The deer continue to be a problem. They were back in the wildflower meadow again last night. I have deployed three Air-Dancer Scarecrows, that go off at random intervals.
Daily Electric Energy Used (54.3 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (41.6 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. More sun in the afternoon and warmer out. The Geothermal HVAC used 6.1 kWh for cooling. The new hydroponic gardens used 8.7 kWh. Overall a net deficit of 12.7 kWh.
I saw a relatively small black Spider caught a larger Crane Fly for breakfast.
Spider feeding on a Crane Fly. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens + 1.4x teleconverter (DAVID J MATHRE)
Daily Electric Energy Used (54.3 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (41.6 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. More sun in the afternoon and warmer out. The Geothermal HVAC used 6.1 kWh for cooling. The new hydroponic gardens used 8.7 kWh. Overall a net deficit of 12.7 kWh.
Daily walkabout with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 200 mm f/2 lens. There must have been a hundred Monarch butterflies feeding in my wildflower meadows today. The Monarch butterflies were feeding on Cosmos, Zinnia, Mexican Sunflower, and Marigold flowers. At least one Monarch butterfly was caught, probably by a Praying Mantis. All that was left were the wings on the ground. The Painted Lady butterflies liked the Marigold and Lemon Mint flowers.
Click on the above image to access my PhotoShelter gallery with the individual images in the following slideshow.
Click on the above image to access my PhotoShelter gallery with the individual images in the following slideshow.
Daily Electric Energy Used (54.3 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (41.6 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. More sun in the afternoon and warmer out. The Geothermal HVAC used 6.1 kWh for cooling. The new hydroponic gardens used 8.7 kWh. Overall a net deficit of 12.7 kWh.
I’m having a real problem with the deer. They were up on my patio during the night eating my tomato and strawberry plants. The electric fence doesn’t seem to work at keeping them out anymore. The first video is from a security camera in infrared at night, the second video is with a Nikon 1V3 camera through my kitchen window just as the Air Dancer Scarecrow is triggered.
Daily Electric Energy Used (45.8 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (21.6 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Cloudy but cooler out so the Geothermal HVAC was off. The new hydroponic gardens are using 8.7 kWh. Overall a net deficit of 24.2 kWh.
Monthly electric energy used (1457 kWh) and Solar electric energy produced (1261 kWh) for a net deficit of 196 kWh. This is the first month since March where I didn’t produce more via solar.
My initial walkabout was with a Nikon D850 camera and 200-500 mm VR lens. I almost walked into a large spider web with a big spider. Probably some type of Orb-web Builder spider. As with yesterday, there were lots and lots of Monarch butterflies in my wildflower meadows. They were feeding on Cosmos, Zinnia, and Marigold flowers. I also captured images of two Common Buckeye butterflies. When going back in I found the Praying Mantis that I spotted in an image yesterday. Its belly was pretty full, so it has been successful capturing some meals recently. I can only wish it has been feeding on the Stink Bugs that have been trying to get into my house recently as the temperatures cool outside. I took some images with the Nikon D850 camera, then swapped to a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens + 1.4x teleconverter.
Hairy Spider hainging out. Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 200-500 mm VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Click on the image above to access my PhotoShelter gallery with the individual images from the following slideshow.
Click on the image above to access my PhotoShelter gallery with the individual images from the following slideshow.
Click on the image above to access my PhotoShelter gallery with the individual images from the following slideshow.
Daily Electric Energy Used (56.5 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (37.3 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Cloudy most of the day (with the Sycamore tree blocking the solar panels in the afternoon). The Geothermal HVAC system used (10 kWh) and the new indoor hydroponic systems running (8.7 kWh). An overall net deficit of 19.2 kWh.