Tangled Branches: Cultivated
happenings in and around my zone 6b gardens in northern Virginia and in central Virginia
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Beginning of Autumn?
Well, gosh, I was going to write a post about August being the beginning of autumn, but I decided to check my archives before doing it. Good thing, too, because I was going to write very nearly the same thing I wrote a year ago. Everything I wrote then applies equally well today, except this time I have a good picture of a clearwing moth.
In that picture, it just looks like a bug, but when you see one of these hovering in front of a flower, you could swear you're looking at a tiny hummingbird.
Also, to update last year's post just a bit, Wikipedia now has a page showing the exact time of the traditional beginning of autumn. Going over to time.gov, I see that we are already 2 hours into autumn as I write this. Then why is it so darned hot?
16 Comments:
Wow, great capture! Incredible that you photographed the moth. They are such fast fliers and flit about so much it's all but impossible to take a picture of them. We called them hawk moths (short for hummingbird hawk moths) but I guess there are any number of names for the moth.
Ki: I used the "sports" mode on the camera, and hoped for the best. I posted two of the better ones out of dozens (and some of those were really bad). I'm not sure of the ID of the moth. I used to call them hummingbird moths, but apparently that's a specific type, so I switched to calling them clearwing. Bugguide.net has a few zillion pictures.
What a fantastic photo! I was able to capture a neat silhouette picture of one last year. I incorrectly identified it as a hornet, so you have taught me something new - Thanks!
I just found your blog for the first time and I really like it! I look forward to seeing more.
Hi- stopping by from Garden Voices. Great photo of the hummingbird moth and the flower is the background is beautiful, as well!
I have tried to catch them with my camera, but have been unsuccessful so far.
Autumn?! Ugh! I'm not inviting autumn into my life until mid/late-October.
Marc: Welcome! Your silhouetted picture of the moth is great - I love those shots with the sky as the background. I was just reading your drought/tomato post - maybe we should all take pictures of the BLTs we're making instead of just whole tomatoes. We could start a BLT gallery ;-) Hope you get some rain, and if you do, please send it here next.
Connie: Thanks for stopping by! I see you have tomato pictures too, and some very beautiful hummingbirds. I have yet to take a good picture of a hummingbird - one of these days....
Chuck B: I know what you mean - I'm always happy to consider February as the beginning of spring, but not August as the beginning of autumn. But I'd sure like a little break from the hot weather we've been having. BTW, your new kitchen looks fabulous - I really like the subway tile backsplash.
Sports mode, eh - whatever you did, it worked beautifully, Entangled! We see similar moths around here, but seldom stay still enough for me to make an ID.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
WOW! ~Great photo of the humming bird moth..they are as hard to get a good shot of as humming birds
but you have an awesome shot!!
Annie: Chasing bugs with a camera is about as close to sports as I get. ;-)
Catherine: Thanks for visiting! I see you're in VA too. We seem to have an abundance of bugs to photograph here - some of them even are pretty. ;-) I like your grasshopper pictures.
Great pic! I see your verbena hastatas are still going strong! Mine are too.
Last year I saw a hummingbird moth in my garden for the first time ever. We didn't use to have them and they are still rare now but for a moment I thought I had a real hummingbird in my garden. Love the sound of those wings!
Oh noooooooo, don't let it be autumn yet, we hardly had a summer here so far this year.
Yolanda Elizabet: Verbena hastata was new to me this year, but it looks like a keeper.
I think we're going to have more hot weather this year (here in Virginia anyhow), but I could feel the change in the air this morning. I actually like autumn, but I sure hate to let go of summer. :-( I'd like autumn even better if it wasn't followed by winter.
When I was little, I remember doing a report and model of the Maryland state butterfly, the Baltimore Checkerspot. But to this day, I have never seen one! I think even the monarch's are more common! Great photos though, thanks for sharing!
Another great shot! (I read the butterfly post first). I'm almost looking forward to Autumn in hopes of cooler weather and rain, it's been so hot and dry up here.
RR: Thanks for stopping by! There was an article in the WaPo last year about the Baltimore Checkerspot. I've never seen one either. I wrote a post about it at the time: Baltimore Checkerspot
I see that you're a published author of crochet patterns - cool! I'll have to remember to look for the Interweave Crochet Winter edition.
Lisa: Has the rain missed WI? Northern IL (where I'm from originally) has been absolutely drenched recently. I was just there over the weekend, slogging through the mud at the Steam Show in Sycamore. I sure wish it would rain here....
That is a great shot of the moth! I've taken a few pictures myself and they are so hard to photograph.
I haven't tried the sports mode, thanks for the tip.
Robin: I think the sports mode forces the camera to a faster shutter speed, but I'm not 100% sure about that. I tried the same technique on a hummingbird, but didn't get such great results. I'm going to keep trying.
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