Category: Nature

Views of nature and the natural world. Plants, animals, and wildlife from around the world.

Sunday (09-February-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Wintertime Nature in New Jersey.

Blue Jay letting the smaller birds know that he had arrived, and they need to leave the bird feeder.


Click on the above image to access my PhotoShelter Gallery with the individual images in the following slideshow.


Daily Electric Energy Used (75.2 kWh) from Sense Home Energy Monitor and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (43.3 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Sunny most of the day. Actually, the most solar energy produced since 05-October-2019. Still not enough to completely power the indoor hydroponic gardens, keep the house warm, and power the Synology image servers. A deficit of 31.9 kWh.

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Sunday (09-February-2020) — New Jersey

Indoor Wintertime Nature in New Jersey.

Finally, one of the Red Poppy flowers has bloomed. It has taken about four days for the flower to open completely. There are a couple of other buds that I hope will open in the near future. It has been 96 days since the seeds for the Red Poppies were planted. I’ve also added images of Pink and White Zinnia flowers.

Red Poppy Flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 OIS macro lens (ISO 160, 80 mm, f/8, 1/60 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
Red Poppy Flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 OIS macro lens (ISO 160, 80 mm, f/8, 1/60 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
Pink Zinnia Flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 OIS macro lens (ISO 160, 80 mm, f/8, 1/60 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
Pink Zinnia Flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 OIS macro lens (ISO 160, 80 mm, f/8, 1/60 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
White Zinnia Flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 OIS macro lens (ISO 160, 80 mm, f/8, 1/60 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
White Zinnia Flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 OIS macro lens (ISO 160, 80 mm, f/8, 1/60 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (75.2 kWh) from Sense Home Energy Monitor and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (43.3 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Sunny most of the day. Actually, the most solar energy produced since 05-October-2019. Still not enough to completely power the indoor hydroponic gardens, keep the house warm, and power the Synology image servers. A deficit of 31.9 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.

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Friday (07-February-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Wintertime Nature in New Jersey.

House Finch and Tufted Titmouse. It is interesting watching how the different birds deal with sunflower seeds. Cardinals and Finches are able to crack open the seed and eat the meat within their beak. Most of the other birds have to hold the seed with their feet and knock at the seed with their beak until they crack it open. Some do it at the feeder and others fly away to a tree branch or other hard surface.


Click on the above image to access my PhotoShelter Gallery with the individual images in the following slideshow.


Daily Electric Energy Used (74.2 kWh) from Sense Home Energy Monitor and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (9.8 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Cloudy most of the day. A deficit of 64.4 kWh.

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Thursday (06-February-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Wintertime Nature in New Jersey.

Young Doe on keeps coming close to the house (inside the electric fence).

Daily Electric Energy Used (74.2 kWh) from Sense Home Energy Monitor and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (3.4 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Rainy all day. A deficit of 70.8 kWh.

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