Caterpillar - David Mathre Photography

Thursday (07-October-2021) — New Jersey

Autumn Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the day viewed at the birdfeeder and in the backyard: Black-capped Chickadee, House Finch.

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

Flowers of the day: Babies Breath, Butterfly Bush, Cosmos, Marigold, Morning Glory, Rose Mallow, Zinnia. Also seed pods from Poppies and Burdock.

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

While cleaning the patio and getting the Grow Towers ready for the Ison’s Strawberry plugs, I harvested potatoes, carrots, and hot peppers. I wasn’t expecting any potatoes as the Raccoon’s already dug many out of the Grow Bags.

Garden Harvest. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

I found a very large and hungry Tomato Hornworm caterpillar eating the potato plant. Unlike the Tomato Hornworm I found last year that had been infected by wasp eggs, this one looked healthy. After taking the pictures of this alien looking vegetarian, I put it up on the birdfeeder. Some lucky bird, got a big meal.

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

Daily Electric Energy Used (44.9 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (32.8 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sun and clouds. Deficit of 12.1 kWh.

Eleven-Years Ago (24-August-2008) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

North American Gypsy Moth Caterpillars in a Silk Nest. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 280, 400 mm, f/8, 1/250 sec). Since the Gypsy Moths are so destructive, I removed and burned the nest right after taking the picture.

North American Gypsy Moth Caterpillars in a Silken Net. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 280, 400 mm, f/8, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)

Friday (12-July-2019) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Daily Walkabout. American Goldfinch, Kermit the Bullfrog near the pond, Black Swallowtail Butterfly and Caterpillar. The Black Swallowtail caterpillars really like Dill plants on my Grow Tower. I harvested and froze the dill I wanted for the year so the Black Swallowtails can have the rest.

American Goldfinch. 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)

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

Daily Power Use (54.8 kWh) from Sense and Solar Production (74.17 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. More sun today, so more than doubled the amount of power generated than yesterday. Even though it was warmer out the Geothermal HVAC was able to keep up, and still send some energy back into the grid.

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Monday (30-July-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

I finally saw a large butterfly again in my wildflower plot. This time a Tiger Swallowtail. There have been a lot of tiny butterflies and bumblebees, but the Monarch butterflies and the Clearwing Hummingbird moths have stayed away. While checking the garden towers, I saw that one type of caterpillar has pretty much eaten all of my dill plants. I’m glad that I collected and froze some of the dill earlier. A different type of caterpillar pretty much ate all of my kale plants (almost overnight). I pulled all of the remaining kale and put them into a sealed mulch container. I also got several images of this strange (Darth Vader) spider.

Individual images in the slide shows can be viewed here.

Thursday (26-July-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Afternoon walkabout in my garden with a Nikon D850 camera and 105 mm f/2.8 macro lens. Flowers & Bugs.

Individual images in the slide shows can be viewed here.