Our latest heat wave continued into its fifth day today with temps in the 90's and high humidity. It has had a real tropical feel around here since we returned on July 4th from our trip to Canada and it does not look to be changing any time soon. Due to the heat, work and other commitments I have not been out as much as I would have liked but I still got out as much as I could. Although the amount of song has decreased substantially the evidence of breeding for the season is most everywhere you look, including some unusual breeders in the county including Osprey, Purple Martin and Blue Grosbeak. The first shorebirds heading south have also started showing up but the lack of suitable habitat for them to use makes tracking them down tough.
Also an update on what looks to be a very active hurricane season. The predictions going into the season called for a much above average season due to record high sea temps and the disappearance of the strong El Nino and a change to La Nina conditions. There also looks to be an increase in the number of tropical waves coming off of Africa due to an above average monsoon season there. All of these factors taken together just about guarantees an above average hurricane season in the Atlantic. As predicted the season has already gotten off to a quick and deadly start with three named storms already and one, Beryl, becoming a Cat 5 hurricane which set a number of records including the earliest Cat 4 and Cat 5 hurricane ever in the Atlantic. It also formed in an area off the coast of Africa that usually doesn't start kicking off tropical systems until later in the season. Beryl made multiple landfalls as a hurricane (several small islands off Grenada and St Vincent), the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico and the mid Texas coast before running up through the middle of the US and actually bringing us a little rain yesterday. It is certainly a bad sign that the predictions for a rough season look to be correct.
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