It was probably the best day of the year here in the Pacific Northwest, and I spent it wisely — walking Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge.

I spent the first thirty minutes trying to get a good shot of this Rufous Hummingbird who, despite the brilliant sunshine, insisted on sitting in the shade atop an elderberry. While it is possible to push the ISO to 1600 on my Canon D20, it certainly degrades the quality of the picture. So, only the two pictures I took at the end of the session, when the sun finally reached the branch where he was sitting turned out well.

I spent nearly as long tracking this Common Yellowthroat, not much larger than a hummingbird, who kept flitting from one cattail to another whenever I’d almost managed to focus my camera.

I spent another twenty minutes trying to get a picture of this (I think) Anise Swallowtail, a variety I’ve never seen before.

It may be clouding up tonight, but I’m pretty sure summer is finally here, with more sunshine forecast for much of the week.