Rufous Hummingbird in Florence, Oregon

We are on the road again (that's what geo-tripping is all about). We're along the Oregon coastline finding a way to stay cool, and have found ourselves in Florence. I was walking to the Harbor Vista County Park when a hummingbird caught my eye. Hummingbirds are generally a tropical species, so I tend to expect just one or two possible species this far north, primarily an Anna's. But this one had gold tones, so I realized right away I had spotted a Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus).

The Rufous Hummingbird is a world-class migrant, traveling nearly 4,000 miles from southern Mexico to Canada and Alaska. I've seen them only a few times, once last spring on the Tuolumne River (definitely a migrant), once in Southern California (a winter shot), and now I can add a summer sighting in the Pacific Northwest.