Hummingbird Hawkmoth

It’s always a thrill to see a Hummingbird Hawkmoth. They’re dizzyingly fast and brain-achingly difficult to photograph.

This one was in quite poor light, a long way away, and moving very quickly from flower to flower, feeding on nectar from what looks like a Red Deadnettle. It clearly needs high-energy drinks, as it must be burning energy at a ferocious rate.

I set my camera to 1/10,000th of a second exposure time and the wings are still blurred. How is that even possible? Its tongue, the proboscis, is freakishly controllable, and it curls it up neatly in front of its face as it flies and then extends it when near the next ripe flower.

I’ll know better what to do next time I see one. For now, I just need to lie down.