One of my favorite places on Earth is an ultimate "garden spot" known as the Preston Nature Preserve. The area, mostly an interlocking chain of milkweed-rich meadows, has been preserved by the graces of the Avalonia Land Conservancy, and I've had the good fortune to guide people on tours of PNP. I have a walk scheduled for this coming Saturday, so I wanted to do some preliminary exploring. In the late afternoon when it wasn't too beastly, I trekked the refuge in search of, well, just about anything. There were Monarchs aplenty, as well as some of their mimics, the Viceroys, along with the usual complement of dragonflies, skippers, beetles, and all manner of songbirds. But the stars of the show, at least, from my perspective, were in rare form working the Bee Balm flowers. I love hummingbird moths, and PNP in August is a haven for what are known as Snowberry Clearwings. These, shown in the top photo, are easy to identify, due to the black line that runs through their eyes. The mini-hummer below may also be a Snowberry, but it seems too dark to me... and there's no telltale eyeliner to cinch the ID. In this case, it could be a Hummingbird Clearwing, a close cousin. In any event, both ersatz hummers are flat-out spectacular to watch... and, with any luck, show off to hikers.