Hummingbird

Hummingbird Hawkmoth (Macroglossum stellatarum)

Every now and then, some clueless but well-meaning Brit breathlessly announces on social media that they have a hummingbird in their garden. This is impossible, of course, since hummingbirds are restricted to the Americas. But they're half right. What they're actually seeing is a moth – a Hummingbird Hawkmoth (Macroglossum stellatarum) to be precise, and we had just such a visitor last week. Judging from the wear and tear it showed, it must have had a rather arduous journey to get here. In most of the UK, Hummingbird Hawkmoths are immigrants. Though they are known to overwinter in small numbers in south-western England (and are suspected of possibly breeding there as well), those seen over most of the UK have come from southern Europe and northern Africa – a pretty impressive feat for such a small creature! Despite its battered appearance, it still zoomed around the garden without a problem. Unlike most moths, this is a daytime flier; it flits from tubular flower to tubular flower,  hovering over them and unrolling its long proboscis to get a sip of nectar. Its orangy-brown hindwings, visible as the peach-coloured blur in the picture above, help to distinguish it from two species of similarly-sized (and equally zippy) day-flying "bee hawkmoths", which have clear wings. These travellers show up from April through December, though most arrive in August and September. They can show up anywhere, from the coast to urban gardens, and from the Channel Islands right to the northern edge of Scotland. Some years, more than 1000 make the journey! Our visitor only stayed one afternoon, but it was nice to know that our garden helped "top it up" after its long trip.