The afternoon was sunny and pleasant as me and my daughter were walking home from school. We had stopped to watch a tight cluster of garden spiderlings on a hedge, when, from the other side of the street I spotted what I thought was a butterfly moving to feed on a large clump of Red Valerian in the full sun. I kept watching and then I realised it was a Hummingbird Hawkmoth! We crossed the street, let some people walk pass and watched the beautiful moth as it hovered from tiny flower to tiny flower, its long tongue outstretched, sucking the nectar. The light was lovely and the background hard to beat.
The Hummingbird Hawkmoth is a migrant from southern regions, it overwinters as an adult and it wouldn't withstand British winters. It tends to appear in times of warm weather. I found it a bit surprising, given how cool this spring is being, but maybe migration may happen in response to warm weather in the areas where they come from, and it's been very warm around the Mediterranean. If you see one you can report it to
Butterfly Conservation Migrant watch, where you can also see an interactive map with all sightings submitted.
What a treat this was for day 11 of #30dayswild.
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