... having fed the chickens and provide rufus and winston, my canine pals, with the morning attention they so very desperately require, i decided on a soak in the backyard hot tub before my shower ... shutting up the house in preparation for the heat of the day, i was checking the front door was closed when i noticed a hummingbird flitting around the flowers on the other side of the driveway ... i went back to the living room, attached the 200mm lens to my camera, and then stepped onto the porch thinking i might be able to snap a photograph of the tiny bird ... as i focussed the lens upon my subject i became aware that i was framing what appeared to be a very, very weird bird ...
... i went back inside, attached my favorite tamron 90mm sp macro lens, and then with as much stealth as i'm capable i slowly worked my way to a spot only a few feet from the flowers ...
[REMEMBER, IF YOU CLICK ON AN IMAGE IT'LL APPEAR FULL-SIZED]
... clearly, the object of my attentions was not a bird, but some sort of nectar sipping bug ...
... unlike the hummingbird i had sought to photograph, the little insect seemed unaware of my presence and i was able to position my lens only a couple of feet from its weird curly tongue ...
... i went back into the house and did some quick research ...
... Macroglossinae Hemaris thysbe, the "Hummingbird Moth" ...
... i remembered that the evolutionary split between animals and insects occurred over 500,000,000 years ago, and became fascinated that after 1/2-billion years of divergent development on both sides of the tree of life, wings are still wings ...
[a somewhat oddly interesting note: the simplest distinction between the protostomes, ancestors of insects, and the deuterostomes, ancestors of animals, is that in the embryos of the former the mouth develops first while in the case of the latter it is the opposite body orifice that first appears]
... this tiny creature, as alien to me as, i'm sure, i am to it—i was captivated ...
... absolutely captivated ...