Brown-headed Cowbird - David Mathre Photography

Sunday (24-May-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the Day — Brown-headed Cowbird, House Finch, Blue Jay, Tufted Titmouse, American Goldfinch, Northern Flicker, and Eastern Phoebe. I haven’t seen a Northern Flicker for a while. There continues to be lots of action at the Eastern Phoebe nest with both parents feed the new hatchlings.

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

Spring flowers of the day — Poppies (California, Oriental, Red), Dame’s Rocket, Five-spot, Rhododendron, Johnny Jump Up, Babies Blue Eyes, Bachelor Button, Cornflower, Sweet William, Dianthus, Siberian Wallflower, Daisy, Foxglove, Babies Breath, Grass Lily, Forget-me-not, and Tulip Tree.

Flowers of the Day — Portrait via Leica TL2 camera and 55-135 mm lens. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Flowers of the Day — Landscape via Leica TL2 camera and 55-135 mm lens. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my https://www.davidmathre.com/gallery/20200524-flwr1L/G0000BZxOESU684g/C0000_OAlOXNRF70.

Flowers of the Day — Portrait via Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 OIS mm lens. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Flowers of the Day — Landscape via Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 OIS mm lens Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (47.3 kWh) from meter readings the Sense Home Energy Monitor. The daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (70.6 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Sunny much of the day. A surplus of 23.3 kWh.

Weekly Electric Energy Used (339 kWh) from meter readings the Sense Home Energy Monitor. The Weekly Solar Electric Energy Produced (448 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. A surplus of 109 kWh.

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Saturday (23-May-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the Day — Brown-headed Cowbird, House Finch, Northern Cardinal, Mourning Dove, White-breasted Nuthatch, Black-capped Chickadee, Blue-Jay, Red-bellied Woodpecker, and Eastern Phoebe. There continues to be lots of action at the Eastern Phoebe nest with both parents feed the new hatchlings.

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

California, Red, and Oriental Poppies. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

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

Barely a week old, and the new Fawn with spots is running around the yard. So far lucky that there are not many cars on the road as its only natural predator is the automobile.

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

Daily Electric Energy Used (47.7 kWh) from meter readings the Sense Home Energy Monitor. The daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (32.5 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Cloudy much of the day. A deficit 0f 15.2 kWh.

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Friday (22-May-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the Day — Brown-headed Cowbird, House Finch, Northern Cardinal, Mourning Dove, American Goldfinch, and Eastern Phoebe. It seems like there are a number of juvenile birds showing up. There continues to be lots of action at the Eastern Phoebe nest with both parents feed the new hatchlings.

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

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

Spring flowers of the day — Yellow and Orange California Poppy, Red, and Oriental Poppy, Rhododendron

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

I spent the afternoon on the patio assembling the new Grow Towers and transplanting the indoor hydroponic strawberry plants to the outdoor Grow Towers. The activity was recorded by a Garmin VIRB-360 camera and used to create a time-lapse Little Planet video.

Daily Electric Energy Used (47.6 kWh) from meter readings the Sense Home Energy Monitor. The daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (39.9 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Cloudy much of the day. A deficit 0f 7.7 kWh.

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Thursday (21-May-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the Day — Blue Jay, Brown-headed Cowbird, House Finch, Northern Cardinal, Gray Catbird, and Eastern Phoebe. Lots of action at the Eastern Phoebe nest and both parents feed the new hatchlings. It will be interesting to see if they are all Eastern Phoebes or if the Brown-headed Cowbird left any of its eggs in the nest.

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

Spring flowers of the day include Rhododendron, Red Oriental Poppy, Five-spot, Allium, and Foxglove.

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

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

Daily Electric Energy Used (50.3 kWh) from meter readings the Sense Home Energy Monitor. The daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (85.9 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Lots of sun in the morning with some clouds in the afternoon. A surplus of 35.6 kWh.

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Sunday (17-May-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

Norwegian Independence Day for those in Norway. A busy day today. The trap in the patio was set up overnight for the band of raccoons. Instead, early in the morning the young fox visited several times. Each time circling and sniffing the trap. Then it entered, tasted the apple scraps and backed out. The fox would have been OK, but got greedy. A minute later, it reentered and set off the trap. As soon as it was light out, I let him out of jail.

Springtime Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro OIS lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Birds observed on the patio or while on my daily backyard walkabout include American Crow, Northern Cardinal, House Finch, Brown-headed Cowbird, Gray Catbird, Tufted Titmouse, Eastern Phoebe, and Turkey Vulture. I finally got an image of the Eastern Phoebe sitting on its nest. I also captured an image an immature Northern Cardinal is being fed by its father. I observed this behavior six years ago while on a bird photography workshop in southern Texas. One of the images I took at that time was my most viewed and commented on the now defunct Google Plus.

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

Eastern Phoebe sitting in the nest. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 1600, 261 mm, f/11, 1/45 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Northern Cardinals. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Father feeding Immature Northern Cardinal. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR telephoto lens (ISO 1600, 600 mm, f/8, 1/200 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Male Northern Cardinal Feeding Breakfast to a Young Cardinal at a Private Ranch in Southern Texas. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 500 mm f/4 lens (ISO 500, 500 mm, f/5.6, 1/2000 sec. (David J Mathre)

Male Northern Cardinal Feeding Breakfast to a Young Cardinal at a Private Ranch in Southern Texas. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 140, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec. (David J Mathre)

Spring flowers of the day include Five-spot, Dandelion, Johnny Jump Up, Rhododendron, Forget-me-not, Daisy, Flax, Sweet William, California Poppy, and Red Poppy.

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

Red and California Poppy Flowers of the Day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Kermit along with his brother, cousin, and uncle (also named Kermit) out in the backyard pond.

Kermit Clan sunning at the backyard pond. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (52.3 kWh) from meter readings the Sense Home Energy Monitor. The daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (67.6 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Lots of Sun and intermittent clouds. A surplus of 15.3 kWh.

Weekly Electric Energy Used (356 kWh) from meter readings the Sense Home Energy Monitor. The weekly Solar Electric Energy Produced (514 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Finely, a week with a decent surplus (158 kWh).

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