outdone are the Sunflowers and Black-eyed Susan that add such grace and beauty to the summer landscape.
How quickly it all seems to come and go.
In the evening darkness is gathering earlier; not noticeable during much of June and July but as we approach August there is an awareness that the days are shorter. Actually on June 21st sunrise is at 5:48 a.m. and sunset at 8:50 p.m. giving us a little over 15 hours of daylight. By August 1st we see sunrise at 6:16 and sunset at 8:34 with just over 14 hours of daylight. We are marching towards our winter darkness when our shortest day on the 21st of December produces just nine hours and 20 minutes of daylight.
In the temperature department our warmest day on average in the Uniontown area is July 20th with a low of 65 and a high of 83 degrees. In contrast our coldest day is January 29th with averages of 24 for our low and 38 degrees for the high. Of course on any given day the temperature can be 20 degrees higher or lower from these averages and the extremes even a few degrees more.
As we move into August we will lose one hour and nine minutes of daylight and our average high temperature loses three degrees while the nighttime low will lose four degrees. The hottest August day in Uniontown was 102 degrees in 1918 and our coldest August morning was 34 on Aug. 29, 1982. That same day the temperature in Clermont, McKean County, was a bone-chilling and frosty 23 degrees. In contrast the maximum for our state for August is 108 in nearby Claysville, Pennsylvania, on Aug. 6, 1918.
August is also a quiet month, at least at the beginning. The long silenced Peepers and Frogs are gone until next year, streams have dried to a trickle and most birds are no longer defending nesting territory with their noisy chatter. A few birds like Chickadee, Blue-Jay, Woodpeckers and Ravens produce a bit of sound, however for the most part the daytime woods are on the quiet side.
Nights are a different story as Mother Nature readies for the nighttime symphony of the Crickets and Katydids. The warmer the night the louder the music as the noise is used to attract females and chase away rivals.
In our Pennsylvania woods there are six different species of Crickets and seven of Katydids. Across the planet there are some 900 species of Crickets and 6,400 Katydids.
Enjoy the music since by mid-September as temperatures cool the night, sounds decrease and the night will become quiet again.