I decided to spend a little time outside this afternoon (3/6/2014) with the thought that the strong, southerly winds might bring in our first Rufous hummingbird.  That’s exactly what happened!

As soon as I sat down I saw a back-lit hummingbird in our dead pine tree, but I couldn’t see any color.  It flew while I was still trying to focus on it, but a minute or two later there was a male Rufous hummingbird visiting a couple of blooming bushes and chasing a couple of chickadees around the yard.  It landed on a small fence but disappeared from the yard a minute or so later, and I never saw it return.

But for the record, this is a photo of our first Rufous hummingbird of the season!  There will be many more, and much better photos to come!