Tuesday (30-June-2020) — New Jersey

Early Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the Day: Northern Cardinal, House Finch, Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Gray Catbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Tufted Titmouse, Black-capped Chickadee, Brown-headed Cowbird


Backyard Summer Birds of the Day. Individual images in the slideshow can be viewed at my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Lots of flowers, almost too many to keep up with, and a couple I need to identify. Flowers of the Day: Poppies (Red, Pink, Oriental, Icelandic), Bachelor Button, Cornflower, Spiderwort, Larkspur, Chicory, Cosmos, Red Coreopsis, Delphinium, Sweet William, Thistle, Monarda citriodora, Lemon Mint Lemon Beebalm, Lemon Horsemint, Purple Horsemint, Lemon Bergamot, Foxglove, Black-eyed Susan, Plains Coreopsis, Lance-leaf Coreopsis, Sunflower, Common Mullein, Yellow Prickly Pear, Yucca, Teasel, and May Apple. Supposedly, Turtles eat the seeds from May Apples since they are low to the ground. New May Apple plants then crop up where the turtle excret the seeds. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen any turtles this year.


Poppies (portrait). Individual images in the slideshow can be viewed at my PhotoShelter Gallery.


Poppies (landscape). Individual images in the slideshow can be viewed at my PhotoShelter Gallery.


Summer Wildflowers (Blue & Purple). Individual images in the slideshow can be viewed at my PhotoShelter Gallery.


Summer Wildflowers (Red or Pink). Individual images in the slideshow can be viewed at my PhotoShelter Gallery.


Summer Wildflowers (Yellow). Individual images in the slideshow can be viewed at my PhotoShelter Gallery.


Summer Wildflowers (White) plus May Apples. Individual images in the slideshow can be viewed at my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Critters of the Day: Frogs, Squirrel, and Deer. The pond is drying out so the frogs are having to live closer together.


Kermit and his close relatives (also named Kermit). Individual images in the slideshow can be viewed at my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Doe with horseflies. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 90-280 mm lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Doe with horseflies. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 90-280 mm lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Squirrel in the air. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 90-280 mm lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Squirrel in the air. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 90-280 mm lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Doe with horseflies and two fawns. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 90-280 mm lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Doe with horseflies and two fawns. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 90-280 mm lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (49.3 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (60.5 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Mixed clouds and some sun. A surplus of 11.2 kWh.

Monthly Electric Energy Used (1491 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (2080 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. A surplus of 589 kWh.


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Monday (22-June-2020) — New Jersey

Early Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the Day: Gray Catbird, Mourning Dove, House Finch, Tufted Titmouse, Chipping Sparrow, and Northern Cardinal.


Birds of the Day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Early Summer Wildflowers: Daisy, Red Poppy, and Mexican Hat. The Mexican hat is new for the season. It is starting to get hot out and will be interesting to see what dies off, and what new arrives.


Summer Flowers. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (61.3 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (75.4 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sun and intermittent clouds. A surplus of 14.1 kWh.


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Sunday (21-June-2020) — New Jersey

Early Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Summertime Dreams — Backyard Wildflower Meadow. Composite of 27 images taken with a Leica SL2 camera and 16-35 mm lens (ISO 400, 16 mm, f/16, 1/125 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and AutoPano Giga Pro to produce a Tunnel View, Little Planet View, and Mirrorball View. THe files contain 268 gigapixels and can be printed as a 54 x 54 inch (1.37 x 1.37 meter) poster.

So far, I have identified the following types of flowers in this meadow: Lance-leaf Coreopsis, Larkspur/Delphinium, Cornflower/Bachelor Button, Sweet William, Daisy, Black-eyed Susan, Cosmos, Red Poppy, Forget-me-Not, Flax, Moth Mullein, Baby’s Breath, Beardtongue/Foxglove and Lemon-Mint. Last year this meadow was mainly a variety of Sunflowers that hid the lower wildflowers. I mowed everything down in the fall and didn’t plant any new seeds. So everything in the meadow this year must have self seeded. The Sunflowers seeds must have been consumed by the birds, squirrels, mice, and deer.

Summertime Dreams -- Backyard Wildflower Meadow. Composite of 27 images taken with a Leica SL2 camera and 16-35 mm lens (ISO 400, 16 mm, f/16, 1/125 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and AutoPano Giga Pro. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Summertime Dreams — Backyard Wildflower Meadow. Composite of 27 images taken with a Leica SL2 camera and 16-35 mm lens (ISO 400, 16 mm, f/16, 1/125 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and AutoPano Giga Pro. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Summertime Dreams -- Backyard Wildflower Meadow. Composite of 27 images taken with a Leica SL2 camera and 16-35 mm lens (ISO 400, 16 mm, f/16, 1/125 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and AutoPano Giga Pro. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Summertime Dreams — Backyard Wildflower Meadow. Composite of 27 images taken with a Leica SL2 camera and 16-35 mm lens (ISO 400, 16 mm, f/16, 1/125 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and AutoPano Giga Pro. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Summertime Dreams -- Backyard Wildflower Meadow. Composite of 27 images taken with a Leica SL2 camera and 16-35 mm lens (ISO 400, 16 mm, f/16, 1/125 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and AutoPano Giga Pro. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Summertime Dreams — Backyard Wildflower Meadow. Composite of 27 images taken with a Leica SL2 camera and 16-35 mm lens (ISO 400, 16 mm, f/16, 1/125 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and AutoPano Giga Pro. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (57.1 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (75.6 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sun and intermittent clouds. A surplus of 18.5 kWh.

Weekly Electric Energy Used (321 kWh) from Sense. Weekly Solar Electric Energy Produced (463 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sun and intermittent clouds. A surplus of 142 kWh.


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Tuesday (16-June-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Spring Nighttime Nature in New Jersey.

Even more fireflies than last night. It was a bit warmer out. The activity didn’t drop off until after midnight when the temperature went below 60°F. Composite of images taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 200 mm f/2 VR lens (ISO 800, 200 mm, f/8, 30 sec).

Firefly Trails [2145-0159]. Composite of image takens with a Nikon D4 camera and 200 mm f/2 VR lens (ISO 800, 200 mm, f/8, 30 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Firefly Trails [2145-0159]. Composite of image takens with a Nikon D4 camera and 200 mm f/2 VR lens (ISO 800, 200 mm, f/8, 30 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)


Firefly trails — 30 min intervals. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (38.1 kWh) from Sense. The daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (86.9 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Lots of sun. A surplus of 48.8 kWh.


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Tuesday (16-June-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

Wildflower Meadow -- Little Planet View. Image taken with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera (ISO 100, 1 mm, f/2, 1/1996 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
Wildflower Meadow — Little Planet View. Image taken with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera (ISO 100, 1 mm, f/2, 1/1996 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)

Birds of the Day — Northern Cardinal, Black-capped Chickadee, House Finch, Gray Catbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Blue Jay, and Tufted Titmouse. The Eastern Phoebe continues to sit on the nest.


Birds of the Day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Spring flowers of the day — Red and Pink Poppies, Larkspur/Delphinium, and Blanket Flower


Spring Flowers of the Day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Kermit (and his brothers) in the pond.


Bullfrogs in the pond. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

A Groundhog started digging a nest into the rock wall supporting my patio. I need to deal with this before it destabilizes the wall. ARRG!


Young Groundhog on my patio. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (38.1 kWh) from Sense. The daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (86.9 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Lots of sun. A surplus of 48.8 kWh.


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