Nocturnal Visitor

When I walked into the kitchen this morning, with mounds of dishes sitting on the counters, I felt like heading back upstairs to bed! Furthermore, someone had left the light on above the sink and the window screen had zillions of moths clinging to it!

While I am not exactly squeamish, I am not necessarily fond of moths flying about, along with tiny insects...I turned off the light and tapped on the screen, trying to get rid of some of the bug collection. Fortunately, most flew off.

I began working on the dishes, when a bright green wing caught my eye. I went outside on the deck and looked at the window and saw a large green moth that reminded me of a kite with a tail!

I ran upstairs and got the Nikon with its 200mm telephoto lens....I guess it doesn't work so well at 6:15 in the morning! (Read: I am so exhausted from this ridiculously hot weather, I can barely stand it!!!) I went back upstairs, put the Nikon away and got out my compact little Panasonic micro 4/3rds.

As previously stated, I am not afraid of moths, but the size of this moth.....ewww! I would *not* want this coming at me! I carefully crept up and took several shots. Thankfully, my subject remained totally still!

I looked up online to find this is called a Luna Moth. It is common in hardwood forests with caterpillars feeding on birch, sweetgum, hickory, and walnut trees. (We do have lots of hickories) The moth is intolerant of even slight pollution, as well as insecticides and such. Interesting....perhaps living amidst all these trees is "healthy"!

Okay....I have my Blip before 7:00am and now I will try to catch up with everyone. My internet time has been so greatly diminished the past week.

***Please! No comments on my dirty, dirty window!!!