Tuesday (01-September-2020) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

The immature Baltimore Oriole is willing to stand up to a gang of Blue Jay’s.

Morning at the Birdfeeders: Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Gray Catbird, House Finch, Song Sparrow, Baltimore Oriole, and Northern Cardinal.


Morning at the Birdfeeders. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Contact me if you are interested in a Time-lapse Video of the Morning at the Birdfeeders. My setup for the birdfeeder images is a Nikon D850 camera and 200 mm f/2 VR lens set to take one image every 5 seconds over a 5 hour period (~3600 images). The new time-lapse video format is 720p (1080 x 720 pixels) and 1 frame/second. The length of the video is about 1 hour in a 1 GB MP4 file. The previous time-lapse videos of the birdfeeders were at 12 frames/second, and to be honest were too fast to identify the birds.

I went out with the DR Power Brush Mower to mow the wildflower meadows. Not much is blooming anymore, and the weeds including the invasive “mile-a-minute” vine are starting to take over. I attempted to capture the exercise with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera both on a fixed tripod, and a tripod I carried over my head. While mowing the sections I kept finding adult Praying Mantis which I tried to move away from the mower. The Praying Mantis are “good” bugs.


Saving the Praying Mantis. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

The fawns still have dots. While cooking dinner I saw these two in one of the wildflower meadow sections that I didn’t mow. You can see that the weeds have taken over. The deer seem to be immune to the electric fence.


Fawns with Spots inside the electric fence. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (51.2 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (32.5 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Lots of clouds. A deficit of 18.7 kWh.

Monday (24-August-2020) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

I spent the morning working on the patio (time-lapse little planet video). The Grow Towers are doing well. I’ve been harvesting large radishes, broccoli rabe, Swiss chard, and dill. Zinnia and Coreopsis are blooming in the outer cloth pots. I planted Marigold and Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) in the inner set of cloth pots. No Marigold flowers yet, and five of the Roselle are growing fast. Several volunteer tomatillo and/or ground cherry plants also sprouted in the inner set of cloth pots.

A herd of deer passed through the backyard just before it started to rain. Then before the sun went down I noticed a partial double rainbow.


Deer in the Backyard. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.


Partial Double Rainbow. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (62.7 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (62.0 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. More sun and a bit of rain. A deficit of 0.7 kWh.

Sunday (23-August-2020) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Most of the wildflowers in the section next to the house have died and been replaced with weeds. Especially the invasive “mile-a-minute” vine. Unfortunately, the deer don’t eat this vine.

Doe and two fawns with spots. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Doe and two fawns with spots. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (64.0 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (50.2 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sun, clouds, and hot outside. A deficit of 13.8 kWh.

Weekly Electric Energy Used (389 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (412 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. A surplus of 23 kWh.

Friday (21-Autust-2020) — New Jersey

Summer Nighttime Nature in New Jersey.

Deer inside the fence nibbling on the wildflowers.

Daily Electric Energy Used (56.1 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (62.9 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Lots of sun and warmer. A surplus of 6.8 kWh.

Thursday (20-August-2020) — New Jersey

Summer Nighttime Nature in New Jersey.

Deer inside the fence nibbling on the wildflowers.

Daily Electric Energy Used (41.7 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (71.8 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Lots of sun. A surplus of 30.1 kWh.