Brrr

The water in the birdbath in the rock garden was liquid, so I know the temperature was above freezing, but just barely. My two weather sensors didn't agree on the exact temperature, but neither said it was over 34ºF. I didn't do a bug walk–it was too cold (although, I was going to do one, I just didn't have the time, as it turned out). But I did take my camera outside when I went to get the mail. I noticed right away, because I listened for them, that I could not hear any crickets, but when I walked down to the mailbox, near the bedrock outcropping that creates a warmer microclimate down there, I could hear several crickets singing. I couldn't find them, they were hidden under leaf litter, and they tend to go quiet when I get close, but I did see some bugs on that foray outdoors. However, if they were alive, they were very much inactive. 34º is just too cold for most insects.

Sorry, they're all terrible pictures. I am only presenting them as a way of demonstrating what happens with bugs when the weather suddenly turns cold. Here's what I saw:

 I think this is the bee that yesterday afternoon was active, but then took a snooze on a flower. This is the same flower, so could be the same bee. The other two bees were not there today, and there were no other insects to be seen on the mums, either actively pollinating or just sitting on the plants. No flies or other bugs basked in the sunshine on the rocks, or the side of the house. At this point I was not hearing the crickets, this was when I stopped to listen and thought that cricket season was over.

But the other bugs I saw today were all crickets: Tree crickets:

 These are not the crickets I heard down near the mailbox, those were field crickets, which are true crickets (crickets of the family Gryllidae, the ones you are probably thinking of when you hear crickets). I saw three tree crickets, all on tree trunks, and all completely motionless. Now, very often tree crickets remain motionless while I am taking their picture. So I can't really read into that. But I am not sure these could have moved if they wanted to.

The news is talking about a deep chill for the next few days, but our forecast is for it to be warmer after today (until the middle of next week, when it will be even colder than today), so it will be interesting to see, as it always is, how the insect world of my backyard will respond.