16th August 2026 – Southleigh, East Devon

Before this epic summer the hottest summer I remember was the summer of 1976. That summer is often referred to as the year of the ladybird as swarms of ladybirds infested towns and cities across the UK, with many people even reporting being bitten by them. 

I shall remember this year as the year of the hummingbird hawk-moth. Before this year I can only remember a few sightings of them in the UK, but this year they have almost been a common occurrence.

Recently “The Times” newspaper reported :

“Big enough to be mistaken for a bird, the moths brought by warm air from the south have been seen everywhere from the Channel Islands to Scotland”.

In the garden of the cottage where we are staying in Devon there is a buddleia which, as well as attracting numerous butterflies, has attracted several hummingbird hawk-moths.

They are not easy to photograph as their wings beats at 80 times per second.

And some of the butterflies:

I couldn’t resist a couple more hummingbird hawk-moths from later in the day:

The Times reports:

“Traditionally, the peak time for hummingbird hawk-moth sightings in Britain is August and September, so we’re only just coming into the peak now. We could end up with a lot more sightings before the summer is out.”

… and a lot more photographs!