Spring flowers blooming: Red Poppy, California Poppy, Love-in-a-mist, Beardtongue Foxglove, Lacy Phacelia, Sweet Alyssum, Bachelor Button (Cornflower), Charlock (Wild Mustard).
Red Poppy. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
California Poppy. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Wildflowers of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Daily Electric Energy Used (64.4 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (82.0 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sunny. A surplus of 17.6 kWh.
American Crows in a tree. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 500, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)Blue Jay. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 1600, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
Early Summer Wildflowers: Yellow Prickly Pear, Lance-leaf Coreopsis, Onion Grass, Teasel, Pink Poppy, Red Poppy, Bachelor Button, Larkspur, Delphinium, and Forget-me-not.
Summer Flowers. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Leica recently updated the firmware for the SL2 camera. One of the new features is the ability to take a 187 megapixel (16736 x 11168) image using the sensor shifting capability. After taking the first image, the sensor is shifted in 1/2 pixel increments to take 8 additional images, then combine the date in camera. The native resolution of the sensor is 47 megapixels (8368 x 5584). To use this feature, the camera must be mounted on a stable platform (tripod), uses the electronic shutter, and turns off both lens and in-camera motion reduction. My first test of this feature is with the Prickly Pear Cactus flower image (full image and cropped 4507 x 3605 image).
Yellow Prickly Pear flowers. Image taken with a Leica SL2 camera and 24-90 mm lens (ISO 400, 60 mm, f/16, 1/10 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)Yellow Prickly Pear flowers. Image taken with a Leica SL2 camera and 24-90 mm lens (ISO 400, 60 mm, f/16, 1/10 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Daily Electric Energy Used (56.2 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (65.9 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sun and intermittent clouds. A surplus of 9.7 kWh. The solar panels continue to produce more energy than required to keep the house cool with the energy efficient Geothermal HVAC system.
Back Wildflower Meadow. Last year this was a mixture of wildflowers and sunflowers. The sunflowers dominated. In the fall I used the brush mower to cut everything down. I didn’t plant additional seeds and this is the result. The plants that I have identified include Red Poppy, Lance-leaf Coreopsis, Bachelor Button, Cornflowers (various colors — white, pink, purple), Sweet William (various colors — white, pink, red, dark-red), and Evening Primrose. I haven’t seen any sunflowers, so the birds and mice got all of those seeds.
Wildflower Meadow. Composite images taken with a Leica CL camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 400, 35 mm, f/8, 1/80 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Back Wildflower Meadow. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Birds of the Day — Brown-headed Cowbird, Northern Cardinal, Tufted Titmouse and lots of immature/junior birds.
Birds of the Day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Daily Electric Energy Used (50.1 kWh) from meter reading. The daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (89.3 kWh) from meter reading. Much more sun. A surplus of 39.2 kWh.
Birds of the Day — House Finch and Eastern Phoebe. After the last chick fledged from the Eastern Phoebe nest, it looks like the parents are getting the nest ready for another brood.
House Finch. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)House Finch. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Spring flowers of the day — Red, Pink, and Oriental Poppies. Love-in-a-Mist, Daisy, Bachelor Button, Cornflower, and Lance-leaf Coreopsis.
Poppies. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Spring Wildflowers. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Daily Electric Energy Used (48.8 kWh) from meter reading. The daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (80.9 kWh) from meter reading. Much more sun. A surplus of 32.1 kWh.
Weekly Electric Energy Used (317 kWh) from meter reading. Weekly Solar Electric Energy Produced (434 kWh) from meter reading. A surplus of 117 kWh.
First Butterfly of the season — an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail feeding on the Rhododendron flowers.
Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly feeding on Rhododendron flowers. Image taken with a Nikon Df camera and 70-300 mm lens (ISO 500, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Birds of the Day — Gray Catbird, Northern Cardinal, House Finch, and Eastern Phoebe. The large nestling, in the Eastern Phoebe nest was finally convinced to jump out of the nest. The now fledgling spent the night on a cardboard box just under the nest. I suspect the fledgling is a Brown-headed Cowbird (later confirmed by the reviewers from eBird).
cBirds of the Day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Eastern Phoebe Nest with a Brown-headed Cowbird chick. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Spring flowers of the day — Red, Pink, Icelandic, Oriental, and California Poppies. White Allium, Foxglove, Bachelor Button, Cornflower, Baby Blue Eyes, Spiderwort, Johnny Jump Up, Love-in-a-Mist, Evening Primrose, Daisy, Sweet William, Lance-leaf Coreopsis, Beard Tongue, Baby’s Breath, Rhododendron, and Tulip Tree.
Poppies — Landscape. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Poppies — Portrait. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Spring Flowers — Landscape. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Spring Flowers — Portrait. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Daily Electric Energy Used (40.5 kWh) from meter readings the Sense Home Energy Monitor. The daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (48.6 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Lots of clouds during the day. A surplus of 8.1 kWh.
