Just taking a trip around the garden with the camera to try for a bee on the echinops, I spotted a hummingbird hawk moth hovering around the purple verbena.
It was so elusive that I set the camera on burst and finished up with around 100 frames.
I found online that its wingbeat is up to 70 beats per second allowing it to fly up to 12 mph. I didn't hear the hum or see any 'loving dogfight' which apparently occurs when a male has sniffed out a partner.
Spotting a hummingbird hawk-moth has apparently long been considered a good omen – a small eclipse of the orange and brown moths was famously seen flying over the Channel on D Day in 1944. I found this info on more than one website but it does sound a tad fanciful and I'll say no more....
A small and belated September update for 2024, where I am still, after many years' membership, on 365 Project, also now posting elsewhere but wanting...
So very well done Hazel - I haven't seen one of these in years! , they are so elusive - I remember one in the garden , and the frustration of trying to capture it amongst the flowers ! Big fav
