Friday (16-September-2022) — New Jersey

Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the day viewed in my backyard: Mourning Dove, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Downy Woodpecker, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, White-breasted Nuthatch, House Finch, American Goldfinch.


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


Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.


Ruby-throated Hummingbird feeding on Canna flowers. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Little Planet video viewing the back section of the yard. Hamlett’s Tree Service have been clearing the Russian Olive and dead trees. I will need to spread fall cover seeds, but need some rain.

Daily Electric Energy Used (53.5 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (51.0 kWh) from Sense. Sunny. Deficit of 2.5 kWh.


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Sunday (14-August-2022) — New Jersey

Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the day viewed in my backyard: White-breasted Nuthatch, Song Sparrow. Note, I spent the morning using a brush mower to cut back the weeds and didn’t spend much time looking for birds. I only saw one Ruby-throated hummingbird, but wasn’t able to capture an image.


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

Time-lapse video “Using a Brush Mower to Attack the Weeds”. Images taken with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera, and processed using PhotoShop and PreimerPro.

Daily Electric Energy Used (59.7 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (68.5 kWh) from Sense. Sunny. Surplus of 8.8 kWh.

Weekly Electric Energy Used (588 kWh) from Sense. Weekly Solar Electric Energy Produced (446 kWh) from Sense. Deficit of 142 kWh. It finally started to cool down the last two days of the week, generating more electricity than I needed to cool the house.

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Saturday (29-January-2022) — New Jersey

Wintertime Nature in New Jersey.

When I woke up 6+ inches of snow already fell during the night. An additional 2 inches fell during the day. The snow finally stopped by 15:00. During the night, a fox was sighted by the infrared video camera off the patio.

Snow Covered Trolls (David J Mathre)
Sixteen Trolls Covered with Snow. Image taken with a Leica Q2 monochrome camera and 28 mm f/1.7 lens (ISO 100, 28 mm, f/4, 1/200 sec). (David J Mathre)
Snow Covered Trolls. (David J Mathre)
Backyard Panorama with 18 Trolls Covered with Snow. Composite of seven images taken with a Leica Q2 monochrome camera and 28 mm f/1.7 lens (ISO 100, 28 mm, f/4.5, 1/200 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro. The new Panorama feature within Capture One Pro didn’t work with this set of images, so the panorama was generated with AutoPano Giga (David J Mathre)

Birds of the day on a snowy day viewed at the birdfeeder and in the backyard: Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, House Finch, Dark-eyed Junco, White-throated Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Northern Cardinal.


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.


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

Videos using the Snow Blower, and Red Rover to clear snow from the driveway. The tensioning spring for the PTO belt on the Snow Blower was loose. It was pretty hard to get it back on when the temperature was below 20°F. I needed to use a crow bar to push the belt wheel back far enough to attach the spring.

Daily Electric Energy Used (113.6 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (0.0 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. The solar panels were covered with 8+ inches of snow. The suplemental resistance heating kicked on at night as the outdoor temperature dropped below 10°F. Deficit of 113.6 kWh.

Friday (24-December-2021) — New Jersey

Wintertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the day viewed at the birdfeeder and in the backyard: Blue Jay, House Finch, Dark-eyed Junco, Song Sparrow.


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

Day 3 of the Tree Project. Half day on Christmas Eve. Several little planet time-lapse videos of the work.


Hamlet Tree Service. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (71.7 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (15.5 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Cloudy. Geothermal HVAC heating the house, much of the day stage 2 since it is cold outside. Deficit of 56.2 kWh.

Tuesday (21-December-2021) — New Jersey

First Day of Winter. Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the day viewed at the birdfeeder and in the backyard: Mourning Dove, Blue Jay, Dark-eyed Junco. Busy with other projects, so the images were obtained from security video cameras.


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

Time-lapse Little Planet videos of the day. Removing the 3-point Post Hole digger from Red Rover. Distributing deer fence posts to the holes dug yesterday. Starting assembly of the deer fence gates.

Daily Electric Energy Used (74.9 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (17.3 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Cloudy. Geothermal HVAC heating the house, much of the day stage 2 since it is cold outside. Deficit of 57.6 kWh.