Hummingbird Moth

This morning before church I went for a short birdwalk. I found a patch of morning glories and thought I saw a giant bumblebee collecting pollen. No, not a bumblebee, it looked like a humming bird. But wait, this is October and there aren't supposed to be hummingbirds here this late.

I took a closer look. It really did look like a green hummingbird with a white band, but I know hummingbirds don't have antennae. Hmm, if that is an insect, it sure is a strange looking one.
Sorry, these are crummy photos--my crummy camera and the "bird" was moving 100 mph--but with a little imagination, you might get an idea of what I saw.

So I came home and did some research and found there are a class of moths that feed in the daytime which are called Hummingbird moths or Hawk moths. And, naturally, there are dozens of them so they aren't any easier to identify than birds are. My closest guess is Hemaris diffinis.

In other birding news, Gary, Rachel and I went to see The Big Year on Friday night. It was pretty funny, in a geeky sort of way. Any birdwatcher (like me) or birder (the serious guys) will enjoy the movie.