Month: September 2019

Saturday (21-September-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Daily walkabout with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 200 mm f/2 OIS lens. Wildflowers, a Tiger Swallowtail and Bumblebee on a Mexican Sunflower, and immature Goldfinch working the sunflowers.


Click on the above image to access my PhotoShelter Gallery with the individual images in the following slideshow.



Click on the above image to access my PhotoShelter Gallery with the individual images in the following slideshow.



Click on the above image to access my PhotoShelter Gallery with the individual images in the following slideshow.


Yesterday Electric Energy Used (53.7 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (52.6 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. More sun and cooler. The Geothermal HVAC was off. Server backup and new hydroponic garden online. Overall a net deficit of 1.1 kWh.

Daily Electric Energy Used (66.0 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (51.3 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Warmer out so the Geothermal HVAC was back on (5.2 kWh), Using more electricity while running server backups, laundry (3.7 kWh) and new hydroponic garden. Overall a net deficit of 14.7 kWh.

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Thursday (19-September-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Daily walkabout with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens. Some of the Cosmos plants are nearly 10 feet tall, with blossoms way up. I’ve seen hummingbirds feeding on them, but haven’t been able to capture an image. The strawberry plants in my Grow Towers are sending out runners. I am going to try to transplant some of the runners into an indoor hydroponic system and see if I can produce strawberries in the middle of the winter. The Burma Water Gourd vine put out some more flowers. I think these are female flowers so I may actually get some gourds to set. Although it is probably too late to get 1 meter long gourds.

Cosmos Flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/220 sec). (David J Mathre)
Cosmos Flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/220 sec). (David J Mathre)
Strawberry Runner. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 335 mm, f/5.6, 1/75 sec). (David J Mathre)
Strawberry Runner. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 335 mm, f/5.6, 1/75 sec). (David J Mathre)
Strawberry Runner. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 243 mm, f/5.6, 1/45 sec). (David J Mathre)
Strawberry Runner. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 243 mm, f/5.6, 1/45 sec). (David J Mathre)

Daily Electric Energy Used (53.1 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (56.1 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. More Sunshine. The Geothermal HVAC was off, but using more electricity while running server backups. Overall a net surplus of 3 kWh.


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Wednesday (18-September-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Daily walkabout with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens. I noticed a Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly on a Mexican Sunflower. It seemed to be larger than the ones I had seen earlier in the summer. When I looked it up, the female is larger, and comes out later in the season than the males.

Great Spangled Fritillary Butterfly on a Mexican Sunflower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre)
Great Spangled Fritillary Butterfly on a Mexican Sunflower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre)

Yesterday Electric Energy Used (50.0 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (48.6 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. More sun and still warm. The Geothermal HVAC used 5.9 kWh. Overall a net surplus of 6.3 kWh.

Daily Electric Energy Used (50.8 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (31.7 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Some clouds and cooler. The Geothermal HVAC was off, but using more electricity while running server backups. Overall a net deficit of 2.2 kWh.

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Monday (16-September-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Daily walkabout with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens. It is late summer and has been dry. The back pond is almost dry. A long frog hiding in the mud next to the pond.

Lone frog hiding in the mud near the nearly dry pond. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens. (David J Mathre)
Lone frog hiding in the mud near the nearly dry pond. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens. (David J Mathre)

Daily Electric Energy Used (50.9 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (31.7 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. More clouds and still warm. The Geothermal HVAC used 7.3 kWh. Overall a net deficit of 19.2 kWh.

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Thirteen-Years Ago (16-September-2006) — Utah

Gone to See America 2006 Driving Tour. Day 18: Newspaper Rock National Historic Site.

While on the way to Arches National Park I stopped at Newspaper Rock National Historic Site. Over the years there has been some graffiti added, but the original Petroglyphs are still amazing. Images taken with a Nikon D200 camera and 18-70 mm kit lens.  The original jpg images have been reprocessed with Topaz JPG to Raw and Capture One Pro.

Newspaper Rock. National Historical Site. Image taken with a Nikon D200 camera and 18-70 mm kit lens. (David J Mathre)
Newspaper Rock. National Historical Site. Composite of five images taken with a Nikon D200 camera and 18-70 mm kit lens. (David J Mathre)


Click on the above image to access my PhotoShelter Gallery with the individual images in the following slideshow.