Hummingbird moths exhibit what is known as convergent evolution. Basically, what this means is that two species evolve separately but arrive at a very similar result. In this case, the hummingbird moth and its namesake hummingbirds have evolved to have similar appearances, similar habits, similar diets, etc... but obviously, they are absolutely not related at all. This quite often happens when you have animals filling a niche in an environment - in this case, feeding from the nectar of flowers.

These particular hummingbird moths are called Hummingbird Clearwing Moths (Hemaris thysbe). They range in size from about 1.5 - 2.5 inches, and as their namesake implies, they fly just like hummingbirds - even with the humming noise from their wings.

We have had them visit the flowers in our garden at home, but only ever one at a time, and they are incredibly skittish like that. I couldn't even get within 10 feet of those individuals. However, this past weekend, we visited Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve. We started the day by finding a small batch of flowers that had two, then three hummingbird moths flying around feeding. I managed to get in pretty close and get some shots. We then wandered the trails (finding all kinds of bugs that I'll be sharing over the coming weeks) and eventually returned to buy bird seed for Anya's feeders. That was when we found another batch of flowers with at least eight to ten more hummingbird moths. I was able to slowly make my way into the middle of the flowers and sit their firing off shots as the moths flew around me to feed.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/250 sec at f/16. Canon Speedlight 580EX II flash in auto mode and wireless control. Image Stabilization on. ISO 160. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw. Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve, Fox Chapel, PA.

All of the shots were done with manual focus mainly because I was able to get the manual focus close and then move myself and the camera forward and backward slightly to get the exact focus I wanted. It was still a challenge and I had plenty of moths fly away before I could obtain focus - they don't spend much time at any one flower.

Another challenge was making sure that the flash was pointed in the right direction - if I changed the distance I was shooting at, the flash would not be pointed correctly without adjustment. This tended to make me stick within a specific distance rather than shooting whatever I could see, but this also helps to keep the shots closer to 1:1 magnification.

I am also not thrilled with some of the background in the shots - particularly with the amount of dead/dying flowers that are around. It is an unfortunate side-effect, and I was messing with Photoshop tonight to see if I could remedy it, but so far my photoshopping skills are not quite up to the challenge. Maybe some day in the future.

Anyway, make sure to stop in frequently as I have a bunch of hummingbird moth photos as well as a bunch of other cool things to share. Thanks for stopping by!

- Bill