Month: June 2020

Thursday (25-June-2020) — New Jersey

Early Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the Day: American Crow and Blue Jay.

American Crows in a tree. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 500, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
American Crows in a tree. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 500, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
Blue Jay. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 1600, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
Blue Jay. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 1600, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)

Early Summer Wildflowers: Yellow Prickly Pear, Lance-leaf Coreopsis, Onion Grass, Teasel, Pink Poppy, Red Poppy, Bachelor Button, Larkspur, Delphinium, and Forget-me-not.


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

Leica recently updated the firmware for the SL2 camera. One of the new features is the ability to take a 187 megapixel (16736 x 11168) image using the sensor shifting capability. After taking the first image, the sensor is shifted in 1/2 pixel increments to take 8 additional images, then combine the date in camera. The native resolution of the sensor is 47 megapixels (8368 x 5584). To use this feature, the camera must be mounted on a stable platform (tripod), uses the electronic shutter, and turns off both lens and in-camera motion reduction. My first test of this feature is with the Prickly Pear Cactus flower image (full image and cropped 4507 x 3605 image).

Yellow Prickly Pear flowers. Image taken with a Leica SL2 camera and 24-90 mm lens (ISO 400, 60 mm, f/16, 1/10 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Yellow Prickly Pear flowers. Image taken with a Leica SL2 camera and 24-90 mm lens (ISO 400, 60 mm, f/16, 1/10 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Yellow Prickly Pear flowers. Image taken with a Leica SL2 camera and 24-90 mm lens (ISO 400, 60 mm, f/16, 1/10 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Yellow Prickly Pear flowers. Image taken with a Leica SL2 camera and 24-90 mm lens (ISO 400, 60 mm, f/16, 1/10 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (56.2 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (65.9 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sun and intermittent clouds. A surplus of 9.7 kWh. The solar panels continue to produce more energy than required to keep the house cool with the energy efficient Geothermal HVAC system.


powered by Ambient Weather

Wednesday (24-June-2020) — New Jersey

Early Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the Day: Red-bellied Woodpecker, House Finch, Northern Cardinal, Chipping Sparrow, Blue Jay, and Black-capped Chickadee. I think the Eastern Phoebe has given up on the nest above my front door.


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

Early Summer Wildflowers: Plains Coreopsis, Lemon-Mint, Delphinium, Larkspur, Lance-leaf Coreopsis, Rigid Goldenrod, Blanket Flower, Mexican Hat, Sweet Black-eyed Susan, Cornflower, and Yucca. I managed to save a few of the Yucca flowers from the ravenous deer.


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

Mowed the lawn. Time-lapse video recorded with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera.

Daily Electric Energy Used (61.2 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (82.6 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sun and intermittent clouds. A surplus of 21.4 kWh. The solar panels continue to produce more energy than required to keep the house cool with the energy efficient Geothermal HVAC system.


powered by Ambient Weather

Tuesday (23-June-2020) — New Jersey

Early Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the Day: Gray Catbird, Mourning Dove, Blue Jay, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, and Tufted Titmouse. The parent Common Grackle was feeding a very demanding youngster — even though junior was as large as the parent.


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

A squirrel was also up at the birdfeeder.

Squirrel at the birdfeeder. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Squirrel at the birdfeeder. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Early Summer Wildflowers: Red Poppy, White Poppy, Pink Poppy, Icelandic Poppy, Foxglove, Daisy, Delphinium, Larkspur, Mexican Hat, and Yucca. The Great Mullein (Common Mullein) is new this season. The large plants are large with flower stalks 4-5 feet tall.

<


Poppies. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.


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

Daily Electric Energy Used (64.2 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (75.5 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sun and intermittent clouds. A surplus of 10.7 kWh. The solar panels continue to produce more energy than required to keep the house cool with the energy efficient Geothermal HVAC system.


powered by Ambient Weather

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.


powered by Ambient Weather

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.


powered by Ambient Weather