A humming bird in the herbs
Sometimes people say that they have been visited by a humming bird in their gardens. There is just one problem with these stories: there are no humming birds in Denmark. Or in Europe to be clear! They only live on the North and South American continents and even though there are birds who cross the Atlantic Ocean, the humming bird is not of these.
The bird, which people have seen is found in a whole other animal group: that is the butterfly. To be exact, we are here talking about a moth called the humming-bird hawk moth, which is active during the day and it is able to stop still in the air while it with its long trunk sucks nectar from the flowers. This is why it inevitably resembles the humming bird when you quickly glance at the creature.
The humming-bird hawk moth is actually a southern migratory speciea that only during warm years reaches Denmark from their wintering areas by the Mediterranean Sea. Up here, they seek out nectar rich flowers such as butterfly bushes and field scabious, but also your balcony’s flowerbox will receive a visit if you are lucky.
After this, the race starts to breed, lay eggs in the warm sand dunes and hope that the caterpillars develop in time to grow into butterflies, which have to get going south before the weather gets too cold again.