Wednesday 10 July 2013

Hummer back in the garden

On Monday 8th July between 7.15 to 7.20am, I was delighted to see a Hummingbird Hawk Moth hovering around the pink flowering Valerian plants in the garden, right outside the kitchen window. I have encouraged these now common plants to flower (for this precise purpose to attract these moths). I quickly retrieved the camera and before I could change the settings to TV- shutter speed priority (essential to freeze an image of such a fast winged insect) it had flown off to the west. A Hawk moth, that in flight, resembles a tiny hummingbird, due to the very fast flapping wings, hence the name. It typically shows diagnostic bright chestnut brown panels on the "secondaries" area of the wings, if I was labelling in avian anatomical terminology, I'm not sure of the proper entomological descriptive term. I will keep a look out and look forward, very much, to further future visits, once they have been sighted I usually get a spate of sightings (fingers crossed!) July is always the best time for visits from this very welcome continental visitor, co-inciding with the flowering of the nectar rich Valerians, but typically observation periods are usually no more than 5 or 10 minutes. Apologies for lack of any updates, I have been exceptionally busy at work (I have worked 49 hours in the past calendar week!!!) with no time, whatsoever for any other wildlife watching.

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