Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly - David Mathre Photography

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.

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Friday (19-July-2019) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Daily Walkabout. My back still hurts and it continues to be hot and humid outside. The high was 93 °F with a heat index of 113 °F according to my personal weather station. I was only out for a short time, but still was able to capture images of Painted Lady, Tiger Swallowtail, and Monarch butterflies. Today only one type of Clearwing moths — the Hummingbird Clearwing (Hemaris thysbe). I saw a large hoverfly on a Sunflower. The hoverflies look like bees. There were also many Bumblebees working the flowers.

Painted Lady butterfly on a Zinnia flower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

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

Monarch butterfly on a Zinnia flower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

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

Hoverfly on a Sunflower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Hoverfly on a leaf. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

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

Daily Power Use (72.5 kWh) from Sense and Solar Production (71.5 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Sunny, hot, and humid outside which kept the GeoThermal HVAC system busy (28 kWh). I also did a load of laundry (3.7 kWh) and dishes (~2.5 kWh). Still the Solar Panels almost kept up with only a 1 kWh deficit for the day.

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Thursday (18-July-2019) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

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.

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Friday (05-July-2019) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Something other than just flowers and wildflowers today. I saw my first Clearwing Hummingbird Moth this year feeding on some small blue Forget-me-not flowers. One of my photography mentors once told me that the best image is behind you — so when I turned around I saw my first Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly this year feeding on an orange Zinnia flower. I may not have had the best camera or lens for these subjects, but as someone else said “the best camera is the one in your hand”. I’d been waiting for both the Clearwing Hummingbird Moth and the Swallowtail Butterflies since planting the wildflower meadows earlier this spring. Later in the evening, while sitting on the back patio I saw a real hummingbird and caught a couple of pictures before it flew off. I will be watching for all three the rest of the summer, and will also be on the lookout for the Monarch Butterflies.

Clearwing Hummingbird Moth feeding on Forget-me-not. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly feeding on Zinnia. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Hummingbird. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Power Use (56.5 kWh) from Sense and Solar Production (50.14 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. It was cloudy out much of the day, so I generated less power than the geothermal HVAC system needed to keep the house cool.

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Five-Years Ago (12-August-2013) — New Jersey

Summertime Nature in New Jersey. Sourland Mountain Preserve

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly on a Joe Pye Weed Bloom at the Sourland Mountain Preserve. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 250, 500 mm, f/5, 1/600 sec). Lens mounted on a monopod.

I’ve visited the Sourland Mountain Preserve several times after returning from Iceland. There are a couple of patches of Joe Pye weeds that the Yellow (Tiger) Swallowtail and Black Swallowtail butterflies are attracted. I did see one Clearwing Hummingbird Butterfly, but wasn’t quick enough to get a picture. I only saw one thistle in bloom. Didn’t see any Praying Mantis (butterfly predators). Also, only one Monarch Butterfly.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly on a Joe Pye Weed Bloom at the Sourland Mountain Preserve in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 250, 500 mm, f/5, 1/600 sec). Lens mounted on a monopod. (David J Mathre)