Martin's Bird Blog & Nature Photos

Tag: Hummingbird hawk-moth

  • 19th August 2026 – Seaton Wetlands, East Devon

    19th August 2026 – Seaton Wetlands, East Devon

    We sneaked another morning visit to the wetlands but had to dodge a few showers (what a novelty!).

    From the tower hide the view across the river Axe

    Eurasian curlew heading down river

    Canada geese heading up river

    From the Tower hide the view across the reserve

    Oystercatchers and black-headed gulls

    Black-tailed godwit

    Common redshank

    Mainly black-tailed godwits

    In this muddy patch (caused by the tide!) there were a mixture of curlews, whimbrel and common sandpiper, but most beyond my range

    We ventured a little further (and got wet) only to have a view of these Canada geese feeding

    An inquisitive pheasant

    Back at our holiday rental there were butterflies and a hummingbird hawk-moth:

    Large white

    Hummingbird hawk-moth

    Clouded yellow

    A very tired peacock butterfly

    Comma butterfly

    Small white

    Red admiral

    Just for good measure a few of the beaches and other aspects of our visit.

    St Winifred’s Church, Branscombe

    St Winifred’s Church, Branscombe

    The Old Bakery at Branscombe

    Manor Mill, Branscombe. The only working mill to survive of the four originally operating in Branscombe.

    Branscombe beach and café

    Branscombe beach looking eastwards

    Beer Beach – still a working fishing port

    The beach at Beer

  • 16th August 2026 – Southleigh, East Devon

    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:

    Red admiral

    Clouded yellow

    Comma

    Clouded yellow

    Painted lady

    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!