Rufous hummingbirds through the flowering season

As I was sitting out in the morning drizzle enjoying my morning cup of coffee, I noticed the first flowers blooming on snowberry, Symphoricarpos albus. That is what got me thinking about the various plants I've seen rufous hummingbirds nectaring on. I had always thought hummers liked long tubular flowers. Boy, was I wrong! I looked back through my photo files and my first recorded event was in 2004 at my home in Mount Vernon. This hummer was nectaring off Ceanothus.

Since being on Yellow I have photographed them on several plants but not all that I've seen them nectar on.  The first bit of luck was with harsh paintbrush, Castilleja hispida. 

Castilleja blooms from late March into June so gets a lot of use by hummers. During that  same time frame camas, Camassia leichtlinii, is in bloom from early April until mid May. It's another hummingbird favorite.

After the camas and paintbrush are done flowering for the year, a couple late season bloomers take over. Fireweed, Chamerion (fomerly Epilobium) angustifolium, is a favorite and blooms mainly above our east spit. Quite often it is the only flower in bloom and the hummer that has staked its territory there spends much of his time defending it (quite unsuccessfully) against the other four to five pairs of hummers on the island (along with their young.)

Fireweed has yet to bloom this year but when it does, this is one photo that needs improving on.

The snowberry that got me thinking about this is also visited by hummers when all else fails. This can last into July when the males have already left and this year's young are abundant.

I've always associated the arrival of rufous hummingbirds with the flowering of red flowering currant, Ribes sanguineum. In actuality on Yellow, Ribes flowers well before the hummers arrive, sometimes up to a month before. But when the males do arrive this is the species they favor. Another early bloomer is fawn lily, Erythronium oregonum. I've only seen it once but was with a friend who documented a rufous hummingbird nectaring on it. Late season a third plant that I have yet to photograph hummingbirds using but know they do is orange honeysuckle, Lonicera ciliosa. Finally a tubular flower that hummers use on Yellow. I watched one the other day in perfect light but alas the camera was half an island away.

So a couple goals: this year photograph hummers on honeysuckle and fireweed, next year on flowering currant and fawn lily.

PS Yes, I was having coffee in the rain and these are the first blooms of snowberry this year - sans hummingbirds.