Birds of the Day — Blue Jay, Brown-headed Cowbird, House Finch, Northern Cardinal, Gray Catbird, and Eastern Phoebe. Lots of action at the Eastern Phoebe nest and both parents feed the new hatchlings. It will be interesting to see if they are all Eastern Phoebes or if the Brown-headed Cowbird left any of its eggs in the nest.
Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Spring flowers of the day include Rhododendron, Red Oriental Poppy, Five-spot, Allium, and Foxglove.
Spring Flowers of the Day — Portrait mode. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Spring Flowers of the Day — Landscape mode. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
I spent the afternoon on the patio assembling the new Grow Towers and transplanting the indoor hydroponic strawberry plants to the outdoor Grow Towers. The activity was recorded by a Garmin VIRB-360 camera and used to create a time-lapse Little Planet video.
Daily Electric Energy Used (50.3 kWh) from meter readings the Sense Home Energy Monitor. The daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (85.9 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Lots of sun in the morning with some clouds in the afternoon. A surplus of 35.6 kWh.
Birds of the Day — American Robin and Eastern Phoebe. Kermit and brothers in the pond. Spring flowers of the day include Gladiolus, Five-spot, Rhododendron, Sweet William, Blue Flax, Baby Blue Eyes, Daisy, Dame’s Rocket, Siberian Wallflowers, California Poppy, and Red Poppy. The Gladiolus is growing up through a crack in the patio blue-stones. I’ve never planted Gladiolus bulbs before so this must have come from some random blown seed??? I spend much of the day cleaning up the patio, and assembling a Grow Tower. The activity was recorded by a Garmin VIRB-360 camera and used to create two time-lapse videos.
American Robin hunting for a worm. Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)Eastern Phoebe on a branch. Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Kermit in the Pond. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Springtime Flowers of the Day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Daily Electric Energy Used (47.0 kWh) from meter readings the Sense Home Energy Monitor. The daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (77.0 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Sun with some clouds. A surplus of 30.0 kWh.
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)
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.
Norwegian Independence Day for those in Norway. A busy day today. The trap in the patio was set up overnight for the band of raccoons. Instead, early in the morning the young fox visited several times. Each time circling and sniffing the trap. Then it entered, tasted the apple scraps and backed out. The fox would have been OK, but got greedy. A minute later, it reentered and set off the trap. As soon as it was light out, I let him out of jail.
Springtime Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro OIS lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Birds observed on the patio or while on my daily backyard walkabout include American Crow, Northern Cardinal, House Finch, Brown-headed Cowbird, Gray Catbird, Tufted Titmouse, Eastern Phoebe, and Turkey Vulture. I finally got an image of the Eastern Phoebe sitting on its nest. I also captured an image an immature Northern Cardinal is being fed by its father. I observed this behavior six years ago while on a bird photography workshop in southern Texas. One of the images I took at that time was my most viewed and commented on the now defunct Google Plus.
Birds of the Day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Eastern Phoebe sitting in the nest. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 1600, 261 mm, f/11, 1/45 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Northern Cardinals. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Father feeding Immature Northern Cardinal. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR telephoto lens (ISO 1600, 600 mm, f/8, 1/200 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)Male Northern Cardinal Feeding Breakfast to a Young Cardinal at a Private Ranch in Southern Texas. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 500 mm f/4 lens (ISO 500, 500 mm, f/5.6, 1/2000 sec. (David J Mathre)Male Northern Cardinal Feeding Breakfast to a Young Cardinal at a Private Ranch in Southern Texas. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 140, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec. (David J Mathre)Male Northern Cardinal Feeding Breakfast to a Young Cardinal at a Private Ranch in Southern Texas. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 1600, 500 mm, f/5.6, 1/2000 sec. (David J Mathre)
Spring flowers of the day include Five-spot, Dandelion, Johnny Jump Up, Rhododendron, Forget-me-not, Daisy, Flax, Sweet William, California Poppy, and Red Poppy.
Wildflowers of the Day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Red and California Poppy Flowers of the Day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Kermit along with his brother, cousin, and uncle (also named Kermit) out in the backyard pond.
Kermit Clan sunning at the backyard pond. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Daily Electric Energy Used (52.3 kWh) from meter readings the Sense Home Energy Monitor. The daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (67.6 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Lots of Sun and intermittent clouds. A surplus of 15.3 kWh.
Weekly Electric Energy Used (356 kWh) from meter readings the Sense Home Energy Monitor. The weekly Solar Electric Energy Produced (514 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Finely, a week with a decent surplus (158 kWh).
Birds for the day included Blue Jay, Mourning Dove, House Finch, Northern Cardinal, Red-bellied Woodpecker, and Eastern Phoebe. The pair of Eastern Phoebes nest is above the front door. I wonder if the parasitic cowbirds managed to lay an egg in the nest? The Eastern Pheobes now guard the area around the front door. Spring flowers for the day include Prunella Vulgaris (also known as Self-Heal, Heal-All, and Woundwort), Jack in the Pulpit, Five-spot, Siberian Wallflower, Crimson Clover, Allium, California Poppy, and Lilac.
Birds of the Day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Spring Flowers of the Day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Eastern Phoebe nest. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 105 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 280, 105 mm, f/1.4, 1/250 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Daily Electric Energy Used (48.8 kWh) from meter readings the Sense Home Energy Monitor. The daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (90.1 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Lots of sun. A surplus of 41.3 kWh.
