Real estate, Texas gardening, wildlife, and other stuff

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Hummingbird moth

I love all kinds of flying things: birds, bats, dragonflies, damselflies, hummingbirds, butterflies, and moths. This one is a beauty:

 

At first, we thought it was a superfast bumble bee or small hummingbird when it zoomed past us. It is a hummingbird moth, or Nessus Sphinx, Amphion nessus. These photos were the best of a dozen I took; most of them were too blurry for the wing markings to be visible.

And just like the butterflies, it LOVES lantana flowers!

 

Robin Rogers, Realtor, Broker-owner, ABR, TRC, CRS

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Comments

Hi Robin!  Love your photos.  I'm a fan of all things outdoors.  I live in Oregon on the coast and am so amazed that hummingbirds winter here, mild though the winters are.  When hiking our coastal forest, I enjoy finding banana slugs and newts and lobster mushrooms.  What a world we live in.  Thanks for your post.

I'm a newbie to Active Rain and so enjoying everything about the group.

Hope in Florence, OR

Posted by Hope MacManus (Home Finders SVC Real Estate, Florence, OR) over 4 years ago
Nice Shot!! Thanks for sharing, I love hummingbird anything!
Posted by Kansas City North Real Estate :: Fran White 816-682-3897 (North Kansas City Real Estate, Reece and Nichols Residential) over 4 years ago
Amazing photos! We had them here a few years ago, and they were amazing. I never knew they existed before that. Fun - Thanks for sharing>
Posted by David Squier (Keller Williams Realty Las Vegas) over 4 years ago
That's very cool, I'm going to share this with my grandkids.
Posted by Terrylynn Fisher, HAFA Certified, EcoBroker, CRS, CEP Realtor, Etc. (Dudum Real Estate Group - BuyStageSell.com) over 4 years ago
Hummingbird Moths are fascinating, but my personal favorite is the Luna Moth; mysterious and beautiful.
Posted by Rosario Lewis, GRI, SRES ~ DDR Realty, Orange County, NY (DDR Realty) over 4 years ago

Hi, Hope:

"Banana slugs" and "lobster mushrooms"?! Wow. I guess some creatures can only be described with the names of other creatures that they resemble.

Welcome to Active Rain! You can learn stuff AND have fun here. Kinda like Sesame Street for real estate.

Cheers,

Robin

Posted by Robin Rogers, Silverbridge Realty, San Antonio, Texas over 4 years ago
I had never heard of a hummingbird moth before, neat photos of yours!
Posted by Deborah Burns ~ Seattle Real Estate Agent (Realty Executives -BRIO) over 4 years ago

Hi, Fran:

Did you see my hummingbird show in the previous blog post? I had up to 12 of them visiting three feeders for a couple of weeks in late August. The count is usually 3, now down to the lone female.

They're pretty cool customers. If you just sit or stand still for a while, they will hover in front of you and check you out, and then head right over to the feeder.

Cheers,

Robin

Posted by Robin Rogers, Silverbridge Realty, San Antonio, Texas over 4 years ago

Hi, David / Terrilynn / Rosario / Deborah:

Here is a website with some gorgeous photos of hummingbird moths and information about them:

http://whatsthatbug.com/clearwing_moth.html

There's even one of "my" hummingbird moth--perched on a lantana flower, of course!

Luna moths are indeed beautiful. Moths are usually more subtly colored (not to say drab) than butterflies, but the Luna is an exception.

Cheers,

Robin

Posted by Robin Rogers, Silverbridge Realty, San Antonio, Texas over 4 years ago
Great photos, thanks for sharing!  Now I'm gonna watch for these on my Lantanas.
Posted by Ricki Eichler,Broker,GRI,ABR,TAHS,ePRO your Texas Hill Country connection (Ricki Eichler Real Estate LLC) over 4 years ago

Hey, Ricki:

You gotta have fast eyes--these guys are quick!

Cheers,

Robin

Posted by Robin Rogers, Silverbridge Realty, San Antonio, Texas over 4 years ago
You no what is enen more amazing about most of these large moths? Unlike humming birds their wings make hardly any noise at all. It is o strange watching them move silently through our gardens in the evenings. Great photos.
Posted by Trey Thurmond, College Station , Texas Homes (Brazosland Classic Realty) over 4 years ago

Thanks, Trey! You're right--they're surprisingly quiet.

Cheers,

 

Robin

Posted by Robin Rogers, Silverbridge Realty, San Antonio, Texas over 4 years ago

Hey Robin - I'm a little behind on my comment but better late then not at all. Your pictures are great; we'll have to watch for some this spring. Thanks for sharing and hope you have a good 2008.

Carl

Hill Country Inspector

Posted by CARL & CEIL WINTERS Canyon Lake/New Braunfels /San Antonio (Complete Inspection Service) over 4 years ago

Hi, Carl:

Thanks for stopping by. I will keep my eyes open for hummingbird moths among other pretty things that will soon be appearing in my garden!

Cheers,

Robin

Posted by Robin Rogers, Silverbridge Realty, San Antonio, Texas over 4 years ago

Robin:

Great pictures, Truly amazing, I love to watch nature. Thanks for sharing.

Posted by Alan in Austin Kirkpatrick (Austin Texas Homes) over 4 years ago
Hi Robin, I wanted to say hi, and hope we can start helping each other on AR.  The title caught my attention, since I also have a great picture of these little beauties.  Saw my fist one at my lake house on lake Limestone, and did not know what it was?  Have been in TX my whole life...so of course off I go to google, and there it was, and they are common.  Amazing what we miss by not paying closer attention.  Look forward to getting to know you better, and hopefully we can help each other on AR, and with referrals.  There is always a lot of movement between Houston/Katy and San Antonio.  Liz
Posted by Liz Carter,Broker/Owner of Liz Carter & Team Realty, Katy TX (Houston) (Liz Carter & Team Realty-Your Real Estate Resource For Life!) over 4 years ago

Thanks, Alan! Glad you liked the pix.

And thanks, too, Liz--the distance does seem to be shorter now between Houston and San Antonio. I have a couple of clients looking to return to San Antonio (actually Canyon Lake) from the Woodlands when they retire in a couple of years.

I'll stop by your blog,

Robin

Posted by Robin Rogers, Silverbridge Realty, San Antonio, Texas over 4 years ago

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