I made a mental note last year that the hummingbird arrival date should be about the middle of April. I would peg it to sis-in-law’s birthday and tax day. Easy. Having just signed our tax forms before the deadline, I knew the time would soon be here. Meanwhile, the regular birds were still feasting on seeds just beyond my computer screen. Yesterday, when daylight was fading fast, I caught movement above the seed dispenser. There was no time to focus on it before it disappeared. I convinced myself the movement included a bit of hover. Maybe a hummingbird came three days early, looking where its feeder was last year.

I’m not sure I believed the hummingbird was here yesterday, but I acted like I did. I boiled sugar water in the microwave before we went walking this morning. There wouldn’t be many birds yet, so I did only one cup. After breakfast I put the two hummingbird feeders out, one near the back porch and the other on my deck. If the birds were coming, they would find a feast prepared for them. Around noon a bird lit on the feeder, a male flashing his ruby neck. For once, the toy camera was not in my pocket. It was across the room. I began reading blog posts with the camera now on the desk by my hand. Reward! He came back for another round of drinks, making his way to each of the four flower tubes. The males arrive before the females, and this one could be heading further north.