Category: Landscape

Views of the land around the world

Monday (02-March-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Wintertime Nature in New Jersey.

Randy Deer? This young deer (yearling) appears to be trying to mount an older doe. She didn’t look happy and finally kicked the youngster in the mouth.


Daily Electric Energy Used (67.7 kWh) from Sense Home Energy Monitor and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (54.3 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Sunny with some clouds. A deficit of 13.4 kWh.

Current Weather Conditions


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Monday (17-February-2020) — New Jersey

Outdoor Wintertime Nature in New Jersey. Signs of Spring.

When I woke up this morning, one of the “Images of the Day” that came up on my Echo Show was of a Purple Crocus flower. I went online to check the date, and found that the image was posted eight years ago 17-February-2012. After the sun came up, and it was warmer outside I went searching and found the Purple Crocuses had bloomed overnight. I didn’t see them the day before.

Early Purple Crocus Flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 lens + 1.4x TCE (ISO 320, 112 mm, f/8, 1/280 sec). Copyright © 2020 David J. Mathre
Early Purple Crocus Flowers. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 lens + 1.4x TCE (ISO 320, 112 mm, f/8, 1/250 sec). Copyright © 2020 David J. Mathre

Daily Electric Energy Used (67.7 kWh) from Sense Home Energy Monitor and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (49.4 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. More sun and warmer so the Geothermal HVAC didn’t have to work as hard. Still a deficit of 18.3 kWh.

Current Weather Conditions


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Saturday (08-February-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Wintertime Nature in New Jersey.

Something completely different today. There were some heavy winds as a front came through. We have had a lot of rain and the ground is saturated. One of the wind gusts blew over the table where one of my outdoor video cameras was mounted. When I reviewed the video, I noticed what looks like an Eastern Red-backed Salamander running away from the camera. The video has been slowed down 10x.

Daily Electric Energy Used (83.1 kWh) from Sense Home Energy Monitor and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (34.3 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. The sun finally came out for some of the day! A deficit of 48.8 kWh.

Current Weather Conditions


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One-Year Ago (31-January-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Wintertime Nature in New Jersey.

American Crow, Blue Jay, Dark-eyed Junco, Tufted Titmouse, and Turkey Vulture.

alt_title. (David J Mathre)
American Crow. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 500 mm f/4 VR telephoto lens (ISO 640, 500 mm, f/4, 1/500 sec).
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Blue Jay. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 500 mm f/4 VR telephoto lens (ISO 320, 500 mm, f/4, 1/500 sec).
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Dark-eyed Junco. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 500 mm f/4 VR telephoto lens (ISO 200, 500 mm, f/4, 1/500 sec).
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Tufted Titmouse. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 500 mm f/4 VR telephoto lens (ISO 640, 500 mm, f/4, 1/500 sec).
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Turkey Vulture in Flight. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 200 mm f/2 lens with 1.4x teleconverter (ISO 160, 280 mm, f/3.6, 1/1000 sec).

Two-Years Ago (31-January-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Wintertime Nature in New Jersey.

On these really cold days and nights, a flock of (50+) Turkey Vultures have been roosting overnight in trees and local neighbors roofs.

alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Turkey Vulture on a neighbor’s roof. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/750 sec). (David J Mathre)
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
Five Turkey Vultures on a neighbor’s roof. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/1700 sec). (David J Mathre)