hummingbird moth

not at all hobby related except that i observed this creature while knitting outside of mom's house. she has hummingbird feeders and flowers planted so that we can watch them from the family room and from the back porch. the hummingbirds are always fun to watch and listen to. their wings barely noticeable but for the loud thrumming noise coming from them.

there is a new kid on the block, hummingbird moths. these are the same size as a hummingbird, they drink from the same flowers, though they are never at the feeder. they are strange to see as you keep asking yourself at first, is it a bird or an insect? but birds don't have antennae, they don't have six legs and they don't have probosci. weird weird animal. it was the celebrity of the trip. my brother took many pics to capture the essence of this thing. the neighbor kept dropping by and finally asked us to call her when it reappeared as she also wanted photos. at first you might catch sight of one in the morning or evening, by the end of the trip, they were gathering four at a time. funky.

my mom's place is free of media. she gets one satellite television channel that is the french news channel. no computer, not even an answering machine. it's refreshing but i couldn't wait to research that bug. as soon as i got home dave had it up for me on the internet. cool. now i could rest and tell my mom that the thing is a white-lined sphinx moth.