Month: April 2020

Friday (10-April-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Night Time Spring Nature in New Jersey.

Opossum smells the apple second night in a row, but sets the trap off from the outside and avoids getting caught. Actually, I don’t want to catch the opossum since they supposedly eat Deer Ticks.

Daily Electric Energy Used (53.5 kWh) from Sense Home Energy Monitor and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (47.2 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Sun and clouds. A deficit of 6.3 kWh.


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Thursday (09-April-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

Three types of birds at the bird feeder today. Chipping Sparrow, House Finch (both male and female), and Northern Cardinal (female).

alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Chipping Sparrow at a bird feeder. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 1600, 600 mm, f/4, 1/200 sec). (David J Mathre)
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Male House Finch at a bird feeder. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 1000, 600 mm, f/4, 1/1250 sec). (David J Mathre)
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Female House Finch at a bird feeder. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 800, 600 mm, f/4, 1/1250 sec). (David J Mathre)
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Female Northern Cardinal perched above a bird feeder. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 800, 600 mm, f/4, 1/1250 sec). (David J Mathre)
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Chipping Sparrow perched on a planter. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 1600, 600 mm, f/4, 1/640 sec). (David J Mathre)

Daily Electric Energy Used (51.4 kWh) from Sense Home Energy Monitor and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (35.4 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Some sun with lots of clouds. A deficit of 16.0 kWh.


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Thursday (09-April-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Night Time Spring Nature in New Jersey.

Opossum smells the apple, but stays outside the trap. Actually, I don’t want to catch the opossum since they supposedly eat Deer Ticks.

Daily Electric Energy Used (51.4 kWh) from Sense Home Energy Monitor and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (35.4 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Some sun with lots of clouds. A deficit of 16.0 kWh.


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Wednesday (08-April-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

Afternoon walkabout. Several new pink and red tulip flowers opened last night.

alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Pink Tulip. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 200 mm f/2 lens and 1.4x Teleconverter (ISO 250, 280 mm, f/2.8, 1/5800 sec). (David J Mathre)
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Pink and Red Tulip. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 200 mm f/2 lens and 1.4x Teleconverter (ISO 250, 280 mm, f/8, 1/420 sec). (David J Mathre)
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Pink Tulip. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 200 mm f/2 lens and 1.4x Teleconverter (ISO 250, 280 mm, f/2.8, 1/2500 sec). (David J Mathre)
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Pink and Red Tulip. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 200 mm f/2 lens and 1.4x Teleconverter (ISO 250, 280 mm, f/4, 1/2500 sec). (David J Mathre)

Daily Electric Energy Used (56.1 kWh) from Sense Home Energy Monitor and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (59.6 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Sunny with intermittent clouds. A surplus of 3.5 kWh.

Current Weather Conditions


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Wednesday (08-April-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

It rained early in the morning with lots of thunder and lightning during the storm. When I went for my morning walkabout some of the flowers still had water droplets. The four-year old daffodil flower bed along the road on the west side of the house is doing well. I tried planting native daylilies in the same bed and they were eaten by the deer. The Piers Japonica shrub started blooming. It was here when I moved in, and the deer have not touched it. The Grape Hyacinth bulbs planted last year along the east side walkway started blooming. The deer were nibbling on the plants before they flowered. Now the deer are ignoring them. Maybe it is the hyacinth perfume? I also saw a number of tiny wild Violet flowers blooming in the backyard lawn. These may be too low to the ground for the deer to nibble.

alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Daffodil flower with water droplets. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 320, 80 mm, f/16, 1/180 sec). (David J Mathre)
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Red Tulip flower with water droplets. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 320, 80 mm, f/5.6, 1/600 sec). (David J Mathre)
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Daffodil flower with water droplets. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 640, 80 mm, f/16, 1/120 sec). (David J Mathre)
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Daffodil flower with water droplets. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 320, 80 mm, f/8, 1/120 sec). (David J Mathre)
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Daffodil Garden (4 years old). Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 1250, 80 mm, f/16, 1/120 sec). (David J Mathre)
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
White Piers Japonica flowers. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 320, 80 mm, f/5.6, 1/900 sec). (David J Mathre)
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Japanese (Red) Maple Tree Flowers. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 320, 80 mm, f/5.6, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre)
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Purple Grape Hyacinth flowers. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 400, 80 mm, f/4, 1/640 sec). (David J Mathre)
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Purple Grape Hyacinth flowers. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 400, 80 mm, f/16, 1/120 sec). (David J Mathre)
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Wild Violet flower in the lawn. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 1000, 80 mm, f/4, 1/120 sec). (David J Mathre)

Daily Electric Energy Used (56.1 kWh) from Sense Home Energy Monitor and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (59.6 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Sunny with intermittent clouds. A surplus of 3.5 kWh.

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