Hummingbird Clearwing Moth

I took a few minutes today to photograph one of my daily visitors to my backyard. I haven't yet confirmed if this is the Hummingbird Clearwing Moth or the Snowberry Hummingbird Clearwing Moth. Nonetheless, it's a beautiful creature to watch. It's extremely difficult to photograph since they are so small (about 2 inches tall - which is typical of the Snowberry species), but it's also very fast. It moves and hovers similar to a hummingbird but at a more nervous pace. It's wingbeat is about 30 beats per second, which is impressive for a moth. The ones I photographed last year were about 1-2 inches larger (considerably larger).

Keep in mind, I'm manually focusing my lens to capture these...Here are just a few from today. To give you a sense of size, the flowers you see are about the size of a thumbtack.

How to wake up early?

The seasons change (at least here in the U.S.) and when the days become shorter and colder, it becomes more tempting to stay in the warmth of your bed covers. What to do? Check out the website How to wake up early. Lots of tips and ideas on the topic of sleeping and waking from your dreams. Enjoy!

Image of the Month - August

It was a tough choice, but this is my choice for August Image of the Month. I took this image of an immature Blue Bird near my home.