Perpetual motion doesn't exist as I understand it, although I am no scientist, but the Hummingbird Hawk moth comes as close to achieving it as anything I have seen. I have spent much enjoyable time trying to photograph these busy nectar-feeders as they dart about on sunny afternoons and only once have I seen one stop in flight.
Today's photos are rare for me, therefore, taken thanks to Penny spotting the familiar triangle sight of a moth afloat in a puddle caused by this week's extremely welcome rain. When we carefully salvaged the inect and put it gently on a plant, it came to rather erratic life, staggering about but unable to use its soaked wings. These later dried-out but here is the moth pictured while it was immobile with its hair looking slicked with Brylcreem.
It brings my hawk moth tally for this year to six, along with the Poplar, Privet, Large Elephant, Eyed and Lime; a modest total compared to previous Summers which have seen both the Pine and Small Elephant arrive regularly and, once, a Broad-bordered Bee hawk. I still dream of Silver-striped and Convolvulus which others have hosted during thi sunny Summer but not me. So far.
The unexpected arrives more often than usual, however, and I have just had a modest example of that on a walk across Walthamstow Marshes from my younger son's home in Clapton to a niece's in Walthamstow. The parched landscape resembled Death Valley more than anything watery and I didn't expect to find much of interest en route.
Instead, I first glimpsed this little dot of red in the overwhelming sandy-brown, then watched a Clouded Yellow fly hectically past and managed to photograph a Small White, Small Copper and lovely Common Blue. I have often remarked on how beautiful these are in spite of their dismissive name. The same goes for Holly Blues which have become one of the dominant butterfly species of the English suburb.
There were flowers dotted about the apparent desert and the butterflies had found them out.
Back home, the moth trap is busy but pretty routine and here are some visitors from the last few days. In each case clockwise from the top left, we have have Flounced Rustic, Single-dotted Wave, European Corn-borer and Gold Triangle, the last two both micros which I am now describing by their very welcome vernacular names instead of the heavy duty Greek and Latin mixture of the Linnaean system.
Then we have Light Emerald, Black-headed Conch, Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing and Straw Underwing
Next Willow Beauty, Spectacle, Red Twin-spot Carpet and Common Carpet
And finally, a Riband Wave in two forms of the digital camera's light-gathering, a vivid Purple and Gold and a spidery-looking Orange Swift.
