Gloriosa Daisy - David Mathre Photography

Saturday (29-August-2020) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

I received the newly released Sigma 100-400 mm telephoto zoom lens with a L-mount and spent the day testing it with a Leica SL2 camera. Leica, Panasonic, and Sigma formed an alliance to use the L-mount system. This lens provides a bit more reach than the Leica 90-280 mm lens. The alliance means that Sigma was able to make a lens that is fully compatible with the Leica TL2, CL, and SL2 cameras (autofocus and aperture control).

Something has been nibbling on the May Apple seeds, and wonder if a turtle found them. The wildflowers (Cosmos, Lance-leaf Coreopsis, Plains Coreopsis, Chicory, Marigold, Blanket Flower, Sunflower, Gloriosa Daisy, Shasta Daisy, Thistle, Lemon-mint, and Zinnia) are almost done for the season. I noticed an Eastern Chipmunk eating seeds under the birdfeeder. In 25+ years here, I’ve never seen a chipmunk in the yard before. I wonder if it will leave my Grow Towers alone. Kermit the bullfrog was out in the pond. Birds at the patio bird feeder today included Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Blue Jay, House Finch, Chipping Sparrow, Song Sparrow, and Northern Cardinal. At one point a Blue Jay and Mourning Dove were feeding when an immature Red-bellied Woodpecker chased them away.

May Apple Seeds. Image taken with a Leica SL2 camera and Sigma 100-400 mm lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

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

Eastern Chipmunk. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Kermit the Bulfrog. Image taken with a Leica SL2 camera and Sigma 100-400 mm lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Birds at the Birdfeeders. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Blue Jay and Mourning Dove chased away by an immature Red-bellied Woodpecker. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (47.8 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (26.1 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. More clouds. A deficit of 21.7 kWh.

Friday (17-July-2020) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

One thing I fear more than COVID-19 is Lyme disease. Been there, done that, don’t want to do it again. Today after out trying to capture images of Clearwing Moths, I found a Deer Tick inside the house crawling on my computer monitor. Not on me, but still in the house. Since I always immediately change and wash the clothes I wear when outside the tick either followed me on my hat or on the camera I was using. (Others suggest it was on my beard).

Tick. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro OIS lens (DAVID J MATHRE) — Tick on its back stuck to tape. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro OIS lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Birds of the Day: Gray Catbird, and American Goldfinch. Several dozen American Goldfinch are loving feeding on the seeds from the Cornflower, Bachelor Button, and Chicory flowers.

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

Wildflowers of the Day: Zinnia, Blanket Flower, Gloriosa Daisy, and various Sunflowers. The Zinnia is one of only a few that returned. Last year the section was full of Zinnia.

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

Butterfly of the Day: Cabbage White. Supposedly, the most common butterfly in New Jersey.

Cabbage White butterfly. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 100-400 mm OIS 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 (53.5 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (44.6 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. More clouds than sun. A deficit of 8.9 kWh.

Monday (19-August-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Daily Walkabout, today with a Nikon Df camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. The thing I like about this camera is that it light for a DSLR, and has the same full-frame 35 mm sensor as the Nikon D4 camera. I have to admit that the camera failed on me once while in Antarctica when the shutter failed. The 70-300 mm lens is also relatively light. This post is about the flowers. Sunflowers, Zinnia, Black-eyed Susan, Gloriosa Daisy. The red flower I couldn’t identify yesterday appears to be a Mexican Sunflower.

Click on the above image to access the individual images in the slideshow.

Daily Electric Energy Used (66.1 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (65.5 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Fewer clouds and more sun. The WaterFurnace geothermal HVAC had to work harder (25.6 kWh) because the temperature outside went above 90°F. Daily net deficit 0.6 kWh.

One note — the WaterFurnace Symphony software indicated the system used 16 kWh, however the Sense Energy monitor indicated that the geothermal heat pump used 25.6 kWh. I tend to believe the Sense numbers since they more closely the energy being recorded at the external power company (PSE&G) meters. I’ve asked the WaterFurnace folks in the past about the discrepancy, but they didn’t have a good answer. The Sense folks told me they thought that the WaterFurnace/Symphony system was only measuring one phase of the energy even though the system is powered by the 220V circut (using two phases). I wish an electrical engineer that understands this better would correct me here.