Every summer I await the return of the hummingbirds like a child awaits Christmas. This year, my first “official” hummingbird was this male rufous hummingbird who arrived on July 3rd, about a week or so earlier than last year. Last years first official hummingbird was also a male rufous, so it’s possible it’s the same bird. And I put official in quotes for this year since I did see a male black-chinned hummingbird on the evening of July 3rd and the morning of July 4th but wasn’t able to photograph it. I’m technically outside of the range for black-chinned hummers, so I’m guessing he was moving on to his normal range and just stopped in for a break but it did make me want to head west and find a place to photograph them.