Tag: LBJ

Friday (10-July-2020) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Survived Tropical Storm Fay without any damage. A good amount of rain (3.3 inches, 84 mm), that filled the nearly dry pond. The frogs sounded happy.

Birds of the Day: Red-bellied Woodpecker, Brown-headed Cowbird, Blue Jay, American Goldfinch, Mourning Dove, LBJ, Chipping Sparrow, and Gray Catbird. Can’t tell if the LBJ is a female House Finch, or immature/female Brown-headed Cowbird.


Backyard Summer Birds of the Day. Individual images in the slideshow can be viewed at my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Wildflowers of the Day: Teazel, Black-eyed Susan, Sunflower, Larkspur, Sweet William, and Marigold. This is the first Marigold flower of the season. Last year that section was mainly Marigold with some Bee Balm. This year the section is mainly Bee Balm, Lemon-Mint, Horsemint.


Backyard Summer Wildflowers of the Day. Individual images in the slideshow can be viewed at my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (47.1 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (8.5 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Lots of clouds and rain. A deficit of 38.6 kWh. At least the solar panels got well washed, and the rain barrels filled.


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Friday (26-June-2020) — New Jersey

Early Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the Day: American Goldfinch, LBJ, Tufted Titmouse, and Chipping Sparrow. Not sure if the LBJ is a female/immature House Finch, or female/immature Brown-headed Cowbird.

American Goldfinch. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 450, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
American Goldfinch. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 450, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
LBJ (not sure if it is a female/immature House Finch or female/immature Brown-headed Cowbird). Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 450, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
LBJ (not sure if it is a female/immature House Finch or female/immature Brown-headed Cowbird). Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 450, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
Tufted Titmouse. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 450, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
Tufted Titmouse. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 450, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
Chipping Sparrow. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 450, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
Chipping Sparrow. Image taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 450, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)

Early Summer Wildflowers: It appears that at least one Sunflower self-seeded, and grew high enough to bloom out of reach of the ravenous deer. I’ve seen several other sunflower plants clipped off before they could bloom. It looks like the bee (Bumblebee) likes Sunflower pollen.

Bee collecting pollen on a Sunflower. Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 800, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/100 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Bee collecting pollen on a Sunflower. Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 800, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/100 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Bee collecting pollen on a Sunflower. Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 800, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/100 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Bee collecting pollen on a Sunflower. Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 800, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/100 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Spent some time in the morning working on the patio Grow Towers. Still several to set up and plant.

Daily Electric Energy Used (53.3 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (78.3 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sun and intermittent clouds. A surplus of 25.0 kWh. The solar panels continue to produce more energy than required to keep the house cool with the energy efficient Geothermal HVAC system.


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Friday (12-June-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the Day — Gray Catbird and immature songbird (House Finch, Brown-headed Cowbird?). The Eastern Phoebe is spending time on the nest — although not full time.


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

Daily Electric Energy Used (48.4 kWh) from meter reading. The daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (80.9 kWh) from meter reading. Sun and clouds. A surplus of 32.5 kWh.


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Thursday (22-August-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Daily Walkabout, today with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. My favorite lightweight kit, with plenty of reach. The Snowberry Clearwing Moths (with the black legs) are back. They also like the Bee Balm flowers. Monarch Butterfly feeding on a Marigold flower, and Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly feeding on a Zinnia flower. There has been rain all around us, but not here. The pond level is down, and the frogs are skittish. A small sparrow (LBJ) and a fawn trying to hide behind some grass.

Snowberry Clearwing Moth feeding on a Bee Balm flower. Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Snowberry Clearwing Moth feeding on a Bee Balm flower. Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Snowberry Clearwing Moth feeding on a Bee Balm flower. Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Snowberry Clearwing Moth feeding on a Bee Balm flower. Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Monarch butterfly feeding on a Marigold flower. Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Monarch butterfly feeding on a Marigold flower. Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly feeding on a Zinnia flower. Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly feeding on a Zinnia flower. Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Kermit the Bullfrog. Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Kermit the Bullfrog. Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Little Sparrow. Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Little Sparrow. Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Fawn Hiding Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Fawn Hiding Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (59.7 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (61.3 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. The WaterFurnace geothermal HVAC had to work hard (25 kWh) because the temperature outside went above 90°F. A bit more sun so a net surplus of 0.6 kWh. Cooler weather expected tomorrow!

One note — the WaterFurnace Symphony software indicated the system used 15 kWh, however the Sense Energy monitor indicated that the geothermal heat pump used 25 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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Ten-Years Ago (18-March-2007) — New Jersey

Late Winter Backyard Wildlife in New Jersey.

Three LBJ’s (litte-brown jobs) in my backyard on a cold late-winter day. Two of the birds are white-throated sparrows. The other one, I am not sure about its ID.

White-throated sparrow getting some sun. Late winter backyard wildlife in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/8, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)
White-throated sparrow getting some sun. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/8, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)
White-throated sparrow singing in the vines. Late winter backyard wildlife in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/12, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)
White-throated sparrow singing in the vines. Late winter backyard wildlife in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/12, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)
Sparrow hiding in the bushes. Late winter backyard wildlife in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/12, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)
Sparrow hiding in the bushes. Late winter backyard wildlife in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/12, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)
Icicles on the vines. Late winter backyard nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/9.5, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)
Icicles on the vines. Late winter backyard nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/9.5, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)