serenissima | Local wildlife addendum: sphinx moth

When I exited the house this morning to begin walking the dog, I was excited to find a sphinx moth or hawk moth taking breakfast from the lobelias or whatever those red flowers are in our back yard border.

I can see how these insects would be mistaken for hummingbirds. The size and general body shape are about the same, they hover to feed rather than perching, and their wings move so fast they're a blur. The eyes looked small, not like huge bug eyes, although that may just have been some kind of weird pale and dark color pattern. I had to watch for several seconds to assure myself that it was not in fact a hummingbird, but the antennae and the fact that it curled its proboscis when it paused feeding were giveaways. I could kind of see the pattern on the wings, striped forewings and pinkish hindwings, and I think it may have been the same kind of moth that I noticed on the outside wall of our hotel at the last place, right before we moved:

(picture taken with crappy phone camera)

After staring for a minute, I moved toward the door to get a camera from inside, but the moth flew away. Still, that was a cool way to start the day!

About the hummingbirds: they've been at the feeder all morning. At one point, one was perched and feeding while a second one chased away a third. There has been much squabbling. An angry hummingbird is one of the funnier, and cuter, animals I've witnessed.