A BEAUTIFUL VISITOR IS IN MY GARDEN

I was watering the back garden today when I noticed that one of the leaves went flying when the water hit. Do you see it?

How about now? It has so many shades of green and tan that it could probably make it in the Amazon rainforest.

Instead, it's native to eastern America.

Thanks to my garden blog friend Lucy, it was easy to identify.

She's also posted a spectacular photo of one from her garden.

It's called a Pandorus Sphinx Moth (Eumorpha pandorus).

Here's our nephew enjoying a closeup encounter.

They're a huge moth but completely harmless.

Fifth place ~" Hanging On"

To celebrate its arrival, I decided to have my own photo contest for this marvelous visitor. I may never see one in my garden again. I took a lot of photos (around 50), then picked my top five.

Fourth place ~ "Eumorpha pandorus"

Next to gardening, I would say photography is my favorite hobby. It's a lot like fishing...the mysterious waters hold secrets. Plus, there's always that BIG ONE that no one seems to catch.

3rd Place ~ "Dark Knight"

What makes photography especially difficult is the fact that I don't possess an expensive camera. Instead, I have to work twice as hard to get the lighting perfect and I dare not breathe or the entire shot turns to a blur.

2nd Place ~ "Angles of Nature"

What I work for is what every photographer dreams of; an image that goes beyond the subject matter and touches the emotions with a beauty all its own.

1st place ~ " Unseen Visitor"

I picked this one because it has those qualities and the ray of light spotlights the velvety texture of this superb work of Nature.

 I hope you get a special visitor in your garden this week.

And if you do, hold your breath and aim your camera.

*****

As always, thanks for stopping by!

David/:0)