Natural Camouflage

... was struttin' along early dawn a few weeks back and just happened to notice a large autumn leaf stuck to the side of a building wall - the colors really stood out against the dark wall background... considered it strange as it was the middle of July and all is perpetually green in these parts (at least for the next few months) - walked over to get a better look...

... closer view revealed it to be a large 'Imperial Moth' - seldom seen (in fact, the first one we ever saw) - it immediately fluttered to the ground at our presence...

... not the best images focus-wise... was totin' no camera gear but did have an inexpensive, backup, backup camera in the boot of the vehicle that we carry for work images as well as any unexpected (but potential) encounters with UFO's, paranormal phenomena or bigfoot (each of which never seems to photograph well anyway) - retrieved it and shot these few images... this is suspected to be a female as the males are mentioned to have more purplish (?) coloration on the wings... this gal was pretty big - longer than the camera body - we figure close to six inches in length - didn't have anything we could include for scale and was trying to limit our movements for fear of scaring her off - she was beating her wings the whole time (just like the giant movie 'Mothra') as if in preparation for rapid flight... 

(internet image)

... here's an image we found on-line of the distinct similarity between the 'Imperial Moth' and an autumn 'Poplar' leaf - pretty cool... who knows - maybe we have seen hundreds of 'em ...

... anyone who can view this stuff (no matter how big or small) and not realize that there is something out there a lot bigger than us needs to go set under a large tree for a long period of time... 'Poplar' will do - might not see an 'Imperial Moth'...