Firefly evenings

28 June 2009 10 Comments Home » Insects etc.

       Summer’s here and fireflies are flickering in the fading twilight, lighting up the evenings. I’ve got some spectacular lightning bug images from 2008 and now this year, but I’m saving most of them for a book I have in development.

       The firefly below is a male, caught in the instant before he launched himself into the air to show off his lighting skills in search of a mate.

       Any other firefly sightings out there? Are their more fireflies this year than in the past, or less?
Summer Firefly

10 Comments »

  • Cort Skinner said:

    Down here in the Shenandoah Valley, there seems to be way more fireflies than in previous years…There are so many that they even showed up on a short video I took, not knowing if their light would be received by the cameras CCDs. Maybe all the moisture/rain we got in the spring made for more fireflies?

    # 28 June 2009 at 9:35 pm
  • Rick said:

    Thanks for the info, Cort. We had a cold, wet spring too. I’m not sure yet if we have more or less here in SE Michigan.

    # 29 June 2009 at 2:07 pm
  • Jean Cole said:

    Hello,

    This is a lovely photograph. I am writing a story about fireflies for our newspaper. May I use this photo to accompany my story?

    Thank you.

    Jean Cole
    Editor, Hometown Focus
    Virginia, MN

    # 29 June 2009 at 2:56 pm
  • Rick said:

    Thanks Jean. I’ll contact you and we can work out an arrangement to use one of my wildlife images.

    # 30 June 2009 at 10:55 am
  • Amy said:

    Not so much in the way of sightings this year, here in Central Alberta – but we’ve had a long, cold, dry spring. Lovely photo Rick!

    # 2 July 2009 at 11:20 am
  • Rick said:

    Thanks Amy. Still cold and rainy here, high only 70 today. I photographed fireflies in the rain yesterday.

    # 2 July 2009 at 12:20 pm
  • Diane said:

    Rick, wondering when the book on fireflies will be available? . . . Any release date? . . .

    My favorite insect . . . I wait . . . patiently . . .

    # 21 March 2010 at 9:44 pm
  • Rick said:

    Not sure when I’ll have the firefly book, Diane. Had some interest from a few publishers. We’ll see, fireflies will be out in a few months.

    # 22 March 2010 at 9:14 am
  • Diane said:

    I can’t wait for their first appearance! I have such fond memories . . . watching them on a warm night . . . So many bursts of luminous green . . . the evening sky full of stars being the only fitting backdrop for these glorious insects

    With them comes joy . . . and maybe a quick trip back to a time where the only thing that mattered was getting to the beach the next day

    I am truly looking forward to your book and will have to be happy with more great shots of these wonderful beacons from you in the meantime

    Thanks for the great work and please keep them coming!

    # 22 March 2010 at 9:50 pm
  • Rick said:

    Thanks Diane. Last summer we had fewer of them, I’m hoping for more this year.

    # 23 March 2010 at 6:50 am

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