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Grandfather Mountain will hold first synchronous firefly viewings

Three nighttime viewing events known as "Grandfather Glows: Bioluminescent Evenings on Grandfather Mountain" will take place this summer. Image by Jim Magruder courtesy of Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation.

Grandfather Mountain will soon be the spot for a rare nighttime light show created by Mother Nature. For the first time, public viewing events for synchronous fireflies will take place this summer.

Grandfather Mountain will open for two nights in late June and one in early July. It's the mating season for synchronous fireflies. They can flash in unison, and their light patterns will illuminate the sky. This species of insect is found in the Appalachian Mountain chain, but they aren't often found in large numbers.

Synchronous fireflies were officially confirmed on Grandfather Mountain in 2019.

Since then, scientists and researchers have been studying them and looking for ways to protect these insects. The public viewing events will be limited capacity, 200 per night. Tickets will go on sale later this month.

John Caveny, with the Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation, says it's an experience that's hard to forget.

“During the peak of the synchrony activity, there could be thousands of these fireflies flying around at one time," says Caveny. "So it will be a flash and then the flash kind of lights up in a line all the way around you and it kind of gives the sense that the forest is pulsating.”

Caveny says so far, they've been able to document ten different species of fireflies at Grandfather Mountain.

The nighttime viewings will also feature other illuminating insects including a species of glowworm that emits a pure blue light.

Follow WFDD's Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news

Keri Brown is a multi-award winning reporter and host at 88.5 WFDD. She has been honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her stories about coal ash, and was named the 2015 radio reporter of the year by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC).Although she covers a variety of topics, her beats are environmental and education reporting.Keri comes to the Triad from West Virginia Public Broadcasting, where she served as the Chief Bureau Reporter for the Northern Panhandle. She produced stories for the state's Public Television and Radio programs and was honored by the West Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association for her feature and enterprise reporting.She also served as an adjunct instructor at Wheeling Jesuit University and Bethany College in West Virginia. She worked with the Center for Educational Technologies in Wheeling, WV, and other NASA centers across the country to develop several stories about the use of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts in the classroom.Keri's journalism career began at WTRF-TV 7 in Wheeling. She worked in several roles at the station, including the head assignment editor. She also was a field producer and assignment manager at WPGH-TV Fox 53 in Pittsburgh.Keri is a graduate of Ohio University. When she's not in the studio or working on a story, she enjoys watching college football with her family, cooking, and traveling.Keri is always looking for another great story idea, so please share them with her. You can follow her on Twitter @kerib_news.

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