Company at the Bolt Hole

I had a couple of lady visitors at the Bolt Hole last night. They hung around ont he porch this morning. Probably happy to get out of the rain.

The first one I noticed was the large, pale, delicate looking Luna Moth.

Luna Moth

As I went out to photograph the Luna, I discovered a second visitor. I believe this is a Blind Sphinx Moth.

Blind Sphinx Moth

Both moths are quite large and both have caterpillars that like to nibble on Birch trees. The forest around the Bolt Hole has many gray birches.

The Luna also eats hickory which can be found around the Aerie along with the white or paper birch. The Blind Sphinx also nibbles apple which ought to make it a fan of our orchard reclamation project here at the Bolt Hole.

I wonder if there will be many more of these lovely large moths flitting about since we've lost so many bats to the white nose fungus? If it weren't for the number of mosquitoes the bats eat in a single night, it might be worth it.