Autumn Backyard Nature in New Jersey.
Birds of the day viewed at the birdfeeder and in the backyard: Mourning Dove, Turkey Vulture, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Black-capped Chickadee, European Starling, American Robin, House Finch.
Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Flowers (and plants) of the day: Chinese Forget-me-not, Cosmos, Marigold, Plains Coreopsis, Teasel.
Flowers and Plants of the Day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Time-lapse video of a day in the wildflower meadow. This section was plated late in summer with Cosmos and Plains Coreopsis. The earlier planting in this section failed, mainly coming up with tall grass instead of the spring to summer wildflowers. I mowed the grass down, rototilled, and covered with a black-agricultural fabric to kill off the weeds for several weeks before replanting. I am now starting to get some flowers even though the plants are not very tall. Another section was planted with Marigold and Zinnia. They are not growing very fast, and have not bloomed. It also doesn’t help that the Deer and Ground Hog continue to nibble on the small plants. [Click on the full screen button, bottom right corner to view a larger image.]
I haven’t seen any Monarch butterflies until today since August. Usually there are some of the group that migrates south to hibernate around in October. One of the places that I usually see them in October is at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. This year the brush along the high-pressure underground gas line was mowed, and there are no flowers to attract the Monarch butterflies. Today, while rototilling one of my wildflower meadows to prepare for next spring I noticed the shadow of a butterfly flying. When I turned around, I saw a Monarch. It landed on a Zinnia flower. I dropped everything and ran inside to get a camera. When I got back outside, I found the Monarch feeding on a Marigold flower.
Monarch butterfly feeding on a Marigold flower. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Deer in the backyard. They keep trying to get into the fenced off areas. Some look pretty scrawny.
Critters of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Waxing Gibbous moon with my new Sigma 150-600 mm sport (L-mount) lens on a Leica SL2 camera.
Daily Electric Energy Used (53.4 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (33.3 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sunny. Deficit of 20.1 kWh.
