Night Lights

 Fireflies are one of the best things about summer. Ever since I was a child I have enjoyed their enchanting light shows. In the last couple of years the number of fireflies in my backyard has dwindled, which worries and saddens me. They are decreasing in numbers, due to climate change and habitat loss. I think in my immediate backyard it has something to do with the trees closing in, so that my yard isn't exactly their chosen habitat. I had hoped that opening up the field behind us would help; fireflies were late appearing this year, and even over the field I have seen very few. But in doing our hikes at night this week, we discovered a haven for fireflies in two clearings in our woods. From what little I know about fireflies, they are not into forests (although the ones in my backyard do go up near the tops of the trees), but within our woods are two open areas, and on our night hikes this week we have found ourselves surrounded by fireflies. Even knowing what they are, it is hard not to imagine that there is magic involved. Hiking after dark we need to use our flashlights, but when we got to the firefly fields we turned them off and walked cautiously down the paths among the twinkling insects only by the light reflecting off the haze in the sky (sadly, we have a lot of light pollution here). We did not know about these firefly fields last summer; we had not made enough paths in the woods to be walking there at night a year ago, which was the first full summer since we bought the land. I am so happy that the fireflies have that place.

Last night while I was working on my computer next to an open window I was visited by a firefly who crawled around on the screen for a while. Since it happened after midnight, today it gets to be Backyard Bug of the Day:

Not lit up here, because I had my camera light on to see it. Fireflies, as you probably know, are not flies, they are beetles.

Then I turned off the light, and the firefly lit up. It wandered around on the screen, flashing, for a few minutes:

Fireflies are not easy to photograph. But they are delightful to see.