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impressions

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.

 

Legend has it that spotting a hummingbird hawk-moth is 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 to me it does sound a tad fanciful....

 

 

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Uploaded on July 19, 2023
Taken on July 18, 2023