I have occasionally stumbled across a hummingbird hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) before but always found it very difficult to get a decent photo, mostly because they move so fast and don't stick around for long. So I was very pleased to find this one in the warden's garden at Gosforth Park Nature Reserve. It was sipping nectar from red valerian (Centranthus ruber), a characteristic favourite flower. Its long proboscis is perfect for dealing with the long-tubed flowers. The wings beat 80 times a second so the shutter speed of 1/1600s was only just adequate.
Hummingbird hawk-moths overwinter farther south in Europe and visit us in the summer. Seeing one is regarded as a good omen. A large number of moths were seen crossing the Channel on D-Day 1944.
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