On June 21, I was drinking a glass of wine on the back deck at 2 a.m. and watching a fireworks display put on by fireflies, while fulfilling my obligations as a volunteer firefly watcher (www.mos.org/fireflywatch).
I found this online wildlife monitoring program the least time consuming of any I've done to date. On my first watch, June 21, I was able to do the watch before and after photographing moths.
The display that first night was outstanding, with more fireflies than I could count, flashing at all levels, from the ground to the deck I was dining at to more than 40 feet high, above the highest trees in my yard.
It was hard for me to pick out an individual flashing firefly in the sky because I couldn't see an individual flight path. But the flash patterns I have to report on are easy, as their website explains. There are only five patterns: some fireflies flash once between pauses, others twice, others three times, others four times, others more than four times.
I learned that the females are stationary, perched on the deck or the wall of our house or on the grass or at other low heights. The males are the ones flying all over the place flashing their signals, of course. Females watch for the signal that matches their species signal and then flash the same signal back, luring males in.
The count is difficult. You have to count them for 10 seconds at a time, maybe three different times. The program only asks for 10 minutes once a week. But most of the rest is easy and it's like anything, you do the best you can, learn as you get more experienced, and enjoy, while helping researchers.
For a slightly longer version of this blog, go to my website at: www.doncomis.simplesite.com.
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