it's that time of year again

[OT from cottage renovations]

the Annual Hummingbird Race is on. 
each year my own sense of well being is driven by the uplift received from three species, one plant and two avian.  the Virginia Bluebells seemed to come early in this year's highly compressed springtime and the song of the wood thrush is still a few weeks away from rippling through our treetops.  but as for now: this is the time of waiting for the return of the hummingbirds, their arrival the next checkpoint in the unfolding of the year. 

according to this year's online migration tracker map the leading edge of this year's northbound migration passed through the region several weeks ago, earlier than usual (the site also has 14 previous years of data for anybody who might be curious about the patterns).  I've generally figured that those firstcomers take the coastal flyway and are therefore unlikely to transit the Grove's airspace.  the ones that do should be here ... any time now. 

feeder and beacon have been deployed for a week and anticipation is running high.