The song of cicadas has been almost deafening lately, and when I mentioned this imy blog, Ordinary Goodness said she had noticed they were noisy in Porirua too, and wondered whether this was to do with the rising of Sirius, the Dog Star.
One breed of cicada is called the Dog Day Cicada because they are active in the late summer days when Sirius, the Dog Star, is prominent in the night sky. I checked, and sure enough Sirius and Canopus, the two brightest stars (excluding the planets) are almost overhead at present. As they move away, presumably the cicada songs will fade.
“Whene’er cicada song is high
you know that star is in the sky.”
Thanks for finding out more about the stars overhead that connect to the cicadas Ruth. I’ve not heard any today but they were around yesterday in the sunshine and I keep finding lots and lots of empty exoskeletons.