Monday (22-November-2021) — New Jersey

Autumn Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the day viewed at the birdfeeder and in the backyard: Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Blue Jay, European Starling, American Robin, House Finch, Dark-eyed Junco.


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

Daily Electric Energy Used (57.9 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (11.1 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Cloudy. Deficit of 46.8 kWh.

Friday (22-October-2021) — New Jersey

Autumn Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the day viewed at the birdfeeder and in the backyard: Mourning Dove, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Eastern Bluebird, Cedar Waxwing, House Finch 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.

Flowers of the Day: Cosmos, Marigold, Morning Glory, Zinnia


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

Bumblebee feeding on a Marigold, Hoverfly feeding on a Cosmos. Hoverflies are camouflaged to look like bees. Great Nature program on PBS the other night “My Garden of a Thousand Bees” Made me go out with my Loawa 24 mm macro lens to get some images of bees in my garden.


Bumblebee feeding on a Marigold. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.


Hoverfly feeding on a Cosmos. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (40.6 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (27.1 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sun and clouds. Deficit of 13.5 kWh.

Sunday (17-October-2021) — New Jersey

Autumn Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the day viewed at the birdfeeder and in the backyard: Mourning Dove, Cooper’s Hawk, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Blue Jay, European Starling, House Finch, Northern Cardinal. For the second day in a row there were no birds around the birdfeeder in the morning. This time it was a Cooper’s Hawk up in a tree being harassed by a troop of noisy Blue Jays. Once the hawk left, some birds did show up at the birdfeeder.


Cooper’s Hawk (being harassed by Blue Jays). 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.

Security infrared video of a raccoon trying to steal the food out of a rat trap. Maybe the raccoon will stay away for a while. The only thing left in the garden are hot peppers. Just want the rats (and raccoons) to stay away from the bird feeders.

Daily Electric Energy Used (43.4 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (30.9 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sun and clouds. Deficit of 12.5 kWh.

Weekly Electric Energy Used (314 kWh) from Sense. Weekly Solar Electric Energy Produced (186 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Deficit of 128 kWh.

Friday (15-October-2021) — New Jersey

Autumn Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the day viewed at the birdfeeder and in the backyard: Mourning Dove, Turkey Vulture, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Black-capped Chickadee, European Starling, American Robin, House Finch.


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

Flowers (and plants) of the day: Chinese Forget-me-not, Cosmos, Marigold, Plains Coreopsis, Teasel.


Flowers and Plants of the Day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Time-lapse video of a day in the wildflower meadow. This section was plated late in summer with Cosmos and Plains Coreopsis. The earlier planting in this section failed, mainly coming up with tall grass instead of the spring to summer wildflowers. I mowed the grass down, rototilled, and covered with a black-agricultural fabric to kill off the weeds for several weeks before replanting. I am now starting to get some flowers even though the plants are not very tall. Another section was planted with Marigold and Zinnia. They are not growing very fast, and have not bloomed. It also doesn’t help that the Deer and Ground Hog continue to nibble on the small plants. [Click on the full screen button, bottom right corner to view a larger image.]

I haven’t seen any Monarch butterflies until today since August. Usually there are some of the group that migrates south to hibernate around in October. One of the places that I usually see them in October is at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. This year the brush along the high-pressure underground gas line was mowed, and there are no flowers to attract the Monarch butterflies. Today, while rototilling one of my wildflower meadows to prepare for next spring I noticed the shadow of a butterfly flying. When I turned around, I saw a Monarch. It landed on a Zinnia flower. I dropped everything and ran inside to get a camera. When I got back outside, I found the Monarch feeding on a Marigold flower.


Monarch butterfly feeding on a Marigold flower. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Deer in the backyard. They keep trying to get into the fenced off areas. Some look pretty scrawny.


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

Waxing Gibbous moon with my new Sigma 150-600 mm sport (L-mount) lens on a Leica SL2 camera.

Waxing Gibbous moon. (David J Mathre)
Waxing Gibbous Moon. Image taken with a Leica SL2 camera and Sigma 150-600 mm OIS lens (handheld). (David J Mathre)

Daily Electric Energy Used (53.4 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (33.3 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sunny. Deficit of 20.1 kWh.

One-Year Ago (27-May-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey

Daily Visitors: Red-bellied Woodpecker, Blue Jay, House Finch, Chipping Sparrow, Brown-headed Cowbird, Northern Cardinal. A Brown-headed Cowbird fledgling departed the Eastern Phoebe nest. My eBird Checklist. My eBird Checklist.


Daily Birdfeeder Visitors. Images taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.


Brown-headed Cowbird fledgling from an Eastern Phoebe nest. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 200 mm f/2 lens and 1.4x teleconverter. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.