When I downloaded the holiday images and videos from my camera to my pomputer I was in "glad-to-be-home" mode. Now, as I look at them, I revisit their moments of capture and find the feelings of those times evoked within me. I don't long to be back there but there is that feeling of a distinct difference in attitude that you have when you're on holiday, kind of like you're not in the real world. I suppose it's just nice to reflect on those times once you're back to reality!
One of the things that gave us the most excitement while we were in Skiathos was when F and N spotted what seemed to be a Hummingbird darting from flower to flower, seemingly using a long proboscis to gather nectar. It was quite easy to get a look at the creature and to all intents and purposes it was a indeed a Hummingbird. I grabbed my trusty cameraphone and took this video (it's not up to BBC Natural History Unit quality but it gives you an idea...) -
A few days later I spotted another one of these creatures and managed to get a really good look at it after it had flown underneath a parasol. It looked like it had six legs to me and therefore shifted it from being a bird to an insect. I had a look on t'interweb when I got back to Blighty and found that what we were looking at was actually a Hummingbird Hawkmoth (which you can read about here) an insect commonly mistaken for a hummingbird and thought to have come about by convergent evolution where unrelated species develop similar characteristics.
Regardless of whether it was a true Hummingbird or a Hummingbird Hawkmoth it was certainly a beautiful little creature, and a delight to watch - one of those little moments of magic that you find on holiday!
I have a few more videos to load up, and I'm in the process of categorising and editing them now.
2 comments:
You'll have to give me a lesson on how to upload a video - I haven't figured it out yet!
Easy...click the video icon on the taskbar at the top of the compose screen!
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