Images > Nature, Flora, Fauna & Landscapes

Hummingbird Clearwing Moths!

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Øivind Tøien:

I had my timing perfectly with me for my last house/dog sitting, as the lilacs on location were just coming out. I knew from a previous occasion that the Hummingbird Clearwing moths could possibly show up, and so they did! I captured 2-2.5K frames over several days. Lighting kept changing, and the Hummingbird Clearwings kept coming back. It was an immensely fun challenge that I just could not resist every time I passed by even after my first long session. At 10 frames per second this only amounted to about 4 minutes of pressed shutter button!  Of course a very large amount went directly to the bin - about 400 made it to jpgs. For almost all of them I used the 300mm f/4 PF on my D500. I experimented with shutter speed and found that 1/4000 second gave the best balance between freezing movements and noise, although I also tried a few up to 1/8000 second if lighting was good - first time I ever used these short shutter speeds. I also tried a few high speed and real time videos plus a few captures at 15 frames per second with my AW1. There was no problem getting close as long as they were on the lower branches.

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Link to a slow motion video captured at 400 frames per sec. playing back at 30 frames per second showing how the clearwing searches for an open petal:
https://otoien.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-11/o190588485/c1/p3919619872-215.mp4


Links to three short clips captured at normal speed just to show how quick and erratic they are, wings not really visible to the eye:
https://otoien.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-11/o190588485/c1/p3919620322-200.mp4

https://otoien.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-11/o190588485/c1/p3919620323-200.mp4

https://otoien.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-11/o190588485/c1/p3919620319-200.mp4

(There are also some older high speed videos in the same folder from 8 years ago at the same location.)

Kim Pilegaard:
Very nice pictures/videos and story! I had the pleasure of having this moth in my garden last year, but it is a bit to early in the summer to find it here yet.

Bent Hjarbo:
Thanks for sharing  :)

Hugh_3170:
Great work - splendid effort in getting these.  And thanks for the background details.

Anthony:
Beautiful captures, composition and colours.

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