Tag: Spider

Monday (07-March-2022) — New Jersey

Wintertime Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the day viewed in the backyard, at the birdfeeder and on the patio: Mourning Dove, House Finch, Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Cardinal.


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

Indoor Hydroponic Updates. Bounty-01 (Day 15). Bok Choi doing well. Bounty-02 (Day 50) The Black-seeded Simpson and Rouge d’Hiver lettuce doing well. Harvesting leaves every other day. The Genovese Basil is doing well. I’ve needed to top off the water every day and add fertilizer every other day. Bounty-03 (Day 42). Dill and Genovese Basil doing well. The Italian and Curly Parsley starting to get bigger. Bounty-04 (Day 15): Basil seedlings transplanted from Farm 09R. A1: Dark Opal; A2: Cinnamon; A3: Genovese; B1: Holy; B2: Italian Large Leaf; B3: Lemon; B4: Lime; C1: Sweet; C2: Thai. I have to check the Bok Choi every day for Stink Bugs.


Bounty-01, Bounty-02, Bounty-03, Bounty-04. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.


Stink Bug. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

AeroGarden Farm-01L (Day 49). California Poppy, Oriental Poppy, Lauren’s Grape Poppy. AeroGarden Farm-01R (Day 42). Hungarian Bread Seed Poppy, Red Poppy, Turkish Tulip Poppy. AeroGarden Farm-02L (Day 49). Somn Blend Poppy, Red Poppy Red Poppy, Red Mix Poppy. AeroGarden Farm-02R (Day 42). Oriental Poppy, Hungarian Bread Seed Poppy, Turkish Tulip Poppy, Red Poppy, Red Poppy, Somn Blend Poppy.


Farm-01L, Farm-01R, Farm-02L, Farm-02R. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

AeroGarden Farm-03L and Farm-03R (Day 42). Kale, Collard Greens, Spinach, Mustard Greens. All of the greens are growing fast, and producing large leaves. I am having to harvest the largest leaves to provide light to the smaller plants. AeroGarden Farm-04L and Farm-04R (Day 38). Oregano, Rosemary, Tarragon, Thyme, and Sage.


Farm-03L, Farm-03R, Farm-04L, Farm-04R. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

AeroGarden Farm-05L Day 15. (A1, A2, A3): Dark Opal Basil; (B1, B2, B3); Cinnamon Basil; (C1, C2, C3) Genovese Basil; (D1, D2, D3): Holy Basil. AeroGarden Farm-05R Day 15. (A1, A2, A3): Italian Large Leaf Basil; (B1, B2, B3); Lemmon Basil; (C1, C2, C3) Lime Basil; (D1, D2, D3): Sweet Basil. AeroGarden Farm-06L (Day 33). Snapdragon (A1); Chrysanthemum (A2, A3); Iceland Poppy (B1, B2); Sweet William (B3), Columbine (C1, C2, C3); Osteospermum (D1, D2); Blue Daisy (D3). AeroGarden Farm-06R (Day 15). Various types of lettuce. Red Sails (A1, A2, A3, B3); Deer Tongue (B1, B2); Black-seeded Simpson (C1, C2); Rouge d’Hiver (C3, D3); Paris Island (D1, D2). AeroGarden Farm-07L (Day 15/27). Golden Harvest Tomatoes. AeroGarden Farm-0R (Day 15/27). Heirloom Red Tomatoes.


Farm-05L, Farm-05R, Farm-06L, Farm-06R, Farm-07L, Farm-07R. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

AeroGarden Farm-08 (Day 49). California Poppy, Oriental Poppy, Lauren’s Grape Poppy. The odd plant is Celosia. More California Poppy flowers have opened. Now a mix of light yellow and red-orange. AeroGarden Farm-08R (Day 49). Hungarian Bread Seed Poppy, Red Poppy, Turkish Tulip Poppy. AeroGarden Farm-09L (Day 45). Somn Blend Poppy, Red Poppy Red Poppy, Red Mix Poppy. AeroGarden Farm-09R Seed Starter (Day 15). Nine different Basil varieties. Row A: Dark Opal Basil (6/9). Row B: Cinnamon Basil (9/9). Row C: Genovese Basil (8/10). Row D: Holy Basil (8/11). Row E: Italian Large Leaf Basil (8/8). Row F: Lemon Basil (9/10). Row G: Lime Basil (10/11). Row H. Sweet Basil (9/9). Row I: Thai Basil (6/8).


Farm-08L, Farm-08R, Farm-09L, Farm-09R. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Outdoors, the Purple Crocus across the street have started blooming. I also noticed Honey Bees working the flowers.


Purple Crocus Flowers. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.


Honey Bees
working the Purple Crocus Flowers. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Finally, some spiders. Outdoors, and indoors (on a poppy leaf). There was news about a new invasive Joro spider (native to Japan) that may provide population control for the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug. Not sure I want a 3 inch spider in the house…


Spiders. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (64.2 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (33.4 kWh) from Sense. Sun and Clouds. Deficit of 30.8 kWh. I should note that the Solar monitoring from SolSystem via Locus Energy stopped working since the Locus LG-120 meter uses 3G cellular to connect. ATT has turned off 3G cellular.

Wednesday (06-May-2020) — New Jersey

Indoor Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

This guy runs and hides every time it hears the iRobot vacuum cleaner approach.

Indoor Spider. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 OIS macro lens + pop-up flash (ISO 400, 80 mm, f/8, 1/60 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Indoor Spider. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 OIS macro lens + pop-up flash (ISO 400, 80 mm, f/8, 1/60 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (49.4 kWh) from meter readings the Sense Home Energy Monitor. The daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (22.3 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Lots of clouds.A deficit of 27.1 kWh.


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Saturday (28-March-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Spring Nighttime Nature in New Jersey.

Spider at night.

Daily Electric Energy Used (52.5 kWh) from Sense Home Energy Monitor and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (6.5 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Cloudy and rainy all day. A deficit of 46.0 kWh.

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Sunday (26-January-2020) — New Jersey

Wintertime Indoor Hydroponic Gardening

One of my security guards protecting the hydroponic gardens from unwanted pests.


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


Daily Electric Energy Used (76.9 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (33.3 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. The sun returned. A deficit of 43.6 kWh.

Weekly Electric Energy Used (597 kWh) from Sense and Weekly Solar Electric Energy Produced (225 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. The sun returned. A deficit of 372 kWh.

Current Weather Conditions

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Thursday (24-October-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Nature in New Jersey.

Even though I thought all of the butterflies were gone for the season, I came across an American Lady feeding on the Marigolds in my remaining Wildflower Meadow. Also a Hoverfly and a Spider.

American Lady Butterfly. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
American Lady Butterfly. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
American Lady Butterfly. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
American Lady Butterfly. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Hoverfly. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/640 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Hoverfly. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/640 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Spider. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/320 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Spider. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/320 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Spider. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/320 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Spider. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/320 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (61.1 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (34.4 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Another sunny day, but at this time of the year the sun is lower, and the Sycamore tree leaves shadow the solar panels part of the day. Overall a net deficit of 26.7 kWh.

Current Weather Conditions

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