Tick - David Mathre Photography

Friday (17-July-2020) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

One thing I fear more than COVID-19 is Lyme disease. Been there, done that, don’t want to do it again. Today after out trying to capture images of Clearwing Moths, I found a Deer Tick inside the house crawling on my computer monitor. Not on me, but still in the house. Since I always immediately change and wash the clothes I wear when outside the tick either followed me on my hat or on the camera I was using. (Others suggest it was on my beard).

Tick. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro OIS lens (DAVID J MATHRE) — Tick on its back stuck to tape. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro OIS lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Birds of the Day: Gray Catbird, and American Goldfinch. Several dozen American Goldfinch are loving feeding on the seeds from the Cornflower, Bachelor Button, and Chicory flowers.

Birds of the Day. Individual images from this slide show can be viewed at my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Wildflowers of the Day: Zinnia, Blanket Flower, Gloriosa Daisy, and various Sunflowers. The Zinnia is one of only a few that returned. Last year the section was full of Zinnia.

Wildflowers of the Day. Individual images from this slide show can be viewed at my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Butterfly of the Day: Cabbage White. Supposedly, the most common butterfly in New Jersey.

Cabbage White butterfly. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

There definitely are two types of Clearwing moths were present. They prefer pink to purple flowers (Bee-Balm, Lemon-Mint, Bergamot, Larkspur, Delphinium). The Clearwing Hummingbird moth (Hemaris thysbe) is larger, and has light-colored front legs. The Clearwing Snowberry moth (Hemaris diffinis) is smaller, and has dark/black colored front legs. I am trying different camera lens combinations to see which is the best to capture images of these moths.

Clearwing Hummingbird Moths (Hemaris thysbe) captured with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens. Individual images from this slide show can be viewed at my PhotoShelter Gallery.

NOTE: IF YOU ARE HAVING PROBLEMS VIEWING THE SLIDE SHOWS PLEASE TRY A DIFFERENT BROWSER AND LET ME KNOW WHICH BROWSER YOU ARE USING. THANKS!!!

Daily Electric Energy Used (53.5 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (44.6 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. More clouds than sun. A deficit of 8.9 kWh.

Four-Years Ago (03-July-2011) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Aliens in New Jersey.

This mutant alien tick tried to Suck My Blood.

Monday (04-June-2012) — New Jersey

Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

Early this morning while not really awake I felt this Dog/Wood Tick crawling up my arm. I collected and saved it for some macro images. Did I say “I Hate Ticks”

Dog/Wood Tick. Early Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/22, 1/60 sec) with SB2-R200 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS6. (David J Mathre)

Underside of a Dog/Wood Tick. Early Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/22, 1/60 sec) with SB2-R200 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS6. (David J Mathre)

Sunday (20-May-2012) — New Jersey

Backyard Spring Nature in New Jersey: Rabbit and Ticks.

I noticed that one of my local rabbits had some big ticks on its neck. It was trying to rub them off without much luck.

I wanted to see and photograph the annular eclipse today. Unfortunately, I had to cancel the road trip out west due to a meeting in New Jersey that I need to attend on Monday. I do hope to photograph the Venus transit early in June. Weather permitting this should be possible from New Jersey.

Sunday (03-July-2011) — New Jersey

Early Summer Backyard Wildlife in New Jersey.

While working on my previous post “Wild Raspberry Cluster” I found this Dog/Wood Tick crawling up my pants leg. I was only outside 10-15 minutes getting the images for the Raspberry Composite. The only thing more persistent than the ticks this year are the SEO scripters sending me spam comments, especially to my 13-June-2011 post. I do allow and like comments for my postings (especially constructive criticism) as long as they are relevant to the post.

Dog/Wood Tick. Early Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 100, 210 mm, f/29, 1/60 sec) with SB900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre) — Dog/Wood Tick. Early Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 100, 210 mm, f/29, 1/60 sec) with SB900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5.

Dog/Wood Tick. Early Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 100, 210 mm, f/51, 1/60 sec) with SB900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre) — Dog/Wood Tick. Early Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 100, 210 mm, f/51, 1/60 sec) with SB900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5.

Dog/Wood Tick. Early Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 100, 210 mm, f/45, 1/60 sec) with SB900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre) — Dog/Wood Tick. Early Summer Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 100, 210 mm, f/45, 1/60 sec) with SB900 flash. Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5.