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)
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.
I was working on my computer and noticed something large crawling up a window trying to get in the house. I quickly realized that it was a large green Praying Mantis. It walked right by a Stink Bug — turning up its nose. That’s too bad, as the Stink Bugs are making a major effort to get into the house before it gets much colder outside.
Praying Mantis trying to get in the house. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 800, 80 mm, f/5.6, 1/60 sec). (David J Mathre)
Praying Mantis set free on my Garden Tower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 320, 80 mm, f/11, 1/60 sec). (David J Mathre)
I noticed a Praying Mantis, the autumn insect warrior working in my backyard. It just ate a cricket for lunch. There are still a lot of flowers in the garden. A variety of Morning Glory and Cosmos blooms. The bees are still working hard to harvest nectar and pollen.
Autumn Warrior — Praying Mantis. Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS telephoto zoom lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/600 sec). (David J Mathre)
Summertime Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve.
Praying Mantis Hiding In a Joe Pye Weed at the Sourland Mountain Preserve, in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 70-200 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 200 mm, f/8, 1/800 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC 2014.
Praying Mantis Hiding In a Joe Pye Weed at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 70-200 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 200 mm, f/8, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre)
Summertime Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve.
Danger, Danger – Praying Mantis Waiting For a Meal in a Thistle Bush. Summer Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 235 mm, f/5.6, 1/75 sec).
Praying Mantis on a Thistle Flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/75 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 <a href=”https://david.mathre.com”>https://david.mathre.com</a>
and my photo gallery <a href=”http://davidmathre.com”>http://davidmathre.com</a> 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.
