Hummingbird Moth

I was in western New Hampshire today, visiting my Mom. We were on the back porch when we noticed what looked like a very large bumblebee flitting around the phlox next to us. Only it was sort of rusty orange-red, at least an inch long, and had green coloring to its head. And Martian-style antennae. And a hummingbird-style tail.

Mom thought it might be a hummingbird moth, which I'd never heard of. It acted like a hummingbird, except it wasn't afraid of us at all. After a minute it flew away, but I went out to grab my camera in case it came back, and our stake-out began.

Within the hour, it was back, with a smaller and less colorful companion. By now two friends had responded to my post on Twitter about the thing, both agreeing that it was a hummingbird moth, and with a link to pictures confirming it.

I stayed around the flowers, and the moth kept coming back, so I got dozens of pictures. Of course, it refused to hold still for more than a split second at a time, so dozens of pictures were required.








About an hour into this, I decided to grab some footage with my phone. Hummingbird moth was happy to oblige.






The next time it came back, I reached out to touch it. Not capture it, or hurt it in any way but just to see if it would let me. Which it did, briefly resting its tiny feet on my finger. I could also feel the wind of its wings blowing on my hand. An Avatar moment!

It's really neat when nature reveals something new, as if to say, "You can scarcely grasp what wonders lie within my domain. Did you know about this one?"