Was this a bird?

Souness

Hi...was out on the balcony this morning enjoying a morning smoke..when I saw whay I thought was a large bumble bee feeding on the fuscia flowers in the window box...when its wing flaps slowed down slightly, I saw what I think was a tiny bird with a long beak/probosis...got digi camera and took one shot and memory was too full to take video..pic is below..very hard to distinguish as quite blurred due to wing motion..be very interested to hear any details on this "bird" or very birdlike insect....cheers S

Location: Limerick City
Approx size: 1.5in
wingspan: 2in

Cant upload pic for some reason

Roen

Hummingbird Hawk Moth??
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hummingbird_Hawk-moth

Souness

Cheers Roen..The very one...are these common in Ireland...I have never seen one before!

mikeanywhere

I never knew they existed until I took a few pics of one when wandering out shooting other bits here in Galway

Roen

Nice one Mike. They're hard to capture alright. Busy little yokes.
@ Souness, they normally live in the southern bits of Europe or in North Afica. They're not that uncommon in the south of Ireland, I'm not sure if they make it to Galway that often though.
They're definitely not native anyway. The one you saw would have flown across an ocean or at least a sea to get to where you saw it!

littlebug

I saw one of these in Monaghan back in July. The strangest little creature I ever did see! My father couldn't figure out what it was from my description and he's usually a font of knowledge about these things but I'm guessing my powers of description weren't as good as yours!

P

sudzs

Amazing things! And a real treat to see one.

Saw my one and only in Co. Limerick last June.

The Hill Billy

I spotted one near Ardgillan Castle (between Skerries & Balbriggan) 2 weeks ago. The only other place I've seen them was in Menorca.

macfran

Had two sightings of them in the Maynooth/Kilcock area. Wonderful to see.