Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly - David Mathre Photography

Thursday (26-September-2019) — New Jersey

Autumn Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Daily walkabout with a Nikon One V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. There were several Monarch butterflies in the wildflower meadow. They seem to like the Cosmos, Zinnia, and Marigold flowers. This may be the last brood that will be heading off to Mexico for the winter. For flowers there was a blue Asiatic Dayflower, Black-eyed Susan, and Purple Morning Glory. I’m not sure if the dayflower was in one of the wildflower seed mixes or is a local (invasive) weed. I also saw a bee that looked to be collecting mud at the edge of the mostly dry pond.

Click on the image above to access my PhotoShelter gallery with the individual images in the following slideshow.

Bee collecting mud. Image taken with a Nikon One V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Yesterday Electric Energy Used (62.4 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (34.8 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. As the sun gets lower, the leaves from one of my Sycamore trees block the solar panels part of the afternoon. You can see the hump in the graph. The Geothermal HVAC was off. The new hydroponic gardens are using 8.7 kWh. Overall a net deficit of 27.6 kWh.

Daily Electric Energy Used (62.1 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (49.1 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Warmer out so the Geothermal HVAC was back on for some of the afternoon and evening (3.3 kWh). The new hydroponic gardens are using 8.7 kWh. Overall a net deficit of 13.0 kWh.

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Wednesday (24-July-2019) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Late Afternoon Daily Walkabout. Nikon Df camera with a 200-500 mm f/5.6 VR lens. Butterflies (Spiceberry and Tiger Swallowtails, Monarch, Silver-spotted Skipper, Common Buckeye, and another variety of a Skipper); Birds (Goldfinch and unknown); Flowers (Coneflowers, Partridge Pea, Sunflower, Four O’Clock, and Burma Water Gourd Vine). The yellow Partridge Pea flowers and Four O’Clock flowers are new. The Burma water gourd flowers open at night, and probably need a moth to be pollinated. Last year they didn’t bloom until too late in the season, and I only got small (zucchini sized) gourds.

Click on the above image to access the individual slideshow images in my gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (50.5 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (75.5 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. With lower temperatures the amount of Electric Energy used was down 1.5 kWh and with the sun out most of the day the solar electricity production was up 44.0 kWh from yesterday for a surplus of 25 kWh. Helps to make up for some of the previous very hot (increased usage) and rainy (decrease solar production) days.

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Wednesday (24-July-2019) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Morning Daily Walkabout. Nikon D850 camera with a 200-500 mm f/5.6 VR lens. Butterflies (Spiceberry and Tiger Swallowtails, Monarch, and Common Buckeye. Both Hummingbird Clearwing (Hemaris thysbe) and Snowberry Clearwing (Hemaris diffinis) moths. I also saw one of the bull frogs near the pond. If you look closely at the final image you can see a Mosquito above the frog’s eye.

Butterflies. Click on the above image to access the individual slideshow images in my gallery.

Hummingbird Clearwing (Hemaris thysbe) moth. Click on the above image to access the individual slideshow images in my gallery.

Snowberry Clearwing (Hemaris diffinis) moths. Click on the above image to access the individual slideshow images in my gallery.

Kermit the Bull Frog. Click on the above image to access the individual slideshow images in my gallery.

Kermit the Frog with a Mosquito above its eye (cropped). Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 100-500 mm f/5.6 VR lens (ISO 900, 500 mm, f/5.6. 1/1000 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

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Sunday (21-July-2019) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Daily Walkabout. My back is feeling a lot better. The lower back/lumbar back-brace wrap seems to be working. It forces me to sit up straight and pushes the belly in. Bottom line, exercise and lose some weight… The high was 97 °F with a heat index of 117 °F according to my personal weather station. I went out for a bit around noon with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm lens. Each day there are more and more butterflies. They are mainly attracted to the pink and red Zinnia flowers. Today there were Spicebush and Tiger Swallowtails, Monarchs, and a small Duskywing (?). There also were several Hummingbird Clearwing (Hemaris thysbe) moths.

Spicebush Swallowtail (Papilio troilus) butterfly on a Zinnia flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (David J Mathre)

Tiger Swallowtail butterfly on a Zinnia flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (David J Mathre)

Monarch butterfly on a Zinnia flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (David J Mathre)

Horace's Duskywing (Erynnis horatius) ? butterfly on a Zinnia flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (David J Mathre) — Horace’s Duskywing (Erynnis horatius) ? butterfly on a Zinnia flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (David J Mathre)

Hummingbird Clearwing (Hemaris thysbe) Moth. Click on the above image to access the individual slideshow images in my gallery.

Hummingbird Clearwing (Hemaris thysbe) moth feeding on a pink Zinnia flower. Click on the above image to access the individual slideshow images in my gallery.

Hummingbird Clearwing (Hemaris thysbe) moth in flight. Click on the above image to access the individual slideshow images in my gallery.

Daily Power Use (82.6 kWh) from Sense and Solar Production (70.2 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Sunny, hot, and humid outside which kept the WaterFurnace geothermal HVAC system busy (~40 kWh). The geothermal heat pump system was able to maintain the indoor temperature even on this hottest day of the year. Beginning a bit before noon the heat pump ran continuously, and for much of the afternoon into the evening in the 2nd stage (high-speed mode). There were clouds in the morning and later in the afternoon limiting the amount of solar power generated — so I used 12 kWh more than was generated.

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Saturday (20-July-2019) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Daily Walkabout. My back is feeling somewhat better. I got a lower back/lumbar back brace wrap. It forces me to sit up straight, pushes the belly in, and I can now bend over and touch my toes. It has been on for a day and I feel much better. The high was 97 °F with a heat index of 116 °F according to my personal weather station. I was only out for a short time, but still was able to capture images of Tiger and Spicebush Swallowtail Butterflies, Silver-spotted and Peck’s (?) Butterflies, and Monarch Butterflies. Today, I only saw the Snowberry Clearwing Moth (Hemaris diffinis). There were also many Bumblebees working the flowers.

Tiger and Spicebush Swallowtail Butterflies. Click on the above image to access the individual slideshow images in my gallery.

Silver-spotted and Peck’s (?) Butterflies. Click on the above image to access the individual slideshow images in my gallery.

Monarch Butterflies. Click on the above image to access the individual slideshow images in my gallery.

Snowberry Clearwing Moths (Hemaris diffinis). (Click on the above image to access the individual slideshow images in my gallery.

Bumble Bee on a Zinnia Flower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Power Use (76.6 kWh) from Sense and Solar Production (77.3 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Sunny, hot, and humid outside which kept the GeoThermal HVAC system busy (~40 kWh). I also did a ran the dishwasher (~2.5 kWh). The Solar Panels kept up with a 0.7 kWh surplus for the day.