Great Spangled Fritillary - David Mathre Photography

Wednesday (18-September-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Daily walkabout with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens. I noticed a Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly on a Mexican Sunflower. It seemed to be larger than the ones I had seen earlier in the summer. When I looked it up, the female is larger, and comes out later in the season than the males.

Great Spangled Fritillary Butterfly on a Mexican Sunflower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre)

Yesterday Electric Energy Used (50.0 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (48.6 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. More sun and still warm. The Geothermal HVAC used 5.9 kWh. Overall a net surplus of 6.3 kWh.

Daily Electric Energy Used (50.8 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (31.7 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Some clouds and cooler. The Geothermal HVAC was off, but using more electricity while running server backups. Overall a net deficit of 2.2 kWh.

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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 butterflies. Great Spangled Fritillary, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Common Buckeye, Painted Lady, Sulphur, Silver-spotted Skipper, Frisky Skippers, Monarch, and Spicebush Swallowtail.

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.

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Friday (26-August-2016) — New Jersey

Summertime Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve.

Something Has Been Nibbling on the Wings of this Great Spangled Fritillary. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6. 1/300 sec).

Ragged Butterfly. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/300 sec). (David J Mathre)

It was too hot Wednesday when I did my walkabout through the Sourland Mountain Preserve. I didn’t try it yesterday, but gave it a short try today as I am still recovering from Lyme disease. I told myself that I wouldn’t stay out more than an hour, but ended up spending almost two hours. I have three goals at this time of the year: 1) Monarch Butterflies, 2) Hummingbird Clearwing Hummingbird Moths, and 3) Praying Mantis. Bonus points for Praying Mantis with prey. I got all three plus a couple of bonus images I wasn’t expecting today. I ended up spending nearly two hours out on my walkabout and was really overheated when I got home. A short list of images I took : 1) Turtle; 2) Fritillary butterfly; 3) Hummingbird Clearwing moth; 4) Praying Mantis; 5) Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly mating; 6) Monarch butterfly; 7) Praying Mantis with a Tiger Swallowtail for lunch; 8) American Goldfinch; 9) Frog in the pond; and 10:) American Bittern. I ended up spending two hour in the Sourland Preserve, and was exhausted after getting home. It was way too hot.

Question for those that actually read this far. Should I only do single image in a post, or are albums/collections OK? If albums/collections are OK, only 4 images (so all will be seen, and users understand how to see the image in full screen mode) or as many images as I feel are good? Is it OK when I post images from this day of the year (going back 10 years)? Should they be as processed when first posted, or reprocessed using current photo editing tools (or both)? Is it OK when I post time-lapsed videos? It doesn’t seem like anyone views the time-lapse videos.

Both my “Image of the day” photo blog https://david.mathre.com
and my photo gallery http://davidmathre.com need significant updates and/or redesign. I am interested in comments about what does and doesn’t work as I start on a redesign project.

One-Year Ago (24-August-2015) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Some may think I have an obsession with the beautiful Hummingbird Clearwing Moth (Hemaris thysbe). These were taken in the back section of my property where I have a number of Thistle plants in bloom. Most folks call the Thistles terrible weeds. I like them because I know from the Sourland Mountain Preserve that the flowers attract a variety of bees, butterflies, and hummingbird moths. The seeds attract Goldfinch birds. Images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 55-200 mm OIS lens, Nikon D3x camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens or a Nikon D4 camera and 300 mm f/4 lens.

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

Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly on a Thistle flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 55-200 mm OIS lens. (David J Mathre)

Great Spangled Fritillary feeding on on Thistle flowers. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens. (David J Mathre)

Seven-Years Ago (16-August-2009) — New Jersey

Summertime Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve.

Two Butterflies and a Crab Spider on a Thistle Bloom. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 640, 300 mm, f/11, 1/250 sec).

Two Butterflies and a Crab Spider on a Thistle Bloom. Summer Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 640, 300 mm, f/11, 1/250 sec).. (David J. Mathre) — Two Butterflies and a Crab Spider on a Thistle Bloom. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 640, 300 mm, f/11, 1/250 sec). (David J. Mathre)