Five Spotted Hawkmoth

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.

It was a wonderful experience and one of those times for the memory bank.

Moths

First, all of these moths are dead.
Jimmy found them close to the brick plant and brought them to me.

The first one looks like a Columbia Silkmoth to me.

The other two I don't have a clue.
Notice the camouflage appearance of the last one.

If interested, watch for Hap's comment,
because I think he will come and id them for us.

Underside of all 3.
Look how much larger the first one is.

Update: The first one is a Cecropia Moth, the second one is a female Dobsonfly, and the third one is a Pandorus Sphinx Moth. Thanks for all the comments.

My door of butterflies and moths

When I photographed my first butterfly digitally I printed it, added a magnet to the back and placed it on the door going out to my sun porch. Started at the top, right below the stained glass transom of Chickadees and white dogwoods.

Never dreamed the magnets would keep growing to this point. Some of them I do have the wing open and the wing closed photos, but not all. The great part about this, the majority of them are from my own yard, or my wonderful next door neighbor's yard. He is wonderful because he allows me to wander all over his yard with my camera in hand. Actually calls me on occasion and says "This is your wonderful neighbor, come quick with the camera." You think I am kidding about the first part of that, but he actually called me Sunday and said that. Another reason he and his wife are such wonderful neighbors is they kept the peacocks run off my house roof and back deck while I was on vacation. But back to the butterfly magnets.

Left side of the door, and the right side of the door. The door looks similiar to my blog right sidebar, except the butterflies are cut out. Just in case you noticed they are NOT sized in relation to each other.

Not listed in any particular order, I have

Spicebush Swallowtail

Red Spotted Purple Swallowtail

Pipevine Swallowtail

Tiger Swallowtail

Dark Tiger Swallowtail

Zebra Swallowtail

Zebra Heliconian

Julia Heliconian (just realised not on the door, or my sidebar)

Common Wood Numph (taken in the GSMNP)

Question Mark

Hairstreak (not sure which one)

Monarch

Gulf Fritillary

Great Spangled Fritillary

Variegated Fritillary

Hackberry Emperor

American Painted Lady

Painted Lady

Red Admiral

Common Buckeye

White Peacock (taken in Florida)

Luna Moth

Yellow-Spotted Tiger Moth

Sulphurs

Skippers

Long Tailed Skipper

Silver Spotted Skipper

Common Checkerd Skipper

Dustywing (not absolutely sure which one)

Mourning Cloak (last added to the door, photographed the day I left on vacation)

Just realised I do not have the Cabbage White, Checkered White, or the Great Southern White on the door. I have photographed all 3. I have several of the Skippers and Sulphurs on the door, but they are hard to id, and I have several different ones of both in my yard. Gave up on trying to id them. I just say Sulphurs or Skippers and let it go at that most of the time. An example is the Sleepy Orange Sulphur or the Little Yellow Sulphur. Then there is the Common Sulphur or the Orange Sulphur, not to be confused with the Sleepy Orange Sulphur. Just makes my head spin.

This past Sunday I photographed a new butterfly. There is something about it when I get one, I could pour over the books for hours and still never figure out which one I just photographed. I sent the not so good photographs to Hap from New Hope and he identified it as the Tawny Emperor. I am not sure how he does it, but once Hap tells me the name I go to my book and the web site I visit and go "Yep, that's it." , and can even pick out the detail that makes it so, or not so. Hap has never told his story, at least not to me, but he does a fantastic job everytime I send him something, whether it is a bird or butterfly. I am posting the door for Hap. I promised him I would do this a LONG time ago. Hap, sorry it took me so long to do it. I do not have the Tawny Emperor on the door yet, hoping for a better photo.

I also want to say I had photographed half of these before I ever even saw a Monarch. They may be the most common in the United States, but definitely not in my yard. I now have lots of photographs of the Monarch with the wings together, but just a few with the wings open.

I also have photographs of a Salt March Moth or Acrea Moth (called both), taken on my spider plant on the front porch. Not documented to be in East Tennessee. Shown on the right sidebar, but not on the door. The Yellow-Spotted Tiger Moth (is on the door) is not documented to be in East Tennessee either, but I photographed it in Newport, Tennessee.

I told Hap on Sunday that I think the butterflies have notified all the other butterflies this is the place to be. I am not sure what the draw is, but I love it. I enjoy the butterflies more than the birds (sorry, to my birding blog buddies), and would love to add the plants that will help them. I do see them on my zinnia blooms and coneflower blooms more than anything else I have. I have never seen zinnia listed on anything I have read about butterflies. I am on a country road that it appears nobody sprays here. There are hayfields around me too.

Well, I am sure everybody has noticed I am not blogging much at all. Didn't even do my May monthly events post at the end of May, and May 2009 was the most eventful month I had since I started blogging, my 2nd grandson was born on May 7. If you haven't seen him his mother's blog can be viewed at www.articulateonpaper.blogspot.com , just had to make that plug there. The long story short (as I hear Alice at work say everyday) is, I don't know where I am headed with blogging. I have not visited anybody (so don't feel slighted at all) since before I left on vacation. And I know I need to. Also haven't posted but one other post since I came back.

I have been working on knitting projects, pulling weeds in the flowerbeds, my website, and I have joined Etsy. Etsy is for my cards, photos and my knitting. It is slow going adding to Etsy.

But the great news is I get to meet Shelley, Betsy and George on Friday morning. Shelley is coming to Tennessee and George, Betsy and I are going to meet her. Can't believe my Rockwood house is so close to George and Betsy and it takes Shelley visiting to get us to meet each other. I am so very excited about this!

Just realised I have been working on this post for an hour and half. This is why I do not have time to blog.