Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.
Daily Walkabout. My back is feeling a lot better. The lower back/lumbar back-brace wrap seems to be working. It forces me to sit up straight and pushes the belly in. Bottom line, exercise and lose some weight… The high was 97 °F with a heat index of 117 °F according to my personal weather station. I went out for a bit around noon with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm lens. Each day there are more and more butterflies. They are mainly attracted to the pink and red Zinnia flowers. Today there were Spicebush and Tiger Swallowtails, Monarchs, and a small Duskywing (?). There also were several Hummingbird Clearwing (Hemaris thysbe) moths.
Hummingbird Clearwing (Hemaris thysbe) Moth. Click on the above image to access the individual slideshow images in my gallery.
Hummingbird Clearwing (Hemaris thysbe) moth feeding on a pink Zinnia flower. Click on the above image to access the individual slideshow images in my gallery.
Hummingbird Clearwing (Hemaris thysbe) moth in flight. Click on the above image to access the individual slideshow images in my gallery.
Daily Power Use (82.6 kWh) from Sense and Solar Production (70.2 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Sunny, hot, and humid outside which kept the WaterFurnace geothermal HVAC system busy (~40 kWh). The geothermal heat pump system was able to maintain the indoor temperature even on this hottest day of the year. Beginning a bit before noon the heat pump ran continuously, and for much of the afternoon into the evening in the 2nd stage (high-speed mode). There were clouds in the morning and later in the afternoon limiting the amount of solar power generated — so I used 12 kWh more than was generated.
Current Weather Conditions
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