The difference is that this hawk is not a bird, it is something else.
It is a Vine Hawkmoth (Hippotion celerio), and we found it hanging on our garden hose reel, inside the garage. Just as well that my wife saw it, as if I was to start our car, the exhaust fumes would most definitely kill it. The hose reel was next to the car's left rear wheel, close to the exhaust. And of course, the missus would never leave it there, so she guided the moth onto her hand, and it took it outside into our front garden.
Our front palisade fences were draped by granadilla plants, but I had to take it all down, as the root trunks were rotten. But our neighbor's granadilla fence spilled the branches over into our yard, and I will show you below about what the madam did with the moth. Of course, during the transfer, I took some shots as my camera also wanted to see some action :)
Come and have a look.
Forgive me, but I asked the wife for some moth poses before she set him free, and she was amazed about how gentle the moth was. No fight, no struggle, and he just clung to her hand.
The moth has a wingspan of 76mm, with long light brown and olive brown stripes on the body. Hind wings with a black stripe and pink bases, the larvae are smooth, brown or green, with prominent eye spots on the head. The larvae feed on grapevines, Arum, Impatiens, Carrot tops, and in the wild, on Senegalia, Rumex, Galium, and Epilobium. Adults are migratory. There are a number of similar looking Hippotion species.
Source: Book: Field Guide to Insects of South Africa. ISBN: 978-1-77584-584-3.
Finally we said; Fare thee well fella!
So, a stranger came to visit and maybe he had a late night, or maybe he had a hangover after eating many vine leaves during the night :) Whatever, he decided to take a rest on our garden hose reel. Maybe it was to get out of the wind, as the South-Easter has arrived again, after a couple of weeks with the North-West wind that created so much damage. But you can see that he was in perfect shape, and a real beaut.
Such is life.
I hope you enjoyed the pictures and the story.
Photos by Zac Smith. All-Rights-Reserved.
Camera: Canon PowershotSX70HS Bridge camera.
Until next time, cheers!
