Burma Water Gourd Flower - David Mathre Photography

Sunday (20-October-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Nature in New Jersey

Daily walkabout with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens and 1.4x teleconverter. I was looking to see what survived he frost we had a couple nights ago. There are still some Cosmos, Marigold, Lemon-Mint, and Larkspur flowers. The Burma Water Gourd vine is also still blooming. I see a couple of gourds have set, but don’t expect them them to get much bigger than they are. I also found I still have some late season strawberries.

Click on the above image to access my Photoshelter Gallery with the individual images in the following slideshow.

Daily Electric Energy Used (64.8 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (6.3 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. It rained most of the day so not much sun. Overall a net deficit of 58.5 kWh. Geothermal HVAC to heat the house (2.7 kWh), Hydroponics (22.6 kWh), Computers and Servers (21.7 kWh), Kitchen (3.4 kWh).

Weekly Electric Energy Used (410 kWh) from Sense and Weekly Solar Electric Energy Produced (192 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Overall a net deficit of 218 kWh.

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Thursday (19-September-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Daily walkabout with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens. Some of the Cosmos plants are nearly 10 feet tall, with blossoms way up. I’ve seen hummingbirds feeding on them, but haven’t been able to capture an image. The strawberry plants in my Grow Towers are sending out runners. I am going to try to transplant some of the runners into an indoor hydroponic system and see if I can produce strawberries in the middle of the winter. The Burma Water Gourd vine put out some more flowers. I think these are female flowers so I may actually get some gourds to set. Although it is probably too late to get 1 meter long gourds.

Cosmos Flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/220 sec). (David J Mathre)

Strawberry Runner. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 335 mm, f/5.6, 1/75 sec). (David J Mathre)

Strawberry Runner. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 243 mm, f/5.6, 1/45 sec). (David J Mathre)

Daily Electric Energy Used (53.1 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (56.1 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. More Sunshine. The Geothermal HVAC was off, but using more electricity while running server backups. Overall a net surplus of 3 kWh.

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Friday (26-July-2019) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Morning Walkabout with the Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm lens. Tiger Swallowtail butterfly on a Sunflower, Hummingbird Clearwing moth on a Zinnia flower, Four O’Clock flower, and Burma Water Gourd flower.

Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly on a Sunflower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Hummingbird Clearwing (Hemaris thysbe) moth. Click on the above image to access the individual slideshow images in my gallery.

Four O'Clock flower covered with Dew. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE) — Four O’Clock flower covered with Dew. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Burma Water Gourd Flower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (51.4 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (80.7 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Daily surplus of 29.3 kWh.

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Wednesday (24-July-2019) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Late Afternoon Daily Walkabout. Nikon Df camera with a 200-500 mm f/5.6 VR lens. Butterflies (Spiceberry and Tiger Swallowtails, Monarch, Silver-spotted Skipper, Common Buckeye, and another variety of a Skipper); Birds (Goldfinch and unknown); Flowers (Coneflowers, Partridge Pea, Sunflower, Four O’Clock, and Burma Water Gourd Vine). The yellow Partridge Pea flowers and Four O’Clock flowers are new. The Burma water gourd flowers open at night, and probably need a moth to be pollinated. Last year they didn’t bloom until too late in the season, and I only got small (zucchini sized) gourds.

Click on the above image to access the individual slideshow images in my gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (50.5 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (75.5 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. With lower temperatures the amount of Electric Energy used was down 1.5 kWh and with the sun out most of the day the solar electricity production was up 44.0 kWh from yesterday for a surplus of 25 kWh. Helps to make up for some of the previous very hot (increased usage) and rainy (decrease solar production) days.

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Tuesday (08-August-2017) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Some images from my afternoon walkabout in the backyard wildflower meadow.

Tuffie the one-eyed cat caught hunting on the wrong side of the street. Backyard summer nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 55-135 mm lens (ISO 500, 135 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre) — Tuffie the one-eyed cat caught hunting on the wrong side of the street. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 55-135 mm lens (ISO 500, 135 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)

Red Hot Poker flower. Backyard summer nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 55-135 mm zoom lens (ISO 1000, 135 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre) — Red Hot Poker flower. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 55-135 mm zoom lens (ISO 1000, 135 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)

White Burma Gourd flower. Backyard summer nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 55-135 mm zoom lens (ISO 400, 135 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre) — White Burma Gourd flower. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 55-135 mm zoom lens (ISO 400, 135 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)

Pair of Robber Flies mating. Backyard summer nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 55-135 mm zoom lens (ISO 1250, 135 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre) — Pair of Robber Flies mating. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 55-135 mm zoom lens (ISO 1250, 135 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)