Six-Years Ago (21-December-2006) — New Jersey

Winter Solstice: Birds in the Backyard.

I caught this white-throated sparrow eating a red berry in my backyard. The Nikon 80-400 mm VR lens is probably my most used lens. It is light enough to be hand held, and gives the reach to get images of small birds.

alt_title. (David J Mathre)
White-throated sparrow. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/6, 1/160 sec). (David J Mathre)

Five-Years Ago (01-December-2007) — Colorado

Rocky Mountain National Park: “Winter Play Area” in Hidden Valley

Although the pass across Rocky Mountain National Park closes for the winter, much of the lower elevations in the park are kept open. It is only an hour drive from where I am working in Boulder, Colorado. A couple of images taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 35 mm f/2 lens at the “Hidden Valley Winter Play Area”.

Winter Play Area, Hidden Valley, Rocky Mountain National Park. (David J Mathre)
Winter Play Area, Hidden Valley, Rocky Mountain National Park. (David J Mathre)
Winter Play Area, Hidden Valley, Rocky Mountain National Park. (David J Mathre)
Winter Play Area, Hidden Valley, Rocky Mountain National Park. (David J Mathre)

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Thursday (08-November-2012) — New Jersey

Autumn Weather in New Jersey: Nor’easter Athena.

An early winter. Not as much wind from Nor’easter Athena, but we did get 8-12 inches of snow last night. I didn’t know that nor’easters get names like hurricanes — social media or weather and news channels looking for ratings? Power was off for about 12 hours, so it was cold in the house this morning. Still not sure if the power was off due to ongoing power grid repairs, or new damage due to this storm.

PSE&G just sent an e-mail out that stated 70K users were still out due to hurricane Sandy, and another 90K users were out due to the nor’easter last night. The other comment was “Despite the snowstorm, the 4,000 out-of-state workers and 700 PSE&G linemen restored service to more than 120,000 customers affected by Hurricane Sandy in the past 24 hours. Many of our crews from the south have never worked in snow before, but have proven more than capable of handling this new challenge.”

Dawn after Nor'easter Athena, One+ Week Post Hurricane Sandy. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera (David J Mathre)
Dawn after Nor’easter Athena, One+ Week Post Hurricane Sandy. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera (David J Mathre)
Snow Post Hurricane Sandy. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera (David J Mathre)
Snowy Dawn. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera (David J Mathre)
Snow Post Hurricane Sandy. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera (David J Mathre)
Birch Tree Bent Over by Snow. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera (David J Mathre)
Snow Post Hurricane Sandy. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera (David J Mathre)
Dawn after Nor’easter Athena, One+ Week Post Hurricane Sandy. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera (David J Mathre)
Snow Post Hurricane Sandy. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera (David J Mathre)
Deer Tracks in the Snow. Image taken with a Leica V-Lux 30 camera (David J Mathre)

Five-Years Ago (24-February-2007) — New Jersey

Backyard Winter Nature in New Jersey: Turkey Vulture Flying Past the Moon.

I was out in the backyard trying to get images of the birds wintering in New Jersey. I noticed a shadow, turned around and caught this turkey vulture flying past the moon.

Turkey Vulture soaring past the first quarter moon. Backyard winter nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/200 sec). (David J Mathre)
Turkey Vulture soaring past the first quarter moon. Backyard winter nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/200 sec). (David J Mathre)

Three-Years Ago (18-February-2009) — New Jersey

Backyard Winter Nature in New Jersey: Black-capped Chickadee.

It was really cold out when I found this small bird trying to keep warm above my front door. It kept flying around and getting bits of the spider webs caught on its beak and wings. These images were taken with my “go anywhere” Nikon D300 camera and 18-200 mm lens with the pop-up flash. I did need to remove the lens hood to prevent a shadow in the image.



Individual images in the slide-show can be viewed here.