Thistle Flower - David Mathre Photography

Saturday (01-August-2020) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

My workhorse telephoto zoom 70-300 mm VR lens for the Nikon 1 camera has been acting up. Unfortunately, Nikon discontinued both the mirrorless Nikon 1 cameras and lenses. This lens on the Nikon 1 camera has the field of view equivalent to 189-810 mm on a full frame 35 mm camera sensor. I found a Japanese vendor online that had a 70-300 mm lens listed as practically new for sale. It was a bit more than I paid for the original 70-300 lens, but I felt that I needed the backup in case the original lens failed. The shipment got caught up in customs and I had to pay additional duty because of a tariff on Japanese goods. Thanks twitterer-in-chief for increasing the taxes I have to pay. Many folks don’t understand that it is the US consumer, not the foreign company that needs to pay these extra taxes. Vent over.

I went for an afternoon backyard walkabout with the N1V3 camera and new lens. Harvey the rabbit was out munching on the grass that needs to be cut. It appears that the recent Vultures left the skeleton of a small animal roadkill in the yard. Even though the majority of wildflowers are beginning to die off due to the excess heat, the more hearty Larkspur, Thistle, and Lance-leaf Coreopsis are providing nectar for the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterflies and Clearwing Hummingbird moths.

Harvey the Rabbit. Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Larkspur. Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Dark morph of an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly. Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly. Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Clearwing Hummingbird Moth. Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Robber Fly. Image taken with a Nikon N1V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (58.5 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (71.6 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Lots of sun. A surplus of 13.1 kWh.

Three-Years Ago (24-August-2015) — New Jersey

Summertime Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve.

Hummingbird Clearwing Moth on a Thistle Bloom at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 300 mm f/4 VR lens. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC.

Hummingbird Clearwing Moth feeding on on Thistle flowers. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 300 mm f/4 lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/8, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)

Two-Years Ago (24-August-2015) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Hummingbird Clearwing Moth on a Thistle Bloom. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 300 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/8, 1/250 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC.

This one does appear to be a Hummingbird Clearwing Moth (Hemaris thysbe) based on 1) the lack of any banding on the lateral side of the thorax; 2) thysbe always has yellowish or pale colored legs.

One-Year Ago (24-August-2015) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

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.

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

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)

Tuesday (23-August-2016) — New Jersey

Summertime Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve.

Monarch Butterfly on a Thistle Bloom. Image taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 80-400 mm VRII lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec). I am amazed by the high resolution detail captured by this camera, down to the individual specks of dust or pollen on the wings of the butterfly.

Over the last two weeks I only saw three Monarch butterflies, and only got an image of one. Today, I saw at least ten and was very happy. In addition to the Monarch butterflies, I also saw many Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterflies, Black Swallowtail butterflies (two or three varieties), Great Spangled Fritillary butterflies, Clearwing Moths (two varieties), Dragonflies, and Robber Flies. All in all the best day this season. I am going to be up late tonight processing more images…

Monarch Butterfly on a Thistle Bloom. Image taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 80-400 mm VRII lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec). (David J Mathre)