Thursday (23-July-2020) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Wildflowers of the day: Cosmos, Teazel, and Larkspur.


Wildflowers of the day. Individual images from this slide show can be viewed at my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Butterfly of the day: Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly.


Butterfly of the day: Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly. Individual images from this slide show can be viewed at my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Moth of the day: Clearwing Hummingbird Moth. The Lemon-Mint/Bee-Balm are starting to dry up, and the Clearwing Hummingbird moths now favor the Thistle flowers. I know some folks consider Thistle weeds because of the spines, but I still like them because they do attract butterflies, moths, and bees. Also, deer hate them.


Clearwing Hummingbird Moths (Hemaris thysbe) captured with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. Individual images from this slide show can be viewed at my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Birds of the Morning: Gray Catbird, House Finch, Black-capped Chickadee, Northern Cardinal, Blue Jay, Tufted Titmouse, Chipping Sparrow, Brown-headed Cowbird, Mourning Dove, Downy Woodpecker, American Goldfinch, American Crow, Carolina Wren, and Song Sparrow.

Birds of the Afternoon: Gray Catbird, House Finch, Black-capped Chickadee, Northern Cardinal, Blue Jay, Tufted Titmouse, Chipping Sparrow, Brown-headed Cowbird, Mourning Dove, Downy Woodpecker, American Goldfinch, American Crow, Carolina Wren, and Song Sparrow.

Daily Electric Energy Used (59.5 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (48.6 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Rain, clouds, then more rain. A deficit of 10.9 kWh.

Monday (20-July-2020) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the Morning: Tufted Titmouse, Chipping Sparrow, American Goldfinch, Gray Catbird, Black-capped Chickadee, American Crow, Northern Cardinal, Brown-headed Cowbird, House Finch, Blue Jay,  Downy Woodpecker, Song Sparrow, Mourning Dove.

Birds of the Afternoon: Tufted Titmouse, Gray Catbird, Black-capped Chickadee, American Crow, Northern Cardinal, Brown-headed Cowbird, House Finch, Blue Jay.

Daily Electric Energy Used (74.0 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (73.0 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sun with clouds. A deficit of 1.0 kWh.

Saturday (18-July-2020) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the Day: Tufted Titmouse, Chipping Sparrow, American Goldfinch, Gray Catbird, Black-capped Chickadee, American Crow, Northern Cardinal, Brown-headed Cowbird, House Finch, Blue Jay, Red-bellied Woodpecker, and Downy Woodpecker. Something different, I set up a D850 camera and 200 mm f/2 VR lens to take an image every 5 seconds. Then processed as a time-lapse video.

Butterfly of the Day: Common Skipper?.

Small black butterfly (Common Skipper?). Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Small black butterfly (Common Skipper?). Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

There definitely are two types of Clearwing moths were present. They prefer pink to purple flowers (Bee-Balm, Lemon-Mint, Bergamot, Larkspur, Delphinium). The Clearwing Hummingbird moth (Hemaris thysbe) is larger, and has light-colored front legs. The Clearwing Snowberry moth (Hemaris diffinis) is smaller, and has dark/black colored front legs. I am trying different camera lens combinations to see which is the best to capture images of these moths.


Clearwing Hummingbird Moths (Hemaris thysbe) captured with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens. Individual images from this slide show can be viewed at my PhotoShelter Gallery.

NOTE: IF YOU ARE HAVING PROBLEMS VIEWING THE SLIDE SHOWS PLEASE TRY A DIFFERENT BROWSER AND LET ME KNOW WHICH BROWSER YOU ARE USING. THANKS!!!

Daily Electric Energy Used (61.5 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (80.8 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Lots of sun. A surplus of 19.3 kWh.

Tuesday (30-June-2020) — New Jersey

Early Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the Day: Northern Cardinal, House Finch, Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Gray Catbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Tufted Titmouse, Black-capped Chickadee, Brown-headed Cowbird


Backyard Summer Birds of the Day. Individual images in the slideshow can be viewed at my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Lots of flowers, almost too many to keep up with, and a couple I need to identify. Flowers of the Day: Poppies (Red, Pink, Oriental, Icelandic), Bachelor Button, Cornflower, Spiderwort, Larkspur, Chicory, Cosmos, Red Coreopsis, Delphinium, Sweet William, Thistle, Monarda citriodora, Lemon Mint Lemon Beebalm, Lemon Horsemint, Purple Horsemint, Lemon Bergamot, Foxglove, Black-eyed Susan, Plains Coreopsis, Lance-leaf Coreopsis, Sunflower, Common Mullein, Yellow Prickly Pear, Yucca, Teasel, and May Apple. Supposedly, Turtles eat the seeds from May Apples since they are low to the ground. New May Apple plants then crop up where the turtle excret the seeds. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen any turtles this year.


Poppies (portrait). Individual images in the slideshow can be viewed at my PhotoShelter Gallery.


Poppies (landscape). Individual images in the slideshow can be viewed at my PhotoShelter Gallery.


Summer Wildflowers (Blue & Purple). Individual images in the slideshow can be viewed at my PhotoShelter Gallery.


Summer Wildflowers (Red or Pink). Individual images in the slideshow can be viewed at my PhotoShelter Gallery.


Summer Wildflowers (Yellow). Individual images in the slideshow can be viewed at my PhotoShelter Gallery.


Summer Wildflowers (White) plus May Apples. Individual images in the slideshow can be viewed at my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Critters of the Day: Frogs, Squirrel, and Deer. The pond is drying out so the frogs are having to live closer together.


Kermit and his close relatives (also named Kermit). Individual images in the slideshow can be viewed at my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Doe with horseflies. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 90-280 mm lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Doe with horseflies. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 90-280 mm lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Squirrel in the air. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 90-280 mm lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Squirrel in the air. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 90-280 mm lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Doe with horseflies and two fawns. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 90-280 mm lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Doe with horseflies and two fawns. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 90-280 mm lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (49.3 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (60.5 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Mixed clouds and some sun. A surplus of 11.2 kWh.

Monthly Electric Energy Used (1491 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (2080 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. A surplus of 589 kWh.


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Thursday (04-June-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the Day — Blue Jay, Downy Woodpecker, and Eastern Phoebe. One chick remains in the Eastern Phoebe nest. Waiting to see if it is an Eastern Phoebe or Brown-headed Cowbird.


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

Lots of frogs in the pond. Pretty noisy late at night and early in the morning.


Kermit. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Spring flowers of the day — Red, Pink, Icelandic, Oriental, and California Poppies. Foxglove, Spiderwort, Love-in-a-Mist, Evening Primrose, Daisy, Sweet William, Lance-leaf Coreopsis, Rhododendron, and Tulip Tree.


Pink, Frilly, and Icelandic Poppies — Landscape. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.


Poppies — Landscape. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.


Poppies — Portrait. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.


Spring Flowers — Landscape. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.


Spring Flowers — Portrait. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (47.3 kWh) from meter reading. The daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (67.1 kWh) from meter reading. More sun during the day. A surplus of 19.8 kWh. Two days in a row with power outage.


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