photoartflightHummingbird Moth on Milk Thistle
We went to Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania to go through their 86 acre Meadow Gardens. It is more known for their Formal Gardens and Conservatory, but we enjoy the Meadows. With more than three miles of walking and hiking trails which lead visitors to the diverse habitats found throughout the Meadow Gardens terrain. I found a few Hummingbird Moths working an area with a lot of Milk Thistles. I raised the ISO to 1250 and was shooting at 1/500 sec to 1/1000 sec, and a few above that, but could still not capture their wings. They were really fast movers, but they really liked these Thistles so they stayed for quite a while. They were darting back and forth so their was little time to compose and shoot before they darted off to another spot. They were still fun to photograph. Next time I could try fill flash, but they move so quickly it would be limiting because of the recycling time of the flash. All shots handheld, shot with a 300mm lens with extension tubes to get closer. These moths seem to be super active and non-stop movers!
photoartflight 
Excellent shots. They are amazing insects. We had just one opportunity this summer to photograph them.
Thanks! Usually I only see them once a year also. But this year I saw them twice!
These are wonderful shots! I have never seen the moths in such detail. I saw but one this summer and that was at night.
Thanks! This is the first year I have seen quite a few. In this series there were about a dozen on this group of Milk Thistle. They were moving so fast I was not sure if I was even going to get any usable photos.
These pictures are really beautiful! I am embarrassed to say that at one time, I thought it was a baby Hummingbird. Something didn’t seem quite right so I looked it up and realized my mistake, LOL!
Thanks! If you are not used to seeing them, you really do not quite know what they are!