A small moment in time…

You can go through life thinking that you’ve seen just about everything and then something tiny occurs that makes you realise that there is so much more to see. New things happen all the time and they don’t have to be big things either.

I’d never heard of the hummingbird hawk moth until a couple of months ago when I saw an article in one of the online papers which reported that this year was a particularly good year for them. The report mentioned that many people were mistaking them for humming birds, which we don’t get in the UK, but of course the moth is much smaller, about two inches across. The newspaper photograph of the moth caught my attention for an instant and then I moved on never expecting to see one of these lovely hovering creatures.

Then yesterday evening, as I sat in my backyard drinking elderflower fizz, I noticed a hummingbird darting around my flowers. A hummingbird moth had appeared from nowhere and for a minute or two sucked nectar from the pink flower I don’t know the name of but which grows everywhere in Wales. I reached for my phone and fiddled with it trying to get the camera to work.

Too late, the moth had moved on.

Thinking that it might reappear for a second sip at my flowers, I fetched my camera and twenty minutes later my patience was rewarded. It only stayed for a minute or so, just time enough manage to get this.

Snap. A small moment in time. I’m really hoping it comes back again.