Category: Nature

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

Saturday (16-June-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

Afternoon walkabout. The zucchini plants were getting too big in the Garden Towers because they were using too much water, and their leaves were  blocking sunlight from the other plants. I attempted to transplant the zucchini plants. After a day they still seemed to be alive and still flowering. The Garden tower (level 1 (top) — tomatoes and carrots; level 2 — various lettuce; level 3 — various herbs; level 4 — peppers and peas; level 5 — zucchini (now gone) and swiss chard; level 6 — broccoli and cauliflower. The blue jays have become the dominant bird at the bird feeder, even though they are too big. It is funny to watch as they have to take the sunflower seed away and find somewhere hard to break it open, whereas the cardinals and house finches are able to open and eat the seed just with their beak. The only wildflower for the day is a daisy.

Zucchini and Zucchini Flowers. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS telephoto zoom lens (David J Mathre)
Zucchini and Zucchini Flowers. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS telephoto zoom lens (David J Mathre)
Zucchini and Zucchini Flowers. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS telephoto zoom lens (David J Mathre)
Zucchini and Zucchini Flowers. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS telephoto zoom lens (David J Mathre)
Garden Tower. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens. (David J Mathre)
Garden Tower. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens. (David J Mathre)
Blue Jay. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS telephoto zoom lens (David J Mathre)
Blue Jay. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS telephoto zoom lens (David J Mathre)
Daisy Flower. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens. (David J Mathre)
Daisy Flower. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens. (David J Mathre)

Saturday (16-June-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Nighttime Nature in New Jersey.

I heard that a neighbor recently trapped 8 raccoons. But apparently, not the ones getting into my Garden Tower. I refilled the composting tube with kitchen scraps, and last night the raccoon tried to get up on the Garden Tower to check for a free meal. Instead it found that the electric fence was on. Infrared Video recorded by an Arlo Security camera.

Friday (15-June-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Nighttime Nature in New Jersey.

Firefly trails. I added long exposure noise reduction to the Fuji X-H1 camera for the 120 second exposures. It helps, but reduces the number of images that can be taken by half. Bottom line, the Nikon D810a camera does a better job for long exposures.

Firefly Trails. Composite of 541 images taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 200 mm f/2 lens (ISO 3200, 200 mm, f/8. 30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and PhotoShop CC (statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)
Firefly Trails. Composite of 541 images taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 200 mm f/2 lens (ISO 3200, 200 mm, f/8. 30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and PhotoShop CC (statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)
Firefly Trails. Composite of 157 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 58 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 1600, 58 mm, f/8. 120 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and PhotoShop CC (statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)
Firefly Trails. Composite of 157 images taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 58 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 1600, 58 mm, f/8. 120 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and PhotoShop CC (statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)
Firefly Trails. Composite of 72 images taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 56 mm f/1.2 lens (ISO 1600, 58 mm, f/8. 120 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and PhotoShop CC (statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)
Firefly Trails. Composite of 72 images taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 56 mm f/1.2 lens (ISO 1600, 58 mm, f/8. 120 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and PhotoShop CC (statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)

Friday (15-June-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime in New Jersey.

I am starting to see flowers, and wildflowers  — but not the large numbers (or meadow) like last year. The plants in the grow tower are getting big. I actually had to cull (remove) the zucchini and cucumber plants because they were getting too big and blocking the sun from the other plants. I did see a frog hiding near the newly expanded pond. Also, one of the may apple plants still has its apple (seed pod).



Frog hiding just out of the pond. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens (David J Mathre)
Frog hiding just out of the pond. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens (David J Mathre)
May Apple Seeds. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens (David J Mathre)
May Apple Seeds. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens (David J Mathre)
Wild Blackberries (?). Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens (David J Mathre)
Wild Blackberries (?). Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens (David J Mathre)

Thursday (14-June-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

I did a walkabout in my yard this afternoon to check if any wildflowers have appeared. Something different from the firefly trails. An ant on a daisy flower, some small cactus flowers, a larger yellow prickly pear cactus flower, a yucca plant about to bloom (kept behind a wire mesh to keep the deer away), an icelandic poppy flower, a flowering beardtongue plant, and honeysuckle flowers.


Grow Tower. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens (David J Mathre)
Grow Tower. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens (David J Mathre)
Fresh Picked Strawberries. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens (David J Mathre)
Fresh Picked Strawberries. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens (David J Mathre)
Mosquito emerging from the water. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens (David J Mathre)
Mosquito emerging from the water. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens (David J Mathre)
Spider at my Computer Desk. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens (David J Mathre)
Spider at my Computer Desk. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens (David J Mathre)