Friday (25-February-2022) — New Jersey

Wintertime Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the day viewed in the backyard, at the birdfeeder and on the patio: Mourning Dove, Downy Woodpecker, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, European Starling, American Goldfinch, Dark-eyed Junco, White-throated Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Brown-headed Cowbird, Northern Cardinal. Freezing rain brought the birds back to the birdfeeders.


Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.


Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.


Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Images of the freezing rain. The first set monochrome taken before sunrise. The second set taken during the day while bird watching.


Freezing rain before sunrise. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.


Freezing rain during the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (98.0 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (19.4kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Freezing rain, and rain in the morning. Deficit of 78.6 kWh.

Sunday (13-February-2022) — New Jersey

Wintertime Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the day viewed in the backyard, at the birdfeeder and on the patio: Mourning Dove, Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Dark-eyed Junco, White-throated Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Brown-headed Cowbird, Northern Cardinal. When it snows, the birds come back. First Brown-headed Cowbirds this year.


Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.


Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Walkabout in the Snow. By mid-morning we had ~3 inches of snow. Images of a statue laying on a bench, the troll on top of the mailbox, and helping a neighbor with his annual (first time in a couple of years) Maple syrup boil down.


Walkabout in the Snow. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.


Walkabout in the Snow. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (92.5 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (0.0 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Solar Panels covered with snow. Deficit of 92.5 kWh.

Weekly Electric Energy Used (588 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (211 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Deficit of 377 kWh.

Saturday (29-January-2022) — New Jersey

Wintertime Nature in New Jersey.

When I woke up 6+ inches of snow already fell during the night. An additional 2 inches fell during the day. The snow finally stopped by 15:00. During the night, a fox was sighted by the infrared video camera off the patio.

Snow Covered Trolls (David J Mathre)
Sixteen Trolls Covered with Snow. Image taken with a Leica Q2 monochrome camera and 28 mm f/1.7 lens (ISO 100, 28 mm, f/4, 1/200 sec). (David J Mathre)
Snow Covered Trolls. (David J Mathre)
Backyard Panorama with 18 Trolls Covered with Snow. Composite of seven images taken with a Leica Q2 monochrome camera and 28 mm f/1.7 lens (ISO 100, 28 mm, f/4.5, 1/200 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro. The new Panorama feature within Capture One Pro didn’t work with this set of images, so the panorama was generated with AutoPano Giga (David J Mathre)

Birds of the day on a snowy day viewed at the birdfeeder and in the backyard: Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, House Finch, Dark-eyed Junco, White-throated Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Northern Cardinal.


Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.


Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.


Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.


Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.


Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Videos using the Snow Blower, and Red Rover to clear snow from the driveway. The tensioning spring for the PTO belt on the Snow Blower was loose. It was pretty hard to get it back on when the temperature was below 20°F. I needed to use a crow bar to push the belt wheel back far enough to attach the spring.

Daily Electric Energy Used (113.6 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (0.0 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. The solar panels were covered with 8+ inches of snow. The suplemental resistance heating kicked on at night as the outdoor temperature dropped below 10°F. Deficit of 113.6 kWh.

Friday (07-January-2022) — New Jersey

Wintertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the day viewed at the birdfeeder and in the backyard: Red-bellied Woodpecker, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, House Finch, Dark-eyed Junco. Note, after about 6 inches of snow.


Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (74.0 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (0.1 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Solar panels covered with snow. Geothermal HVAC heating the house, much of the day stage 2 since it is cold outside. Deficit of 73.9 kWh.

Tuesday (26-October-2021) — New Jersey

Autumn Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the day viewed at the birdfeeder and in the backyard: Mourning Dove, House Finch.


Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

After the rain stopped, I rode my bike down to Rock Brook to see how far the water level had risen. The last storm when we got 6-7 inches of rain Rock Brook overflowed and damaged the one-lane bridge. This storm we got a little over 3 inches. The water was running fast, but still under the roadway. There was a new tree down, downstream of the bridge.


Rock Brook after a Heavy Rainstorm. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

On the way back from the bridge, I took several images of a local field that had just been mowed, and the hay rolled up into round bales.

Autumn Hay Bale. (David J Mathre)
Round bales of hay on a local recently mowed field. Composite of six images taken with a Leica CL camera and 23 mm f/2 lens. (David J Mathre)

Daily Electric Energy Used (41.7 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (19.9 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Cloudy most of the day. Deficit of 21.8 kWh.