This was a chance meeting. My driveway washed out due some heavy rains. While I was working my husband came home (works out of town) to straighten out the driveway. He called me and said we had something unusual at the 4 o'clocks. I am trying to tell him over the phone how to use my D-SLR. Which was fairly comical in itself, since he doesn't use a camera at all.
Well, he was not successful. Neither was I the first night I was there at dusk.
For some reason my 4 o'clocks don't open at 4PM, but at dusk. And that is when this moth shows up. Every night apparently....at dusk.
The very worse time for photographing anything that won't stay still longer than a second.
But I did capture enough photographs to send off to Hap for his advise. I told Hap I thought it was a Carolina Sphinx. I was close in appearance, but wrong. And once Hap said it is a Five Spotted Hawkmoth I see the differences.
I don't know if this moth just comes out at night, or if it just wants the 4 o'clocks and doesn't like any of the other flowers that I have. But I have not seen it at any other time. There we were at dusk, sitting in the lawn chairs waiting on the 4 o'clocks to open. They open and less than 2 minutes later the moth shows up. What internal clocks they must have. Or kind of like when the bird feeder is empty and you fill it and instantly you have a backyard full of birds.
Well, he was not successful. Neither was I the first night I was there at dusk.
For some reason my 4 o'clocks don't open at 4PM, but at dusk. And that is when this moth shows up. Every night apparently....at dusk.
The very worse time for photographing anything that won't stay still longer than a second.
But I did capture enough photographs to send off to Hap for his advise. I told Hap I thought it was a Carolina Sphinx. I was close in appearance, but wrong. And once Hap said it is a Five Spotted Hawkmoth I see the differences.
It was a wonderful experience and one of those times for the memory bank.
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