Category: Nature

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

Monday (01-July-2019) — New Jersey

First Day of July. Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

More wildflowers than what I know what to do with. THe deer are staying out of the electric fenced in wildflower meadows. They will nibble on any of the plants that grow out of the area. The Goldfinch love eating the Bachelor Buttons (Cornflowers). Also, lots of insects are attracted to the wildflowers. Some of the flowers include allium, baby’s breath, baby blue eyes, bachelor button (cornflower), black-eyed susan (coneflower), cosmos, coreopsis (calliopsis, tickseed), leopard bane, morning glory, poppy, siberian wallflower, sunflower, yucca, zinnia — and others that I haven’t identified.

Doe Outside the Electric Fence. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Doe Outside the Electric Fence. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)


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














Daily Power Use (50.1 kWh) from Sense and Solar Production (87.6 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. You can see from the power graph, that there were very few clouds and this is about the maximum amount of solar power that my system can generate.

Current Weather Conditions

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Sunday (30-June-2019) — New Jersey

Last Day of June. Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

It hasn’t rained for several days, and is quite warm out. The wildflower meadows are filling in nicely with lots of new flowers. A band of American Goldfinch moved in and started eating the Cornflowers (Bachelor Buttons). Several Sunflowers have opened up. I now have one sunflower plant that is nearly up to my roof.

Backyard Wildflowers (Coreopsis, Cosmos, Poppy). Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Backyard Wildflowers (Coreopsis, Cosmos, Poppy). Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (DAVID J MATHRE)






Daily Power Use (51.8 kWh) from Sense and Solar Production (72.14 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Power use is up since I did laundry, two loads of dishes and the Geothermal A/C was running. Since it is both the end of the week, and month I’ve also included additional power & solar graphs.

Current Weather Conditions

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Five-Years Ago (27-June-2014) — Spain

Gone to See Europe 2014. Day 27: Semester at Sea, Summer 2014 Semester Voyage. Getxo, Spain.

Sidewalk Skaters in Getxo Spain. Images taken with a Leica X2 camera. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, and Photoshop CC 2014.


Click on the above image to access the individual images in the slideshow at my Photoshelter Gallery.


Thursday (20-June-2019) — New Jersey

Last Day of Spring. Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

The rain continues… It stopped for a bit a little after noon. Went on a walkabout with my Nikon D850 camera and 105 mm f/1.4 lens. Lots of Poppies and Cosmos flowers. Also some Forget-Me-Not, Bee Balm, Blue Flax, Marigold, Zinnia, and Yellow Prickly Pear Cactus flowers.

Troll looking at a Poppy Flower. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 105 mm f/1.4 lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Dizzy Troll looking at a Poppy Flower. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 105 mm f/1.4 lens (DAVID J MATHRE)



Wildflower Meadow. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 105 mm f/1.4 lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Wildflower Meadow. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 105 mm f/1.4 lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Wildflower Meadow. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 105 mm f/1.4 lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Wildflower Meadow. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 105 mm f/1.4 lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Power Use (50.7 kWh) from Sense and Solar Production (38.36 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Power use is up since I did laundry and the Geothermal A/C was running.

Current Weather Conditions

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Thursday (20-June-2019) — New Jersey

Last Day of Spring. Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

The rain continues… The sun did come out for a bit in the afternoon. Went on a walkabout with my Nikon D810a camera and 70-300 mm telephoto lens. Frogs and Dragonflies near the pond. The Yucca and Prickly Pear cactus are blooming, as well as other Cosmos and Baby Blue Eye wildflowers.

Kermit in the Grass. Image taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Kermit in the Grass. Image taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)





Daily Power Use (50.7 kWh) from Sense and Solar Production (38.36 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Power use is up since I did laundry and the Geothermal A/C was running.

Current Weather Conditions

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