From cicadas to dairy farming politics, here’s a recap of news from around the web this week:
Cicadas
Depending on where you live, this may be the year that periodical cicadas return to your backyard.
Cicada Brood V is expected to emerge this spring in many eastern Ohio counties. 1999 was the last time this brood was seen. Cicadas emerge for two to four weeks in the spring every 13 or 17 years (depending on the brood) to breed and lay eggs. The eggs hatch after six to 10 weeks; then the nymphs burrow underground and feed for 17 years.
Learn more about cicadas in this 2013 Dirt on Conservation column and from The Ohio State University Department of Entomology. And, if you’re up for the dare, there are cicada recipes to try.
First total solar eclipse of 2016
If you’ll be in Indonesia or Borneo March 9 (March 8 for those of us in the western hemisphere), you’re in luck. Portland Press Herald reports that a total solar eclipse will occur over the western and central Pacific Ocean. NASA’s video shows the total solar eclipse’s path.
The total solar eclipse will last all of three minutes. If you can’t make it to the Pacific for this solar event, wait until Aug. 21, 2017, when North America will experience its own total solar eclipse.
Say it with manure
A Strasburg, Ohio, farmer is making his political stance known this election year by spelling out a message in one of his fields with manure. NBC4 visited the Tuscarawas County farm to take a look at the field and talk to the farmer.
Politics and dairy farming
This year’s presidential election has candidates talking about plans for immigration reform.
CNN talked with Mike McMahon, a dairy farmer who employs immigrants on his farm because he can’t get local workers to do the job of milking cows. Dairy farms operate every day of the year, but currently, they don’t qualify for the H-2A program, which permits immigrants to come to the U.S. to work seasonally. McMahon says that if Hispanic workers can’t work on dairy farms, the price of milk would double.
Crazy for birds
Recently, the National Audubon Society (aka the organization for bird enthusiasts and those who want to protect birds) launched a new blog. Written by Nick Lund, “The Birdist’s Rules for Birding” blog is designed to get novice birders tips for how to bird, where to bird and just getting started in birding.
Aubrey McClendon
One day after he was handed a federal indictment for conspiring to rig oil and natural gas leases, ex-Chesapeake CEO Aubrey McClendon died in a single car accident on the morning of March 2 in Oklahoma City.
CNBC says that McClendon was due to turn himself in at 11 a.m. that day.
