butterflies - David Mathre Photography

Sunday (15-September-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Daily walkabout with a Fuji X-H1 camera, 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens, and 1.4x teleconverter or a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 VR lens. It is late summer an a lot of the wildflowers are fading so I took a series of images of the wildflowers that remain. There is a red flower that I originally thought was an Indian Paintbrush. The deer and/or rabbits really like it since most of the flowers are consumed soon after blooming. The stem and leaves are also red, so I really don’t know its identity. The deer left the Marigold and Lemon Mint flowers that the Bumblebees like. One type of Bumblebee is nearly twice the size of the other ones. After going nearly a week without seeing any butterflies, I was pleased to see a Monarch, Tiger Swallowtail, Painted Lady, Skipper, and the new one for this year a Pipevine Swallowtail. The Goldfinch and other birds are busy feasting on the Sunflowers. Even though the pond in nearly empty, a few Bullfrogs remain.

Click on the above image to access my PhotoShelter gallery that contains the individual images in the following slideshow.

Goldfinch feeding on Sunflowers. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Kermit the Bullfrog. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (50.4 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (57.2 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. More sun but warmer again. The Geothermal HVAC used 10.7 kWh. Overall a net surplus of 6.8 kWh.

Weekly Electric Energy Used (311 kWh) and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (277 kWh) for a net deficit of 34 kWh. Several cloudy days last week.

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Sunday (18-August-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Daily Walkabout, today with a Leica CL camera and 55-135 mm lens. The thing I like about this camera is that it is lightweight and potentially a great travel camera. Most of the images were taken at 135 mm (field of view equivalent to 200 mm on a 35 mm sensor camera). It doesn’t have all of the bells and whistles of some of my other cameras. I do need to take it out periodically just to maintain the brain and muscle memory to use it effectively. This is the longest zoom lens for the Leica TL and CL cameras. The Goldfinches are all over the smaller Sunflowers. They want the seeds fresh. A lot of butterflies were out working the wildflowers (Painted Lady, Sulphur, a pair of frisky Spicebush Swallowtails, and a pair of Monarch’s mating). The Monarch’s were flying around paired together and I finally caught them resting in a pine tree from a distance. I haven’t seen a hummingbird moth recently. Then some flowers (Backlit Red Sunflower, Bee Balm, a Red flower I haven’t identified yet, Partridge Pea with Pea Pods, a Zinnia, and a pair of small Yellow Sunflowers. Finally, the poisonous Poke Weed berries.

Click on the above image to access the individual images in the slide show.

Sulphur Butterfly on a Zinnia Flower. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 55-135 mm lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Click on the above image to access the individual images in the slide show.

Pair of Monarch Butterflies Mating. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 55-135 mm lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Monarch Butterfly. Image. taken with a Leica CL camera and 55-135 mm lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Click on the above image to access the individual images in the slide show.

Poison Poke Weed Berries Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 55-135 mm lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (61.1 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (51.2 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. More clouds and bit less Sun. The WaterFurnace geothermal HVAC had to work harder (25.7 kWh) because the temperature outside went above 90°F. Daily net deficit 9.9 kWh. Weekly totals 412 kWh used, 350 kWh produced. So far still ahead for the month of August, but will need some more sunny days

One note — the WaterFurnace Symphony software indicated the system used 14 kWh, however the Sense Energy monitor indicated that the geothermal heat pump used 25.7 kWh. I tend to believe the Sense numbers since they more closely the energy being recorded at the external power company (PSE&G) meters. I’ve asked the WaterFurnace folks in the past about the discrepancy, but they didn’t have a good answer. The Sense folks told me they thought that the WaterFurnace/Symphony system was only measuring one phase of the energy even though the system is powered by the 220V circut (using two phases). I wish an electrical engineer that understands this better would correct me here.

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Nine-Years Ago (14-August-2010) — Iowa

Gone to See America August 2010 Road Trip. Day 14: Waterloo, Iowa to Columbus, Ohio.

Nine-years ago, I was returning from a cross country road trip. I stopped a a rest area along the interstate highway an saw where they planted a Prairie Wildflowers display. It had attracted a number of different butterflies. Images taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 24 mm f/1.4 lens or a Nikon D3x camera and 80-400 mm VR lens. At that point I said:

This is what I want my backyard to look like…

I’ve been trying for several years — fighting the deer, mile-a-minute vine, too much rain, too little rain. This year I am getting pretty close to having my own Wildflower Meadow. Images below are what I saw in Iowa back then. If you have been following my Photoblog recently you have seen the Butterflies, Hummingbird Moths, and Wildflowers in my Backyard this spring and summer.

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

Thursday (08-August-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Daily Walkabout: I went out with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens. Flowers (Poppy, Zinnia, Bee Balm, Larkspur, Sunflowers), Insects (Silver-spotted Skipper, Tiger Swallowtail, Painted Lady, Common Buckeye, Bumblebee, Snowberry Clearwing Moth, Eastern Leaf-footed Bug), and Frogs (Kermit the one-eyed Bullfrog). I didn’t notice the pair of Eastern Leaf-footed Bugs mating on the Thistle flower until processing the images.

Flowers. Click on the above image to access the individual images from the slideshow.

Butterflies, Moths, Bees, and Eastern Leaf-footed Bug. Click on the above image to access the individual images from the slideshow.

Kermit the One-eyed Bullfrog. Click on the above image to access the individual images from the slideshow.

Daily Electric Energy Used (57.5 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (64.9 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Daily net surplus 7.4 kWh.

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Wednesday (07-August-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Daily Walkabout: I went out with a Nikon D810a camera and 105 mm f/2.8 macro lens. Flowers (Chicory, Zinnia, Cosmos, Sunflowers) and Butterflies (Silver-spotted Skipper, Tiger Swallowtail, Monarch). The last five of the images are of a Female Intermediate Black Tiger Swallowtail.

Flowers. Click on the above image to access the individual images from the slideshow.

Butterflies. Click on the above image to access the individual images from the slideshow.

Daily Electric Energy Used (50.5 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (45.9 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Lots of clouds, rain and thunderstorms during the day. Daily net deficit 4.6 kWh.