{"id":48156,"date":"2017-08-18T05:42:02","date_gmt":"2017-08-18T11:42:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=48156"},"modified":"2026-03-18T12:44:27","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T17:44:27","slug":"black-chinned-rufous-hummingbirds-white-lined-sphinx-moths-and-monarch-butterflies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/08\/18\/black-chinned-rufous-hummingbirds-white-lined-sphinx-moths-and-monarch-butterflies\/","title":{"rendered":"Black-chinned & Rufous Hummingbirds, White-lined Sphinx Moths and Monarch Butterflies"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Black-chinnedBlack-chinned Hummingbird on Antelope Island – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 400, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited or set up
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Rocky Mountain Bee Plants are blooming all over the Salt Lake Valley right now and those beautiful, spider-like flowers are attracting hummingbirds, moths, butterflies, bees and a host of insects.<\/p>\n

When I had a garden I used to grow cleomes because they attracted so many different birds and insects but now I enjoy the wild cleomes like Rocky Mountain Bee Plants (Cleomella serrulata<\/em>) instead. They don’t bloom for very long but they are glorious when they are in full bloom.<\/p>\n

The blooms attract Black-chinned Hummingbirds who hover over the flowers, sip their nectar and chase off the other hummingbirds that fly in.<\/p>\n

\"YoungYoung Rufous Hummingbird on Antelope Island – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 400, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited or set up<\/span><\/p>\n

The flowers also attract Rufous Hummingbirds who have already begun their fall migration. They are colorful, flashy and amusing little hummingbirds because they can be so aggressive. I hope to one day photograph an adult male at Rocky Mountain Bee Plants in all his glory.<\/p>\n

\"White-linedWhite-lined Sphinx Moth hovering over flowers – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 400, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The moths I see the most at Rocky Mountain Bee Plants are White-lined Sphinx Moths who move quickly just like the hummingbirds do, in fact some people call them Hummingbird Moths.<\/p>\n

This photo doesn’t show the lovely pink colors these moths have but I wanted to share it because the tongue, or the proboscis is clearly visible in this photo.<\/p>\n

When they aren’t using it to sip nectar it is curled up like a party noisemaker and as much as I dislike the noise those things made I do love how they curled up.<\/p>\n

\"MonarchMonarch Butterfly nectaring on Rocky Mountain Bee Plant – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 400, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Monarch Butterflies are also on the move and they stop at the Rocky Mountain Bee Plants to fuel up on the nectar too. Monarch Butterflies are in trouble so I celebrate any plant or flower that helps them along.<\/p>\n

I hope to find more Rocky Mountain Bee Plants<\/span><\/a> that are accessible with hummingbirds, moths, bees, and butterflies nectaring on them over the nest few weeks. They all delight me.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my hummingbird photos. Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my insect and spider photos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rocky Mountain Bee Plants are blooming all over the Salt Lake Valley right now and those beautiful, spider-like flowers are attracting hummingbirds, moths, butterflies, bees and a host of insects. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":157002,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[511,27,1778,1022,1171,2629,26,2635],"tags":[4460,1779,6041,6042,12222,6040,4098,4040,4052,4174,6043,2652,2638,9070,1172,3909,3910,6044,4104,4444,2631,2630,6062,2315,3908],"class_list":["post-48156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-black-chinned-hummingbirds","category-davis-county-utah","category-monarch-butterflies","category-rufous-hummingbirds","category-utah","category-white-lined-sphinx-moths","tag-archilochus-alexandri","tag-black-chinned-hummingbird","tag-butterflies","tag-butterfly","tag-cleomella-serrulata","tag-danaus-plexippus","tag-desert","tag-feeding","tag-flight","tag-hovering-2","tag-hummingbird","tag-hummingbirds-2","tag-hyles-lineata","tag-island","tag-monarch-butterfly","tag-moth","tag-moths","tag-nectaring","tag-perched","tag-rocky-mountain-bee-plant","tag-rufous-hummingbird","tag-selasphorus-rufus","tag-sphinx-moth","tag-summer-3","tag-white-lined-sphinx-moth"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/black-chinned-hummingbird-flight-mia-mcpherson-4283.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-cwI","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15666,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/08\/18\/monday-medley-of-bees-moths-and-hummingbirds\/","url_meta":{"origin":48156,"position":0},"title":"Monday Medley of Bees, Moths and Hummingbirds","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 18, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I've compiled a medley of images this morning of bees, moths and hummingbirds that I have photographed this past week to share this morning.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rufous Hummingbird scratching, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/rufous-hummingbird-scratching-mia-mcpherson-6009.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/rufous-hummingbird-scratching-mia-mcpherson-6009.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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And A Bee Plant","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The brief appearance of this Black-chinned Hummingbird delighted me yesterday as she fed on the Rocky Mountain Bee Plant.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Black-chinned Hummingbird feeding with insect \"friends\", Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/black-chinned-hummingbird-female-mia-mcpherson-4008.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/black-chinned-hummingbird-female-mia-mcpherson-4008.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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