Monday (18-May-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

I went out just after sunrise to check if any of the poppy flowers started to open, and noticed a very small fawn with spots lying down in the clovers. The Doe left it for daycare while she went out for something to eat.


Young Spotted Fawn. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

I continue to monitor the Eastern Phoebe nest above my door. So far just one of the parents sitting on the nest — no evidence any of the eggs have hatched.

Eastern Phoebe sitting in the nest. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 200 mm f/2 OIS lens + 1.4x teleconverter (ISO 1600, 280 mm, f/2.8, 1/280 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Eastern Phoebe sitting in the nest. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 200 mm f/2 OIS lens + 1.4x teleconverter (ISO 1600, 280 mm, f/2.8, 1/280 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Spring flowers of the day include Five-spot, Dandelion, Johnny Jump Up, Rhododendron, Forget-me-not, Siberian Wallflowers, California Poppy, and Red Poppy.


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


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

Grass grows fast this time of the year and needed to be cut.

Daily Electric Energy Used (53.1 kWh) from meter readings the Sense Home Energy Monitor. The daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (61.6 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Intermittent clouds all day. A surplus of 8.5 kWh.


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Monday (11-May-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

Daily birds include an American Crow, Brown-headed Cowbird, Mourning Dove, and Downy Woodpecker. Young fawn (with spots) at the far end of my backyard.

American Crow in the grass. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 720, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
American Crow in the grass. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 720, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
American Crow with stolen sandwich. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 320, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
American Crow with stolen sandwich. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 320, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Male Brown-headed Cowbird feeding. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 1600, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/320 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Male Brown-headed Cowbird feeding. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 1600, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/320 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Mourning Dove feeding. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 1600, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Mourning Dove feeding. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 1600, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Downy Woodpecker. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 1600, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/640 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Downy Woodpecker. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 1600, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/640 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Young Fawn following its mother. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 500, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
Young Fawn following its mother. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 500, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
Young Fawn. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 400, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
Young Fawn. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 400, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (53.6 kWh) from meter readings the Sense Home Energy Monitor. The daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (54.2 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Mix of sun and clouds, but still a surplus of 0.6 kWh.


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Tuesday (05-May-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

A Doe left her very young Fawn in my backyard for daycare. Birds at the feeder today include Gray Catbird (likes apple), Brown-headed Cowbird, and Northern Cardinals

Shy very young Fawn. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 211 mm, f/6.4, 1/90 sec) (David J Mathre)
Shy very young Fawn. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 211 mm, f/6.4, 1/90 sec) (David J Mathre)


Daily Birds at the Bird Feeder. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (52.8 kWh) from meter readings the Sense Home Energy Monitor. The daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (70.4 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. A surplus of 17.6 kWh.


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Friday (13-September-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

As the nights are getting cooler, it is getting near the end of the growing season for vegetables in my GrowTowers. Today I have taken pictures of all of the different types of peppers that I have grown this year. Some of the pepper leaves are turning yellow, so I probably should have added some fertilizer mid-summer. Other things that have done well in the GrowTowers are carrots and scallions (on the top), various lettuces, kale, and swiss chard. Early in the season I had some broccoli, and three cabbage. Later on the insects got the broccoli, and the cabbage got to be too big for the GrowTowers. I am still getting basil, but the dill were all eaten by Tiger Swallowtail caterpillars. I also planted three types of strawberries. Some of the plants are still producing fruit, and I have many strawberry runners that I need to cut and replant. I need to figure out how to protect the GrowTowers with the strawberry plants over the winter. I now have two air-puppet Scarecrows guarding the wildflower meadows. So far the deer are staying out (although they completely destroyed one rear sections with Sunflowers).





Individual images from all of the slideshows can be viewed in my PhotoShelter gallery here.

Late season strawberry. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens + 1.4x teleconverter. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Late season strawberry. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens + 1.4x teleconverter. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Late season strawberry flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens + 1.4x teleconverter. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Late season strawberry flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens + 1.4x teleconverter. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Doe and two fawns. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens + 1.4x teleconverter. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Doe and two fawns. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens + 1.4x teleconverter. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (39.3 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (37.5 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Clouds most of the day and cooler, so no need for the Geothermal HVAC. Overall a net deficit of 1.8 kWh.

Current Weather Conditions

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Wednesday (11-September-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

To keep the deer out of the wildflower garden next to the house, I have added a 10 foot tall Air Puppet. I have it set to run for 1 minute every 15 minutes all night. Unfortunately, I turned it off too early in the morning, and then didn’t turn it on again until too late in the afternoon. The two videos from my security cameras show the fawns feasting on the wildflowers inside the electric fence.

Daily Electric Energy Used (51.2 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (56.1 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Clouds in the morning but more sun in the afternoon. I had to turn the Geothermal HVAC system on to cool the house. Overall a net surplus of 4.9 kWh.

Current Weather Conditions

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