Thursday (11-July-2019) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Walkabout around the house to view the flowers and wildflower gardens. A Monarch butterfly, Bumblebees, and a Firefly in a Poppy Flower. Kermit the bullfrog in the pond and hiding in the grass, and an immature American Goldfinch eating the Bachelor Button (Cornflowers). The bird is blind in one eye. Then a variety of flowers.

Troll in the Garden. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Troll in the Garden. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (DAVID J MATHRE)


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Daily Power Use (48.4 kWh) from Sense and Solar Production (35.0 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Lots of clouds today, especially in the afternoon so I used more power than was generated.

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Wednesday (10-July-2019) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Walkabout around the house to view the flowers and wildflower gardens. New Poppy flowers are still showing up. More and more sunflowers are appearing. A new small butterfly showed up in one of the rear wildflower meadows. It appears to be a Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos) Butterfly. I am also starting to see more grasshoppers munching on my flowers.


Pink Poppy Flower. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens + 2.0 TC-E (DAVID J MATHRE)
Pink Poppy Flower. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens + 2.0 TC-E (DAVID J MATHRE)
Pink Poppy Flower. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens + 2.0 TC-E (DAVID J MATHRE)
Pink Poppy Flower. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens + 2.0 TC-E (DAVID J MATHRE)
Pink Poppy Flower. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens + 2.0 TC-E (DAVID J MATHRE)
Pink Poppy Flower. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens + 2.0 TC-E (DAVID J MATHRE)
Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos) Butterfly. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos) Butterfly. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos) Butterfly. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos) Butterfly. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Grasshopper Feeding on a Yellow Flower. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens + 2.0III TC-E (DAVID J MATHRE)
Grasshopper Feeding on a Yellow Flower. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens + 2.0III TC-E (DAVID J MATHRE)
Grasshopper Feeding on a Yellow Flower. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens + 2.0III TC-E (DAVID J MATHRE)
Grasshopper Feeding on a Yellow Flower. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens + 2.0III TC-E (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Power Use (62.0 kWh) from Sense and Solar Production (76.7 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Lots of sun today, so the solar panels generated more power that I used. Usage was up ~ 4 kWh since I did a load of laundry.

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Tuesday (09-July-2019) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

While it was still cool out in the morning, I mowed the yard. It had been over a week and I needed to catch up. I had my Nikon 1 V3 camera with the 70-300 mm lens with me “just in case”. Sure enough when I passed the back wildflower section I noticed a Tiger Swallowtail butterfly. It found the dwarf Zinnia flowers that had just started blooming. This section was not seeded until several weeks after the sections next to the house where the wildflowers are now waist to shoulder high. After I finished mowing I came across a Painted Lady butterfly in the wildflowers near the house. Then to make my day, I saw a Monarch butterfly. I was cooking dinner and looked out the kitchen window and saw it fly by. Normally, I don’t see the Monarch butterflies until late August and September. So I ran out with the camera and got some pictures. I didn’t care that dinner burned while I was outside…

Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly on a Zinnia Flower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly on a Zinnia Flower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly on a Zinnia Flower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly on a Zinnia Flower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly on a Zinnia Flower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly on a Zinnia Flower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly on a Cosmos Flower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly on a Cosmos Flower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Painted Lady Butterfly on a Coneflower Flower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Painted Lady Butterfly on a Coneflower Flower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Painted Lady Butterfly on a Coreopsis Flower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Painted Lady Butterfly on a Coreopsis Flower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Painted Lady Butterfly on a Coneflower Flower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Painted Lady Butterfly on a Coneflower Flower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Monarch Butterfly on a Coreopsis Flower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Monarch Butterfly on a Coreopsis Flower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Monarch Butterfly on a Coreopsis Flower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Monarch Butterfly on a Coreopsis Flower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Monarch Butterfly on a Coreopsis Flower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Monarch Butterfly on a Coreopsis Flower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Monarch Butterfly on a Coreopsis Flower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Monarch Butterfly on a Coreopsis Flower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Monarch Butterfly on a Sunflower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Monarch Butterfly on a Sunflower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Power Use (58.9 kWh) from Sense and Solar Production (79.1 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Much more sun today, so the solar panels generated more power that I used.

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Monday (08-July-2019) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

It rained most of the morning. Later in the afternoon, I did see a Clearwing Hummingbird Moth (Hemaris thysbe) in my Wildflower Meadow. Right now it is attracted to the Pink Cosmos and Zinnia flowers. I am trying different camera/lens combinations to get the best images of the Hummingbird Moth. Today I used a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (exclusively at 400 mm).


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Daily Power Use (45.5 kWh) from Sense and Solar Production (37.9 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. It rained all morning, and the sun didn’t come out until midday so the power generation was low. The temperatures stayed low, so the geothermal HVAC system didn’t need to work as hard to keep the indoor cool. But, I still used 8.6 kWh more power than produced by the solar panels.

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Sunday (07-July-2019) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Butterflies, Bees, and Clearwing Hummingbird Moths. Today, the Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly was missing its tails and some of its rear wing. The Black Swallowtail Butterfly (NJ State Butterfly) was also missing one of its tails. I also saw a Red Admiral and Painted Lady Butterfly. One of the Clearwing Hummingbird Moths showed up. It spent most of its time feeding on the Pink Cosmos and Pink Zinnia flowers


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Daily Power Use (59.1 kWh) from Sense and Solar Production (64.15 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. The sun was out long enough to generate more power than the geothermal HVAC system needed to keep the house cool.

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