Hummer.....

While I was out yesterday at the coast I noticed several of these beautiful Humming bird hawk moths Macroglossum stellatarum flitting around at a fantastic rate of knots!!! I watched them for a while, hoping I might see one 'hover' so I could get a decent in flight shot, but not a chance! So I reverted to plan B, and caught one in my sweep net!!!
To be honest I was a little surprised I managed to catch one, as I am not that nifty with the net, and they are super fast! Anyway, I took him home, placed him in my trusty fridge, and this is one of the few pictures I got as I re-released him.
The Hummingbird Hawk-moth is quite small for a hawk moth with a wingspan of 40-50mm . It is an immigrant, which in some summers occurs in large numbers.
It flies by day, sipping nectar from flowers with it's long proboscis, very similar to a humming bird which is why it gets it's name.
In the info it says it make an audible humming noise, which I noticed when I caught it in the net, these Hawk moths amaze me, squeaking and now humming, I wonder what next!!

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