Monday (05-August-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Two fawns with spots and a doe were out early to eat some grass before I mowed the lawn. It was still pretty dark out, and these images were taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 200 mm f/2 OIS lens at f/2 and 3200 ISO. I didn’t process the images to remove any noise. I did mow the lawn (time-lapse video). After mowing the yard I went out with the Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens and captured images of butterflies (Tiger Swallowtail, Spicebush Swallowtail, Silver-spotted Skipper, Common Buckeye, Painted Lady, and Zebulon (?) Skipper); Goldfinch eating both Cosmos and Sunflowers; Some very large Bumble Bees on the Sunflower; Kermit and his brothers Kermit the Bullfrogs (including the one-eyed Kermit); and the Deer protesting after I mowed the lawn.


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


Fawn with Spots "Why are you Mowing the Grass???" . Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Fawn with Spots “Why are you Mowing the Grass???” . Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)


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



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



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



Kermit and his brothers Kermit the Bullfrogs: Click on the above image to access the individual images in the slideshow.



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


Daily Electric Energy Used (57.1 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (64.1 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Daily net Surplus 7 kWh. For the week used 399 kWh and produced 441 kWh. Weekly net surplus 42 kWh.

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Three-Years Ago (05-August-2016) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

There was a herd of over two dozen deer in my backyard that evening. Then this doe decided to reject a young buck with its new antlers. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 200 mm f/2 lens (ISO 800, 200 mm, f/2, 1/160 sec).

Lets Dance. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 200 mm f/2 lens (ISO 800, 200 mm, f/2, 1/160 sec). (David J Mathre)
Doe Rejecting a Young Buck. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 200 mm f/2 lens (ISO 800, 200 mm, f/2, 1/160 sec). (David J Mathre)

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.

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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.

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Wednesday (17-July-2019) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Daily Walkabout. My back hurts and it is really hot and humid outside. I only went out for a short time with a much lighter kit — Nikon D850 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. Bumble Bees, Butterflies (Skippers? and Monarch), and of course the Hummingbird Clearwing Moth. In addition to the Zinnia flowers, one Hummingbird Clearwing spent some time feeding on Larkspur (Delphinium) flowers. Later in the evening, before it started raining a small herd of deer passed through the backyard. I captured these images with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 200 mm f/2 OIS lens with a 1.4x teleconverter. There were only three fawns (used to be four), and one of the fawns has some open sores on its face. Three wary does stayed nearby. They were all being harassed by flies.

Bumble Bee. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Bumble Bee. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Bumble Bee. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Bumble Bee. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)


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


Hummingbird Clearwing Moth (Hemaris thysbe) feeding on Larkspur Flowers. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Hummingbird Clearwing Moth (Hemaris thysbe) feeding on Larkspur Flowers. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Hummingbird Clearwing Moth (Hemaris thysbe) feeding on a Zinnia Flower. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Hummingbird Clearwing Moth (Hemaris thysbe) feeding on a Zinnia Flower. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)


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 Power Use (67.9 kWh) from Sense and Solar Production (71.8 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. More clouds as the day progressed with the outdoor temperatures increasing, but still generated about 3 kWh more power that I used. The GeoThermal HVAC heat pump needed to run at full capacity (stage 2) part of the afternoon just to keep up with cooling the house. It will be interesting to see how the GeoThermal system does Friday to Sunday as the outside temperatures will be approaching 100 °F (38 °C).


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