A Poplar (or maybe a Modest) Sphynx Moth
White Moth with Intricate Markings
Black Swallowtail Butterfly
These three beautiful flying creatures were all spotted at our farmhouse at Turtle Rock Farm Retreat yesterday, Sunday. The moths were on the side of the house at the back door in the morning. The butterfly arrived while we were sitting on the porch for supper. A guest who was dining with us also saw a hummingbird – the first spotting this year. I set out the hummingbird feeder today.
I looked up names of these creatures. Never identified the little white moth. The big moth that looks like dried leaves is a Sphynx of some sort – either a Poplar or a Modest, I think. In the process, I learned that some adult moths, including the Sphynx, never eat.
Delightful company anyway.
The extravagant gesture is the very stuff of creation. After the one extravagant gesture of creation in the first place, the universe has continued to deal exclusively in extravagances, flinging intricacies and colossi down aeons of emptiness, heaping profusions on profligacies with ever fresh vigor. The whole show has been on fire from the word go! — Annie Dillard
