Friday (02-August-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Daily Walkabout. Today with a Nikon D5 camera and 200-500 mm f/4 VR lens. Lots of activity in the wildflower meadows. Part II. There were a few Hummingbird Clearwing Moths out, feeding mainly on Zinnia flowers. A couple of Bullfrogs near the pond. One of the frogs is blind in one eye. It has been around for a while so obviously able to survive. I haven’t been able to get close to the really big Bullfrog in the pond. Someday, I will set up a blind near the pond. Finally, the deer family passed through around dinnertime.


Hummingbird Clearwing Moths (Hemaris thysbe) Click on the Above image to access the images in the slideshow in my Photoshelter Gallery.



Hummingbird Clearwing Moths (Hemaris thysbe) Click on the Above image to access the images in the slideshow in my Photoshelter Gallery.



Hummingbird Clearwing Moths (Hemaris thysbe) Click on the Above image to access the images in the slideshow in my Photoshelter Gallery.



Kermit the Bullfrog. Click on the Above image to access the images in the slideshow in my Photoshelter Gallery.


Fawn with spots sticking out its Tongue. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 200-500 mm f/5.6 lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Fawn with Spots sticking out its Tongue. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 200-500 mm f/5.6 lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (51.8 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (61.4 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Net Surplus 9.6 kWh.

Current Weather Conditions

powered by Ambient Weather

Sunday (28-July-2019) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

The local lawn crew was out early (05:40) trimming the grass. The images are noisy since it was still dark out so the ISO was increased to 3200. Early evening (~19:00) another crew came by. It looked like one doe was left with the responsibility to watch four fawns. There was a bit of friction between the cousins. Captions for the 2nd slideshow.

1) Early Evening (19:00) lawn crew — Twins fawns with spots.
2)`Fawn Running Away.
3) Alpha Fawn.
4) Alpha Fawn telling the cousin she doesn’t smell good.
5) Alpha Fawn telling the cousin to go away.
6) Cousins running to mother.
7) Cousin telling Mommy “he was mean to me”
8) Alpha fawn — who me.
9) Cousin sticking her tongue out — Mommy said you shouldn’t be mean.
10) Alpha fawn — I didn’t do anything wrong.
11) Alpha fawn — Really, I didn’t do anything wrong!
12) Alpha fawn telling Mommy “She told a fib, I wasn’t mean”.
13) Mommy telling Alpha fawn to stop being a bully.
14) OK — Everybody play nice.
15) OK, Its time to move on.


Early Morning lawn crew. Click on the above image to access the individual images in my PhotoShelter Gallery.



Early Evening lawn crew. Click on the above image to access the individual images in my PhotoShelter Gallery.


Daily Electric Energy Used (64.6 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (76.7 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. The temperatures have been going up outside, resulting in more energy needed to power the Geothermal HVAC system to keep the house cool. I also ran a load of laundry and the dishwasher. Daily surplus of 12.1 kWh. Weekly energy usage 409 kWh, solar energy production 488 kWh for a surplus of 79 kWh.

Current Weather Conditions

powered by Ambient Weather

Saturday (27-July-2019) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

I went to the local farmers market this morning. I didn’t really need that much since my grow towers are producing more than I can eat. This afternoon while working on my image database, I heard the door bell/motion detector go off. I wasn’t expecting any deliveries so I checked the door bell/camera. There was a doe in the driveway eating grass. I wish the deer would also eat the mile-a-minute vine and the Japanese stilt grass. I have a neighbor that keeps telling me that I need to get a goat. It would mean needing a more substantial fence.

Doe visiting the house. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 200 mm f/2 lens (ISO 500, 200 mm, f/4, 1/300 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Doe visiting the house. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 200 mm f/2 lens (ISO 500, 200 mm, f/4, 1/300 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Doe visiting the house. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 200 mm f/2 lens (ISO 500, 200 mm, f/4, 1/300 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Doe visiting the house. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 200 mm f/2 lens (ISO 500, 200 mm, f/4, 1/300 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (57.8 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (78.5 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. The temperatures have been going up outside, resulting in more energy needed to power the Geothermal HVAC system to keep the house cool. Daily surplus of 20.7 kWh.

Current Weather Conditions

powered by Ambient Weather

Tuesday (23-July-2019) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

The Daily Walkabout didn’t happen as it was raining most of the day. At least it is a lot cooler outside. The high was 74 °F, 19 °F lower than yesterday. Now up to 1.80 inches of rain over three days. Just before dinnertime, I noticed that there were two fawns with spots in the lawn just behind my patio. Their mother was nowhere in sight. In the last image, I noticed that the rabbit is still around, and didn’t get eaten by the coyotes in the neighborhood.


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



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



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


Daily Electric Energy Used (52.0 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (31.5 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. The amount of Electric Energy used was down 26 kWh from yesterday, but still a 20.5 kWh deficit because of the clouds limiting the solar production.

Current Weather Conditions

powered by Ambient Weather

Thursday (18-July-2019) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Daily Walkabout. My back still hurts and it continues to be hot and humid outside. I only went out for a short time with an even lighter kit than yesterday — Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. Tiger and Spicebush Swallowtail, Monarch, and Skipper (?) butterflies. Two types of Clearwing Moths — Hummingbird Clearwing (Hemaris thysbe) and Snowberry Clearwing (Hemaris diffinis). The deer were out later in the afternoon before the heavy thunderstorm (2.24″, 57 mm)


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



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



Skipper (?) Butterfly. Click on the above image to access the individual slideshow images in my gallery.



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



Snowberry Clearwing (Hemaris diffinis). Click on the above image to access the individual slideshow images in my gallery.



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


Daily Power Use (53.4 kWh) from Sense and Solar Production (34.3 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Cloudy most of the day progressing to heavy rain in the afternoon. So I ended up using 19 kWh more energy that the solar panels could produce.

Current Weather Conditions

powered by Ambient Weather