I took a walk in Red Wing Park today, looking for butterflies. I found butterflies (there will be photos later), but I also found something I had never seen before. I believe these are Snowberry Clearwing Moths. (Which might be the same as a Bumblebee Moth?)

I was so excited, when I first noticed them, that I forgot my camera. And I’m pretty certain I was talking to myself. All alone, in the middle of a dappled path, mumbling things like “ooh how pretty” and “what odd bees” and, at last, “it’s definitely not a bee.”

Once I remembered my camera, it didn’t take long to realize that the moths moved too fast for me. They hovered to drink, never perching. A quick sip of nectar, then on to the next bloom. Most of my images could be labelled “a moth was here when I pressed the button, but flew away before the shutter clicked.”

I starting having success when I learned to focus on a clump of flowers and wait for a moth to zip into frame. This technique was a stretch for me, because I’m terrible at waiting. Perhaps, after today, I’ll be a tiny bit more patient with my life.

I’m tempted to wish for better photos, but the truth is that I’m lucky to have gotten any useful images at all. Most of my efforts look something like this: