I wrote a short while back about installing a presentable garden in our new home that is just a standard, blank and bland, new build stamp of grass, here in the East Midlands: Making a work of art
The build goes on, however today I had a very welcome and unexpected visitor. I have today visited a local nursery to purchase some plants for the garden. As always I always go for the plants that the pollinators love, so I stocked up with plenty of Verbena, Salvia and Hebe that they all appear to gravitate towards. Whilst placing them in the garden, still in their pots to see what would be best in various positions, the pollinators started to arrive. However there was a special visitor on one of those plants. Look at the little fellah in the video below.
You can easily tell them apart from other moths by their distinct behavior and appearance:
- The Hover: They beat their wings up to 70 times per second, creating a distinct, audible “humming” sound while remaining completely stationary in mid-air.
- The Tongue: They extend an incredibly long, tube-like tongue (called a proboscis) to drink nectar deeply from flowers without ever landing.
- Coloration: They have greyish-brown forewings, bright orange-brown hindwings (highly visible in flight), and a black-and-white chequered body.
- Size: They are medium-to-large moths with a wingspan of 50–58mm.
And it’s the first one I’ve seen personally for around five years.
Made my day this has. Remember that quote from the Kevin Costner film, Field of dreams? “If you build it, he will come.”
Well I use the same quote for wildlife in the garden, slightly amended though, “If you plant it, they will come.”
And they most certainly do. Here’s the proof.
Have a great day, and stay safe.
Foxes Den 