“Whoah! Check it out! Look! It’s a hummingbird!!”

It looks a bit strange though…..

Is that a tongue?

Hmmm the cell phone camera isn’t picking up the wings as fast as it’s going…

“It almost looks like a butterfly or a bee.”

I can’t believe it got it on camera!

A real hummingbird!

I excitedly show my son the video of this hummingbird from my husband and I’s walk back to Camp Walker (캠프 워커), in Daegu (대구), South Korea after signing our lease today.  Just a quick glance at the video and he exclaims,

“THAT’S not a hummingbird! That’s a hawk moth!”

No way! It’s not a MOTH.

The hub, always at his computer, quickly types up the name “hawk moth.”  A second later he says, “Yup! He’s right.” Impressed, he asks, “Are you going to be a Zoologist or something?”

“No, dad” (laughing), I just knew that that wasn’t a hummingbird!”

Well I took the video and the pictures. I couldn’t believe it. It moved just like a hummingbird… and it was small…. but it was a bit odd with that super long tongue extending in and out. Never seen a hummingbird do THAT before. Maybe they are right. I want proof. I jump up to look at the computer screen and examine the picture. “That doesn’t look anything like what I captured.”

“No look…” they say and type in “hawk moth” or “hummingbird hawk – moth.”  They click “images” and lo’ and behold there are a whole lot of them!!!!  We even see the exact color of one from today with the dead give-away body shape, wing pattern and the long curled tongue.  Wow.

Do you have friends or family members who know their animal? I know I do! My 10 year old son is very good at spotting and surprisingly quickly identifying all sorts of creatures. He observes things I look right past and knows about animals I didn’t even know existed.  I hope he doesn’t grow out of his interest in exploring the marvels of this world all around us. We will need people like him who will care about and take care of this world that we have been entrusted with for these next generations. We’ve made more discoveries being here in South Korea seeing this land and it’s inhabitants with fresh eyes. Follow or check back later to see which animal is next!

Love animals? Check out these here.