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hummingbirds13th Sep 2018Hummingbirds
It is that time of year again. Hummingbird hawk moths (HH) are about. Last year we had a surfeit of privet hawk moths, this time it is the real thing.
As they say in the reference tomes, hummingbird hawk moths prefer bright sunlight, but also fly in dull weather, at dusk or dawn, and sometimes even at night. Today we seem to have an amdix of most of these within a short time. Only night appears to be missing at the moment.
HH are classically attracted to flowers that provide a plentiful supply of nectar, such as red valerian, honeysuckle, jasmine, Buddleia, lilac, Escallonia, petunia and phlox. Ours seem to be suckers (literally) for honeysuckle where they hover in front of flowers, probing repeatedly for nectar, before swinging onto adjacent blooms.
Our HH have balanced surfeits of feeding with sunbathing, wings folded away for cryptic purposes.
How long this mini invasion will last is uncertain. That they might be local, or French is tantalising. |
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