Who is an expert at spotting the second sort of creeper––
And here is one more
To complete the day’s quartet.
Click on photos to enlarge.
Virginia Creeper is one one of my favorite plants as it quickly provides a complete cover over my terrace, and although it doesn’t flower, once a year for a month or so it does provide creepers of its own—these huge caterpillars that eventually turn into large moths that resemble hummingbirds so closely that I’ve only really ever identified one in the 23 years I’ve been relocating the larvae to my downhill lot. The caterpillars are so fascinating that I can’t bear to kill them, but in their larvae stage, they also produce bee bee-sized black poop pellets that cover the terrace and table and chairs below. If you want to see (and read) more about the caterpillars, go HERE.
Here is an image of hummingbird moth by Graehem Mountenay. I’ve never been able to capture one and have seen only one in 23 years. They must be present, though, judging by the dozens of their caterpillars that we remove from my Virginia creeper each year.
This scene is a bit surreal. It does contain flowers, but also other elements that create an almost eerie atmosphere, including the mist coming in from the right. But since the prompt is titled “Flower of the Day,” guess I should include a bit of a closer view of the bougainvillea as well: