'Oh Baby': The Bugs And The Birds

Enlarge this image

Cicadas. That's it, that's the caption. Not in a good way. BORIS HORVAT/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

BORIS HORVAT/AFP via Getty Images

Cicadas. That's it, that's the caption. Not in a good way.

BORIS HORVAT/AFP via Getty Images

There's no easy way to tell you that the cicadas are coming. Our home, Washington, D.C., is the likely epicenter of the nearly once-in-a-generation swarm.

Here are some things you should know about the cicadas from Brood X. They are loud. They are bigger than a quarter. When they emerge, they are horny. There will be billions of them.

Yay. Entomologist Mike Raupp spoke with us first about what else you need to know.

Then, for more than four decades, Margaret Atwood and her partner Graeme Gibson shared more than their love for literature. Both were avid birders.

Before he passed, Gibson produced a compendium, that celebrated the joy they found outdoors and through a pair of binoculars. Atwood shares some of the stories you'll find inside the "Bedside Book of Birds," and avid birdwatcher Jenny Odell joined her.

Like what you hear? Find more of our programs online.