Daily walkabout with a Nikon D810a camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. Mexican Sunflower, Butterflies (Painted Lady, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, and Spicebush Swallowtail), and Hummingbird Clearwing (white legs) Moth on a Lemon Mint Flower. Note, I previously thought that these were Bee Balm Flowers.
Mexican Sunflower. Image taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)Painted Lady Butterfly. Image taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly. Image taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
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Hummingbird Clearwing moth on a Lemon Mint flower. Image taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)Hummingbird Clearwing moth on a Lemon Mint flower. Image taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Daily Electric Energy Used (54.3 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (64.4 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. One laundry load (3.0 kWh) and two dishwasher loads (~5 kWh). Still a net surplus of 10.1 kWh.
Monthly electric energy used (1664 kWh) and solar electric energy produced (1764 kWh) for a net surplus of 100 kWh.
Daily Walkabout, today with a Nikon Df camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. The thing I like about this camera is that it light for a DSLR, and has the same full-frame 35 mm sensor as the Nikon D4 camera. I have to admit that the camera failed on me once while in Antarctica when the shutter failed. The 70-300 mm lens is also relatively light. This post is about the butterflies. Great Spangled Fritillary, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Common Buckeye, Painted Lady, Sulphur, Silver-spotted Skipper, Frisky Skippers, Monarch, and Spicebush Swallowtail.
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Daily Electric Energy Used (66.1 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (65.5 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Fewer clouds and more sun. The WaterFurnace geothermal HVAC had to work harder (25.6 kWh) because the temperature outside went above 90°F. Daily net deficit 0.6 kWh.
One note — the WaterFurnace Symphony software indicated the system used 16 kWh, however the Sense Energy monitor indicated that the geothermal heat pump used 25.6 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.
Daily Walkabout, today with a Leica CL camera and 55-135 mm lens. The thing I like about this camera is that it is lightweight and potentially a great travel camera. Most of the images were taken at 135 mm (field of view equivalent to 200 mm on a 35 mm sensor camera). It doesn’t have all of the bells and whistles of some of my other cameras. I do need to take it out periodically just to maintain the brain and muscle memory to use it effectively. This is the longest zoom lens for the Leica TL and CL cameras. The Goldfinches are all over the smaller Sunflowers. They want the seeds fresh. A lot of butterflies were out working the wildflowers (Painted Lady, Sulphur, a pair of frisky Spicebush Swallowtails, and a pair of Monarch’s mating). The Monarch’s were flying around paired together and I finally caught them resting in a pine tree from a distance. I haven’t seen a hummingbird moth recently. Then some flowers (Backlit Red Sunflower, Bee Balm, a Red flower I haven’t identified yet, Partridge Pea with Pea Pods, a Zinnia, and a pair of small Yellow Sunflowers. Finally, the poisonous Poke Weed berries.
Click on the above image to access the individual images in the slide show.
Click on the above image to access the individual images in the slide show.
Sulphur Butterfly on a Zinnia Flower. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 55-135 mm lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
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Pair of Monarch Butterflies Mating. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 55-135 mm lens (DAVID J MATHRE)Monarch Butterfly. Image. taken with a Leica CL camera and 55-135 mm lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
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Poison Poke Weed Berries Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 55-135 mm lens (DAVID J MATHRE)
Daily Electric Energy Used (61.1 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (51.2 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. More clouds and bit less Sun. The WaterFurnace geothermal HVAC had to work harder (25.7 kWh) because the temperature outside went above 90°F. Daily net deficit 9.9 kWh. Weekly totals 412 kWh used, 350 kWh produced. So far still ahead for the month of August, but will need some more sunny days
One note — the WaterFurnace Symphony software indicated the system used 14 kWh, however the Sense Energy monitor indicated that the geothermal heat pump used 25.7 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.
Daily Walkabout. My back still hurts and it continues to be hot and humid outside. I only went out for a short time with an even lighter kit than yesterday — Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. Tiger and Spicebush Swallowtail, Monarch, and Skipper (?) butterflies. Two types of Clearwing Moths — Hummingbird Clearwing (Hemaris thysbe) and Snowberry Clearwing (Hemaris diffinis). The deer were out later in the afternoon before the heavy thunderstorm (2.24″, 57 mm)
Swallowtail Butterflies. Click on the above image to access the individual slideshow images in my gallery.
Monarch Butterfly. Click on the above image to access the individual slideshow images in my gallery.
Skipper (?) Butterfly. Click on the above image to access the individual slideshow images in my gallery.
Hummingbird Clearwing (Hemaris thysbe). Click on the above image to access the individual slideshow images in my gallery.
Snowberry Clearwing (Hemaris diffinis). Click on the above image to access the individual slideshow images in my gallery.
Click on the above image to access the individual slideshow images in my gallery.
Daily Power Use (53.4 kWh) from Sense and Solar Production (34.3 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Cloudy most of the day progressing to heavy rain in the afternoon. So I ended up using 19 kWh more energy that the solar panels could produce.
Some may think I have an obsession with the beautiful Hummingbird Clearwing Moth (Hemaris thysbe). These were taken in the back section of my property where I have a number of Thistle plants in bloom. Most folks call the Thistles terrible weeds. I like them because I know from the Sourland Mountain Preserve that the flowers attract a variety of bees, butterflies, and hummingbird moths. The seeds attract Goldfinch birds. Images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 55-200 mm OIS lens, Nikon D3x camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens or a Nikon D4 camera and 300 mm f/4 lens.
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Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly on a Thistle flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 55-200 mm OIS lens. (David J Mathre)Great Spangled Fritillary feeding on on Thistle flowers. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens. (David J Mathre)
