Wintertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.
Birds of the day viewed at the birdfeeder and in the backyard: Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, House Finch, Dark-eyed Junco, White-throated Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle. I don’t often get the Red-winged Blackbirds up at the feeder. They mostly spend their time at the bottom of the hill near the J&J facility. Also in the afternoon after the rain stopped, a flock of Dark-eyed Junco’s passed through the yard. One of the local Dark-eyed Junco’s figured out that it can get food from the Thistle (Niger seed) feeder with the tiny holes.
Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Yesterday, I planted some Bok Choi pods in an AeroGarden Bounty. Although the pods say the Bok Choi seeds should sprout in 4-8 days, I noticed that a couple of seeds had already started to germinate. I set up a Leica SL2s camera with a Laowa 24 mm f/14 macro probe lens to make a time-lapse video of the seeds sprouting. The lens has LED lights at the end of the probe to illuminate the subject. Images were taken every 1 minute for 5 hours 45 minutes, then processed with Capture One Pro and PhotoShop.
Two years ago I was able to grow some red poppies indoors in an AeroGarden hydroponic Farm. It took 124 days (27-February-2020) before the first red poppy flower opened. I want to try it again, with some different types of poppies. The first thing will be to test the viability of the seeds. I seem to remember that I needed to put the seeds in the fridge or freezer in order to get them to germinate. Images of the seeds to be tested taken with a Leica SL2s camera with a Laowa 24 mm f/14 macro probe lens. For reference, the diameter of the circle is 35 mm. The seeds to be tested are California Poppy (American Meadows, 2018), Oriental Poppy (American Meadows, 2019); Lauren-Grape Poppy (Marde Ross & Company, 2020); Hungarian Breadseed Poppy (Plant Good Seed, 2020); Red Poppy (American Meadows, 2019 Spring); Turkish Tulip Poppy (Waterfall Seeds, 2020); Somniferum Blend Poppy (Seed Needs, 2020); Red Poppy (American Meadows, 2019 Fall); Mixed Red Poppy (American Meadows, 2019).
Poppy Seeds. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Daily Electric Energy Used (91.4 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (4.9 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. A bit warmer outside so the resistance heaters were not needed, but the Geothermal HVAC system was on most of the day. Deficit of 86.5 kWh.
