When I first moved here in 2001, May required the use of netting to avoid black flies making a meal out of me. Summer needed lashings of repellents to avoid mosquitoes, and a hat to avoid deer flies removing parts of my scalp.
Mornings had blue jays tapping on the window when the feeders were empty. Opening the door revealed the screen door covered in moths, and when June bugs showed up, I had to sweep them off the porch.
Filling the feeders, I was greeted by small birds waiting for the jays to leave, and later in the day there would be turtle doves picking up the droppings, and a woodpecker would join in to store some in the cedar tree bark where it had made holes.
My flower beds were alive with bees and butterflies, and after a rain shower, there would be crowds of little brown and blue butterflies taking a drink from the puddles.
As the crab apple trees fruited, deer would visit to stock up.
When I walked my dog, as I use whistle signals for control, crows imitated the calls to confuse the poor animal and would go off crowing loudly when she got annoyed and barked back at them.
By this time of year, I would be ousting crickets from the house as they drove me crazy chirping in hiding behind the appliances!
Suddenly…silence! Noticeably NOTHING compared to what it used to be like.
Yes, there are some black flies and mosquitoes; I’ve been bitten a few times… very few bees, moths or other insects on the flowers of fruit trees and bushes, and a noticeable drop in yields as a result. I would hate to have to rely on crops for a livelihood.
The bird feeders are mainly populated by squirrels, chipmunks and chickadees…none of the brightly coloured birds this year. Even the robins that normally nest in my eaves haven’t shown up, nor the monarchs that used the milkweed I allowed to grow.
Has anybody else noticed this, or is it just me and my lot is out of bounds to Mother Nature for some reason?
Robin H. Fuller,
CLARENDON