First Rufous Hummingbird of the Year (for me)

I had quite the day on my birdwalk on the Tuolumne Parkway Trail. I saw a total of 41 species, the most ever from a single walk. But what was even better is that I had my first sighting of the season of a Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus). This one is a female (or an immature male). The mature males are bright orange all over (for pictures, see this post from last year).

The Rufous Hummingbirds are not seen in our area all that often, as they are actually on a long migration from Central America to Alaska and they are just passing through. I had a handful of springtime sightings last year, and saw even more in the late summer. They are said to have an excellent memory for feeding sites, which probably explains why I saw nearly all of them in the same Wild Tobacco bushes near the water treatment plant along the Tuolumne Parkway Trail. I'll be working to get better shots in the next few weeks while they are still around.