I do not have a recollection of ever having seen a creature like this. And it happened right outside our front door. I had seen an unusual kind of skipper butterfly, one with a particular pattern on its wings, on one of the plants, and had stepped outside the house with my camera to try to take its picture. There comes this strange looking creature flying in the air and alighting on the Vinca flowers in order to to nectar. It hung around for a little while, flitting from flower to flower. It was not still enough for me to get a decent picture.
I had to do some research to try to figure out what I was looking at. It is apparently a Hummingbird Moth. It can hover in the air by moving its wings rapidly (like a hummingbird!). It is a little bigger than a bee, and it looks like nothing else I have seen. And it came to our garden! I have been keeping a lookout for it for a few days since I first saw it without success.
There are apparently a few kinds of Hummingbird Moths, and this one might have been a Clearwing. They are not seen very frequently in these parts. The things your learn! The things you see in the garden!
Splattered Brains 