An Unexpected Guest

 
When I went out the front door at about 7:15 a.m. today, planning to pick up our newspaper on the driveway, I noticed an odd-looking creature on one of our front screened windows. Hoping it wouldn't fly away, I quickly got my camera and took a series of photos.

I could tell that it was a moth, rather than a butterfly, but that's all that I knew. Thank goodness for the wealth of information online! It took a while to identify the visitor -- a female Blinded Sphinx moth (Paonias excaecatus). This one-minute video was particularly helpful.

The extra photo shows the moth amidst interesting shadows to the left -- very appropriate, given our political leanings visible around it.

Blip 2222