Tag: Insect

Saturday (22-January-2022) — New Jersey

Wintertime Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the day viewed at the birdfeeder and in the backyard: Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Tufted Titmouse, House Finch, Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Cardinal.


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

AeroGarden Hydroponic Updates. Classic 6 #1 Day 6: All 6/6 of the Basil have sprouted. Bounty #1 Day 6: All 9/9 of the Bok Choi have sprouted. Bounty #2 Day 6: 2/2 of the Rouge d’Hiver and 2/2 of the Black Seed Simpson have sprouted. The other lettuce varieties have not sprouted. Classic 6 #2 Day 6: Only the Celosia flower has sprouted. Farm 9R Seed Starting Tray, Day 5: A few more of the poppy seeds have started to germinate. Some fungus is growing on the sponges.

alt_title. (David J Mathre)
AeroGarden Classic-6 #1. Day 6. Genovese Basil (4/4). Thai Basil (2/2). Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens. (David J Mathre)
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
AAeroGarden Bounty #1. Day 6. Bok Choi (9/9). Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens. (David J Mathre)
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
AeroGarden Bounty #2. Day 6. Red Sails (0/2); Rouge d’Hiver (2/2), Paris Island (0/1), Deer Tongue (0/1), Marvel of 4 Seasons (0/1), Black Seeded Simpson (2/2). Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens. (David J Mathre)
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
AeroGarden Classic-6 #2. Day 6. Dill (0/1), Italian Parsley (0/1), Chives (0/1), Orange Gazania (0/1), Phlox Mix (0/1), Celosia (1/1). Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens. (David J Mathre)
alt_title. (David J Mathre)
AeroGarden Farm 9R Seed Sprouting Tray. Day 5. Row A: California Poppy (American Meadows, 2018) 1/8; Row B: Oriental Poppy (American Meadows, 2019) 0/10; Row C: Lauren Grape Poppy Seeds (Marde Ross & Company, 2020) 1/11; Row D: Hungarian Breadseed Poppy Seeds (Plant Good Seed, 2020) 10/10; Row E: Red Poppy Seeds (American Meadows, 2019) 8/8; Row F: Turkish Tulip Poppy Seeds (Waterfall Seeds, 2020) 9/10; Row G: Somniferum Blend Poppy Seeds (Seed Needs, 2020) 10/11; Row H: Red Poppy Seeds (American Meadows, 2019) 9/9; Row I: Mixed Red Poppy Seeds (American Meadows, 2019) 8/8. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens. (David J Mathre)

Daily Electric Energy Used (120.2 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (38.7 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Very cold out, supplemental resistance heating required to keep the house warm. Also running six humidifers and five AeroGarden hydroponic gardens. Deficit of 81.5 kWh.

Wednesday (19-January-2020) — New Jersey

Wintertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the day viewed at the birdfeeder and in the backyard: Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, House Finch, Dark-eyed Junco.


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


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


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


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

Time-lapse videos: Day 3 of the Bok Choi seeds sprouting. Both videos are of images taken every 1 minute for 5 hours 45 minutes then displayed at 12 frames/second. I cut some of the paper retaining ring to get better visibility of the seedlings growing. During the second video, an invasive Asian Ladybeetle (Harmonia axyridis) and an invasive Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (Halyomorpha halys) were caught crawling by the Bok Choi seedling.

Ladybeetle. (David J Mathre)
Invasive Asian Ladybeetle (Harmonia axyridis) investigating the Bok Choi seedlings. Image taken with a Leica SL2s camera and Laowa 24 mm f/14 macro probe lens. (David J Mathre)
Brown Marmorated Stink Bug. (David J Mathre)
Invasive Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (Halyomorpha halys) investigating the Bok Choi seedlings. Image taken with a Leica SL2s camera and Laowa 24 mm f/14 macro probe lens. (David J Mathre)

Daily Electric Energy Used (92.0 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (34.5 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. The sun returned after a day of rain then snow. Deficit of 57.5 kWh.

Monday (01-July-2019) — New Jersey

First Day of July. Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

More wildflowers than what I know what to do with. THe deer are staying out of the electric fenced in wildflower meadows. They will nibble on any of the plants that grow out of the area. The Goldfinch love eating the Bachelor Buttons (Cornflowers). Also, lots of insects are attracted to the wildflowers. Some of the flowers include allium, baby’s breath, baby blue eyes, bachelor button (cornflower), black-eyed susan (coneflower), cosmos, coreopsis (calliopsis, tickseed), leopard bane, morning glory, poppy, siberian wallflower, sunflower, yucca, zinnia — and others that I haven’t identified.

Doe Outside the Electric Fence. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Doe Outside the Electric Fence. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)


Cosmos. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Cosmos. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (DAVID J MATHRE)














Daily Power Use (50.1 kWh) from Sense and Solar Production (87.6 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. You can see from the power graph, that there were very few clouds and this is about the maximum amount of solar power that my system can generate.

Current Weather Conditions

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Sunday (16-June-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

It appears that hover flies really like all of the poppies currently in bloom. In a small white poppy (Icelandic Poppy?) observed a tiny Praying Mantis eating a tiny Hover Fly. Even though I didn’t have a macro lens on the camera, I was able to crop the image to make the tiny insects visible. I have never seen a Praying Mantis this early in the season. Normally, I only see them when they are much larger in late July and August.

Small White Poppy with Hover Flies and a Praying Mantis. Image taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 105 mm f/1.4 lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Small White Poppy with Hover Flies and a Praying Mantis. Image taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 105 mm f/1.4 lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Small White Poppy with Hover Flies and a Praying Mantis. Image taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 105 mm f/1.4 lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Small White Poppy with Hover Flies and a Praying Mantis. Image taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 105 mm f/1.4 lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Small White Poppy with Hover Flies and a Praying Mantis. Image taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 105 mm f/1.4 lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Small White Poppy with Hover Flies and a Praying Mantis. Image taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 105 mm f/1.4 lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Small White Poppy with Hover Flies and a Praying Mantis. Image taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 105 mm f/1.4 lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Small White Poppy with Hover Flies and a Praying Mantis. Image taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 105 mm f/1.4 lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Power Use (74.2 kWh) from Sense and Solar Production (42.05 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Power use is up since I reduced the indoor temperature provided by the WaterFurnace Geothermal HVAC system. Will raise the indoor temperature to 72°F for tomorrow. The power was also out for a little over one hour in the morning. For safety/code reasons, if the PSE&G power is down, my solar panels are disconnected from the grid. I’m thinking of getting a couple of Tesla PowerWall batteries so this doesn’t happen in the future.

Current Weather Conditions

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Five-Years Ago (09-February-2014) — Florida

Gone to See America 2014 Road Trip. Day 9: Clyde Butcher’s Swamp Cottage.

Welcome sign at Clyde Butcher’s Swamp Cottage. I then went for a walk and found a small alligator next to the back pond. If you look close there is an out of focus mosquito on the other side of the alligators head. It has to be pretty tough to get through the alligators skin. I was wary because I knew that momma alligator was probably nearby.

"Attack Mosquito on Duty" sign at Clyde Butchers Swamp Cottage. Big Cypress Swamp in Florida. Image taken with a Nikon Df camera and 70-200 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 800, 200 mm, f/4, 1/200 sec). (David J Mathre)
“Attack Mosquito on Duty” sign at Clyde Butchers Swamp Cottage. Big Cypress Swamp in Florida. Image taken with a Nikon Df camera and 70-200 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 800, 200 mm, f/4, 1/200 sec). (David J Mathre)
Small Alligator Next to the Back Pond at Clyde Butchers Swamp Cottage. Big Cypress Swamp in Florida. Image taken with a Nikon Df camera and 70-200 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 800, 190 mm, f/4, 1/50 sec). Image converted to B&W using Capture One Pro 7. (David J Mathre)
Small Alligator Next to the Back Pond at Clyde Butchers Swamp Cottage. Big Cypress Swamp in Florida. Image taken with a Nikon Df camera and 70-200 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 800, 190 mm, f/4, 1/50 sec). Image converted to B&W using Capture One Pro 7. (David J Mathre)