After the Crawl is over and a PS from John Blakeman

Crunching in Cricket Crawl data at the American Museum of Natural History in the small hours of the morning of 9/13/09

From the Cricket Crawl organizers as they work on the mountains of reports phoned and e-mailed in on 9/12/09:
"It's too preliminary at this point to make any meaningful assessment, but we've all been amazed by the dedication and enthusiasm of the volunteers. We also have several new, interesting records for the common true katydid. It will be interesting to see what will show up as we wade through all the data. For now, quoting Kevin Matteson from the Matteson-Clark Expedition, I doubt the night will ever sound quite the same again."

Those last words reflect my feeling exactly!

Today [9/14] Margot Adler told the story in a brief segment at the end of NPR's All Things Considered. Here's a link to her piece:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112825266

and the Cricket Crawl website http://www.discoverlife.org/crickets/ started a page devoted entirely to the Common True Katydids [and my role in their re-discovery on the island of Manhattan]:
http://pick14.pick.uga.edu/cricket/ctk.html

PS -- John Blakeman hears about our crickets and katydids on All Things Considered and sends a note:

Marie,

Heard the NPR report on the katydid quest. Delightful and well done.

Particularly, it was delightful to hear the informed enthusiasm of everyone, all for a visually obscure group of arthropods seldom associated with New York City, of all places. How nice it was to learn that at least a few city residents were able to take some joy from the same group of creatures we so casually dismiss out here in rural, more naturally wild (or so we might think) areas.

And the converse happens here, too. I get into Cleveland several times during the year and visit the great Cleveland Art Museum, have heard concerts of the Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall; and my wife just thrills to spend a few hours at Cleveland's West Side Market, a fresh food venue that certainly must match a bit of similar such offerings in Manhattan.

Country people need to know and experience the best of the city, and city people need to be as close to nature as possible. I commend you for all your many efforts in that regard.

As a few have learned, they ain't just big green bugs.

My best.

John A. Blakeman