Birds of the day viewed at the birdfeeder and in the backyard: Mourning Dove, Red-tailed Hawk, Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Tufted Titmouse, House Finch, Dark-eyed Junco, White-throated Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Northern Cardinal. The flock of Red-winged Blackbirds is still around.
Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Flock of Red-winged Blackbirds. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Little Planet video of the flock of Red-winged Blackbirds.
Daily Electric Energy Used (120.0 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (0.9 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. The solar panels still covered with snow. The supplemental resistance heating kicked on at night as the outdoor temperature dropped below 10°F. Deficit of 109.1 kWh.
Monthly Electric Energy Used (2846 kWh) from Sense. Monthly Solar Electric Energy Produced (618 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Deficit of 2228 kWh.
Birds of the day on a snowy day viewed at the birdfeeder and in the backyard: Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, House Finch, Dark-eyed Junco, White-throated Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Northern Cardinal. A whole flock (~100) of the Red-winged Blackbirds descended on the patio and birdfeeders.
Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Flock of Red-winged Blackbirds. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
AeroGarden Hydroponic Updates. The Bok Choi in AeroGarden Bounty-01 continues to be the fastest grower (although one plant seems to be a runt). In Bounty-02 the Rouge d’Hiver and Black-seeded Simpson lettuce are growing well, along with the Genovese Basil and Dill. One Thai Basil is growing, the other one remains small. In Bounty-0 the two transplanted 14-day Genovese Basil and Dill are doing well. The other 6-day herbs have not sprouted yet. Bounty-04 with the seed sprouting tray at day 6 has some seeds sprouting: Swiss Chard (0/5); Kale (5/5); Collard Greens (5/5); Spinach (0/5); Mustard Greens (4/5); Oregano (1/5); Rosemary (0/5); Tarragon (2/5); Thyme (5/5); Sage (3/5). About half of the poppy seedling in Farm-09R were moved to Farm-08L, Farm-08R, and Farm-09L.
Bounty-01, Bounty-02, Bounty Elite-03, Bounty Elite-04. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Farm-08L, Farm-08R, Farm-09L, Farm-09R. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Found another Stink Bug nibbling on the Bok Choi seedlings. Also, a Lady Beetle. I’m not sure if the Lady Beetle was also nibbling on the leaf, or looking for Aphids.
Caught another Stink Bug feeding on a Bok Choi seedling. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 18 mm f/2.8 lens. (David J Mathre)
Lady Beetle on a Bok Choi leaf. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Daily Electric Energy Used (127.2 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (0.0 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. The solar panels still covered with snow. The supplemental resistance heating kicked on at night as the outdoor temperature dropped below 10°F. Deficit of 127.2 kWh.
Weekly Electric Energy Used (770 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (143 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Deficit of 627 kWh.
When I woke up 6+ inches of snow already fell during the night. An additional 2 inches fell during the day. The snow finally stopped by 15:00. During the night, a fox was sighted by the infrared video camera off the patio.
Sixteen Trolls Covered with Snow. Image taken with a Leica Q2 monochrome camera and 28 mm f/1.7 lens (ISO 100, 28 mm, f/4, 1/200 sec). (David J Mathre)Backyard Panorama with 18 Trolls Covered with Snow. Composite of seven images taken with a Leica Q2 monochrome camera and 28 mm f/1.7 lens (ISO 100, 28 mm, f/4.5, 1/200 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro. The new Panorama feature within Capture One Pro didn’t work with this set of images, so the panorama was generated with AutoPano Giga (David J Mathre)
Birds of the day on a snowy day viewed at the birdfeeder and in the backyard: Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, House Finch, Dark-eyed Junco, White-throated Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Northern Cardinal.
Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Videos using the Snow Blower, and Red Rover to clear snow from the driveway. The tensioning spring for the PTO belt on the Snow Blower was loose. It was pretty hard to get it back on when the temperature was below 20°F. I needed to use a crow bar to push the belt wheel back far enough to attach the spring.
Daily Electric Energy Used (113.6 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (0.0 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. The solar panels were covered with 8+ inches of snow. The suplemental resistance heating kicked on at night as the outdoor temperature dropped below 10°F. Deficit of 113.6 kWh.
Birds of the day viewed at the birdfeeder and in the backyard: Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, House Finch, Dark-eyed Junco, White-throated Sparrow, Common Grackle, Northern Cardinal.
Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
While taking the trash out, I noticed that the moon was nearly full. Actually one day after the full moon. Since the sky was clear, I also set cameras up to do some star trails. There definitely are more jets flying than one and two years ago. Also a couple of meteor trails. A couple of notes using the Leica Q2 monochrome for composite star trail images. The ISO needs to be 100 and the exposure time no greater than 4 seconds, otherwise a second dark (shutter closed) image is taken and subtracted to remove sensor noise. Also, I wish the camera had an option to connect an external power source so I could take longer sequences.
Full Moon. Image taken with a Leica SL2 camera and Sigma 150-600 mm sport lens (ISO 100, 600 mm, f/8, 1/1000 sec). (David J Mathre)Star and Jet Trails looking South. Composite of 273 images [19:00 – 21:15] taken with a Leica SL2 camera and Loawa 9 mm f/5.6 W-Dreamer lens (ISO 100, 9 mm, f/5.6, 30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite generated using PhotoShop (statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)Star and Jet Trails looking South. Composite of 1276 [18:00 – 19:40] images taken with a Leica Q2 monochrome camera with a 28 mm f/1.7 lens. (ISO 100, 28 mm, f/2, 4 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite generated using PhotoShop (scripts, statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)Star and Jet Trails looking South. Composite of 1520 [20:33 – 22:40] images taken with a Leica Q2 monochrome camera with a 28 mm f/1.7 lens. (ISO 100, 28 mm, f/2, 4 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite generated using PhotoShop (scripts, statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)Star and Jet Trails looking South. Composite of 1520 [22:59 – 01:06] images taken with a Leica Q2 monochrome camera with a 28 mm f/1.7 lens. (ISO 100, 28 mm, f/2, 4 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite generated using PhotoShop (scripts, statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)
Day 2 of the Bok Choi seeds sprouting time-lapse videos. First video, images taken every 1 minute for 13 hours 36 minutes then displayed at 12 frames/second. The second video images taken every 1 minute for 5 hours, then displayed at 12 frames/second.
Daily Electric Energy Used (95.7 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (22.7 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Some sun and a bit warmer outside so the resistance heaters were not needed, but the Geothermal HVAC system was on most of the day. Deficit of 73.0 kWh.
Birds of the day viewed at the birdfeeder and in the backyard: Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, House Finch, Dark-eyed Junco, White-throated Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle. I don’t often get the Red-winged Blackbirds up at the feeder. They mostly spend their time at the bottom of the hill near the J&J facility. Also in the afternoon after the rain stopped, a flock of Dark-eyed Junco’s passed through the yard. One of the local Dark-eyed Junco’s figured out that it can get food from the Thistle (Niger seed) feeder with the tiny holes.
Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Yesterday, I planted some Bok Choi pods in an AeroGarden Bounty. Although the pods say the Bok Choi seeds should sprout in 4-8 days, I noticed that a couple of seeds had already started to germinate. I set up a Leica SL2s camera with a Laowa 24 mm f/14 macro probe lens to make a time-lapse video of the seeds sprouting. The lens has LED lights at the end of the probe to illuminate the subject. Images were taken every 1 minute for 5 hours 45 minutes, then processed with Capture One Pro and PhotoShop.
Two years ago I was able to grow some red poppies indoors in an AeroGarden hydroponic Farm. It took 124 days (27-February-2020) before the first red poppy flower opened. I want to try it again, with some different types of poppies. The first thing will be to test the viability of the seeds. I seem to remember that I needed to put the seeds in the fridge or freezer in order to get them to germinate. Images of the seeds to be tested taken with a Leica SL2s camera with a Laowa 24 mm f/14 macro probe lens. For reference, the diameter of the circle is 35 mm. The seeds to be tested are California Poppy (American Meadows, 2018), Oriental Poppy (American Meadows, 2019); Lauren-Grape Poppy (Marde Ross & Company, 2020); Hungarian Breadseed Poppy (Plant Good Seed, 2020); Red Poppy (American Meadows, 2019 Spring); Turkish Tulip Poppy (Waterfall Seeds, 2020); Somniferum Blend Poppy (Seed Needs, 2020); Red Poppy (American Meadows, 2019 Fall); Mixed Red Poppy (American Meadows, 2019).
Poppy Seeds. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Daily Electric Energy Used (91.4 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (4.9 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. A bit warmer outside so the resistance heaters were not needed, but the Geothermal HVAC system was on most of the day. Deficit of 86.5 kWh.
