Food - David Mathre Photography

Friday (14-August-2020) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Afternoon walkabout with a Leica SL2 camera and 90-280 mm lens. I am getting to like this camera. It is a bit heavy, but feels robust. The focus is fast, and does a good job tracking moving subjects. All of these images are hand-held using the in-camera sensor based image stabilization.

I didn’t plant wildflower seeds in the back wildflower meadows this spring. Only a few Sunflowers, Zinnia, Plains Coreopsis, and Sweet William flowers returned (self-seeded from last year). I am still getting Strawberries in the Grow Towers. A few Monarch and Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterflies are feeding on the remaining Thistle flowers. I also observed a Monarch butterfly laying eggs on a Milkweed plant. Kermit the Bullfrog was sunning itself on a log in the pond. I am still waiting on the township to remove the fallen oak tree.

Backyard Wildflowers. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Strawberry. Image taken with a Leica SL2 camera and 90-280 mm lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Backyard Butterflies. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Kermit the Bullfrog on a Log. Image taken with a Leica SL2 camera and 90-280 mm lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Northern Cardinal, Brown Thrasher, and American Goldfinch. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Downed Oak Tree post Tropical Storm Isaias. Image taken with a Leica SL2 camera and 90-280 mm lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (60.4 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (56.7 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Clouds and rain. A deficit of 4.72 kWh.

Sunday (28-June-2020) — New Jersey

Early Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

The late afternoon and early evening thunderstorms passed north and south of here. Image of the first quarter moon with the storm clouds to the south a little before sunset.

First Quarter Moon over Summer Thunderclouds at Dusk. Image taken with a Leica SL2 camera and 24-90 mm lens (ISO 100, 44 mm, f/4.5, 1/640 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)

Birds of the Day: Blue Jay, Gray Catbird, Northern Cardinal, Tufted Titmouse, House Finch, and Red-bellied Woodpecker. I didn’t know that the woodpeckers like fruit. When this woodpecker visited all of the other birds, including the Blue Jays left it have the birdfeeder to itself.

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

Daily Electric Energy Used (57.3 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (74.6 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sun with some clouds. A surplus of 17.3 kWh.

Weekly Electric Energy Used (399 kWh) from Sense. Weekly Solar Electric Energy Produced (490 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. A surplus of 91 kWh.

powered by Ambient Weather

Monday (25-May-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the Day — Brown-headed Cowbird, House Finch, Blue Jay, Tufted Titmouse, American Goldfinch, Northern Cardinal, Gray Catbird, Black-capped Chickadee, Mourning Dove, Carolina Wren, and Eastern Phoebe. Many of the birds are young. There continues to be lots of action at the Eastern Phoebe nest with both parents feed the new hatchlings.

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

Spring flowers of the day — Poppies (California, Oriental, Red), Dame’s Rocket, Five-spot, Rhododendron, Johnny Jump Up, Babies Blue Eyes, Bachelor Button, Cornflower, Sweet William, Dianthus, Siberian Wallflower, Daisy, Foxglove, Babies Breath, Grass Lily, Forget-me-not, and Tulip Tree.

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

While watching the birds, I caught a squirrel running across the backyard with a black walnut it burried last fall.

Squirrel with a Black Wallnut. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR telephoto lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Squirrel running with a black walnut. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (47.1 kWh) from meter readings the Sense Home Energy Monitor. The daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (55.0 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Sun and clouds. A surplus of 7.9 kWh.

powered by Ambient Weather

Wednesday (20-May-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the Day — Blue Jay, Gray Catbird, American Goldfinch, and Eastern Phoebe. A whole bunch of American Goldfinch showed up today. The eggs in the Eastern Phoebe nest above my front door have started to hatch. The parents are now bringing insects, grubs, and worms to feed the hatchlings. I set up a video camera to monitor the nest.

Blue Jay. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR telephoto lens (ISO 1600, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/200 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Gray Catbird. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR telephoto lens (ISO 1100, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

American Goldfinch. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR telephoto lens (ISO 220, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

American Goldfinch. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR telephoto lens (ISO 1000, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Spring flowers of the day include Rhododendron, Red Oriental Poppy, Cosmos, and Foxglove. What I thought was a Gladiolus plant growing up through a crack in the patio blue-stones turned out to be a Foxglove plant.

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

I spent most of the day out on the patio assembling the new Grow Towers and transplanting the indoor hydroponic strawberry plants to the outdoor Grow Towers. The activity was recorded by a Garmin VIRB-360 camera and used to create two time-lapse Little Planet videos.

Daily Electric Energy Used (46.3 kWh) from meter readings the Sense Home Energy Monitor. The daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (81.1 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Sun with some clouds. A surplus of 34.8 kWh.

powered by Ambient Weather

Thursday (07-May-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

Visitors at the birdfeeder. Blue Jay, pair of Brown Headed Cowbirds, Chipping Sparrow, and pair of Gray Catbirds.

Blue Jay. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 560, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)

Female Brown-headed Cowbird at the bird feeder. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 640, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)

Male Brown-headed Cowbird at the bird feeder. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 900, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)

Chipping Sparrow at the bird feeder. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 400, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)

Pair of Gray Catbirds at the bird feeder. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 800, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)

Pair of Gray Catbirds at the bird feeder. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 1250, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (61.9 kWh) from meter readings the Sense Home Energy Monitor. The daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (87.8 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Lots of sun. A surplus of 27.1 kWh.

powered by Ambient Weather