Ian spotted a humming-bird hawk-moth on the fields.
So, what are they?
Well, they are a moth. They might look like a bird!
The caterpillars would be found from June (around now) all the way through to October. But most often the caterpillars might be seen in August.
They overwinter as adults in unheated outbuildings, or in crevices in walls or trees, or it might even just be a summer visitor to the UK. They spin themselves a little cocoon fairly close to the ground, in the leaf litter perhaps, for the process of turning from a caterpillar to an adult moth.
Adult moths might be seen flying from May onwards. Their wingspan is probably about 5-6cm across, so about 2 inches. They dart about with their amazing proboscis. With this it can suck up nectar from a plant like a honeysuckle that hides the nectar deep in the flower.
It is one of the few moths that are seen out during the day. You might even hear the wings humming as they beat at least once a second.
They like lady’s bedstraw, hedge bedstraw and red valerian as food for the caterpillar. Or cleavers!
Every year people apparently see hummingbirds, but the humming-bird hawk-moth is the only ‘hummingbird’ in Europe: real hummingbirds are found in the Americas.
Some years there seems to be more of it than other years – for instance 2000, 2003 and 2006 were noticeably ‘good’ years for it. 2022 was also a ‘bumper’ year for sightings.
The influx probably comes along because of the long, settled spell of dry weather with winds coming from the south and from Europe. It really belongs in the Mediterranean area although perhaps with climate change we will see them all the time in the future. Read more about this on the BTO’s website https://www.birdguides.com/news/bumper-year-for-uk-hummingbird-sightings/
It is really useful to report findings of interesting and unusual things like this, so Ian’s record we have entered on the north-east Environmental Information Records Centre, or ERIC for short. https://www.ericnortheast.org.uk/
