Brown-headed Cowbird - David Mathre Photography

Friday (26-June-2020) — New Jersey

Early Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the Day: American Goldfinch, LBJ, Tufted Titmouse, and Chipping Sparrow. Not sure if the LBJ is a female/immature House Finch, or female/immature Brown-headed Cowbird.

American Goldfinch. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 450, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)

LBJ (not sure if it is a female/immature House Finch or female/immature Brown-headed Cowbird). Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 450, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)

Tufted Titmouse. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 450, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)

Chipping Sparrow. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 450, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)

Early Summer Wildflowers: It appears that at least one Sunflower self-seeded, and grew high enough to bloom out of reach of the ravenous deer. I’ve seen several other sunflower plants clipped off before they could bloom. It looks like the bee (Bumblebee) likes Sunflower pollen.

Bee collecting pollen on a Sunflower. Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 800, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/100 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Spent some time in the morning working on the patio Grow Towers. Still several to set up and plant.

Daily Electric Energy Used (53.3 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (78.3 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sun and intermittent clouds. A surplus of 25.0 kWh. The solar panels continue to produce more energy than required to keep the house cool with the energy efficient Geothermal HVAC system.

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Tuesday (23-June-2020) — New Jersey

Early Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the Day: Gray Catbird, Mourning Dove, Blue Jay, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, and Tufted Titmouse. The parent Common Grackle was feeding a very demanding youngster — even though junior was as large as the parent.

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

A squirrel was also up at the birdfeeder.

Squirrel at the birdfeeder. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Early Summer Wildflowers: Red Poppy, White Poppy, Pink Poppy, Icelandic Poppy, Foxglove, Daisy, Delphinium, Larkspur, Mexican Hat, and Yucca. The Great Mullein (Common Mullein) is new this season. The large plants are large with flower stalks 4-5 feet tall.

Poppies. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Summer Flowers. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (64.2 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (75.5 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sun and intermittent clouds. A surplus of 10.7 kWh. The solar panels continue to produce more energy than required to keep the house cool with the energy efficient Geothermal HVAC system.

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Tuesday (16-June-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

Wildflower Meadow -- Little Planet View. Image taken with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera (ISO 100, 1 mm, f/2, 1/1996 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE) — Wildflower Meadow — Little Planet View. Image taken with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera (ISO 100, 1 mm, f/2, 1/1996 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)

Birds of the Day — Northern Cardinal, Black-capped Chickadee, House Finch, Gray Catbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Blue Jay, and Tufted Titmouse. The Eastern Phoebe continues to sit on the nest.

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

Spring flowers of the day — Red and Pink Poppies, Larkspur/Delphinium, and Blanket Flower

Spring Flowers of the Day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Kermit (and his brothers) in the pond.

Bullfrogs in the pond. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

A Groundhog started digging a nest into the rock wall supporting my patio. I need to deal with this before it destabilizes the wall. ARRG!

Young Groundhog on my patio. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (38.1 kWh) from Sense. The daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (86.9 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Lots of sun. A surplus of 48.8 kWh.

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Saturday (13-June-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

I caught a Brown-headed Cowbird on video forcing her way onto the Eastern Phoebe nest to lay an egg. The Eastern Phoebe was sitting on the nest at the time, and since she was smaller was not able to prevent the parasitic egg laying event.

Daily Electric Energy Used (42.1 kWh) from meter reading. The daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (90.5 kWh) from meter reading. Much more sun. A surplus of 48.4 kWh.

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Wednesday (10-June-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

Kermit with two Mosquitoes. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 200-500 mm f/5.6 VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE) — Kermit with two Mosquitoes on its back. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 200-500 mm f/5.6 VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Birds of the Day — Gray Catbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Northern Cardinal, and unidentified immature birds. The Eastern Phoebe has been spending time on the nest. When it is away the nest has also been visited by a female Brown-headed Cowbird and a Carolina Wren.

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

Spring flowers of the day — Red, Pink, Oriental, and California Poppies. Love-in-a-mist, Blue Chicory, Daisy, Impatiens, Delphinium, Larkspur, Partridge Pea, Evening Primrose, Sweet William, 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 (57.8 kWh) from meter reading. The daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (72.1 kWh) from meter reading. Much more sun. A surplus of 14.3 kWh.

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