We had a visit by a rufous hummingbird this afternoon at the trumpet vine outside the back door.

(Image courtesy National Park Service.)

He had a lovely rust back with a bright red throat – matched the orange flowers. We may have had more of them at our feeders, but I usually see them backlit in silhouette, so I’m not sure. Big fat guy, though, as hummingbirds go. Lissa said they usually show up around this time. Sure enough, in the margin of the rufous entry in our Sibley is a notation in Lissa’s handwriting: “Our house, Aliso, 7-20-04”.