Friday (08-October-2021) — New Jersey

Autumn Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

The Troll family found some large mushrooms growing in the black wood mulch, and decided to have an autumn harvest party.

Troll Family Autumn Mushroom Harvest Celebration. (David J Mathre)
Troll Family Autumn Mushroom Harvest Celebration. Image taken with a Leica S2 camera and 24-90 mm lens. (David J Mathre)

Birds of the day viewed at the birdfeeder and in the backyard: Blue Jay, Black-capped Chickadee, House Finch.


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

Flowers of the day: Cosmos, Morning Glory, Partridge Pea, Rose Mallow, Zinnia.


Flowers of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Two different types of frogs. A well camouflaged Pickerel frog in the yard, and a Green frog (Kermit) in the pond. Apparently, the Pickerel frog is the only poisonous frog in North America.


Frogs of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (46.9 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (32.3 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sun and clouds. Deficit of 14.6 kWh.

Friday (17-September-2021) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the day viewed at the birdfeeder and in the backyard: Ruby-throated Hummingbird. This was one of the few times I saw the hummingbirds feeding on Zinnia and Morning Glory flowers. Most of the time they only went to the Canna flowers or hummingbird feeder.


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

Flowers of the day: Canna, Common Dayflower, Cosmos, Marigold, Morning Glory, Rose Mallow, Sunflower, Zinnia. Many of the flowers have rain water droplets.


Flowers of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery. <


Flowers of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

I now have a good set of Cattail plants growing in my frog pond.

Cattail. (David J Mathre)
Cattails in the Pond. Image taken with a Leica SL2 camera and 24-90 mm lens. (David J Mathre)

I noticed some strange looking mushrooms growing in the black tree mulch.


Fungi (Mushrooms) of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (45.4 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (11.3 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Cloudy and rain. Deficit of 34.1 kWh.

Friday (21-September-2018) — New Jersey

Last Day of Summer — Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Even though the rain has stopped, the sky remains overcast. I have  used more electricity than my solar panels have generated so far this month. Yesterday, the Sheep Shearer caught up with me for my annual hair reduction. My neighbor’s cat that normally runs away when it sees me, came up to me and allowed me to take her picture. So the cat noticed…

Post Sheep Shearer Portrait. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro OIS lens (ISO 200, 80 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
Post Sheep Shearer Portrait. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro OIS lens (ISO 200, 80 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
Neighbor's Cat. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro OIS lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Neighbor’s Cat. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro OIS lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

There were a pair of garter snakes mating in a tree in  my neighbor’s backyard. The female is the larger of the two snakes. He said they have be up there for at least a day.


With all the rain we have had in the last few weeks, mushrooms are popping up all over the place. I’ll have to let the house trolls go out hunting tomorrow.


Individual images in the slide show can be viewed here.

Saturday (28-July-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

With all of the rain we have been having, the Trolls are happy because mushrooms are starting to pop-up.



Individual images from theses slide shows can be viewed here.

Three-Years Ago (26-June-2015) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Puff Ball — Backyard Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 55-135 mm lens (ISO 400, 135 mm, f/4.4, 1/125 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC.

Puff Ball -- Backyard Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 55-135 mm lens (ISO 400, 135 mm, f/4.4, 1/125 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC. (David J Mathre)
Puff Ball — Backyard Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 55-135 mm lens (ISO 400, 135 mm, f/4.4, 1/125 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC. (David J Mathre)