Harbingers

A Hummingbird in February

This is not a tropical climate. This winter, my walks have been accompanied by crows - flocks of them sometimes, individuals other times. Little brown birds - wrens? - twitter in trees and bushes, flitting higher, then dashing off.

But this week in the latter half of February a hummingbird buzzed past.

A hummingbird.

In February.

In Canada!

OK, BC’s lower mainland is ‘the tropics’ of Canada, despite being at a higher latitude than other areas of Canada. And there wasn’t more than a few centimeters (less than an inch to the old-school way of measuring) of snow the entire winter months.

Still, a tropical hummingbird?

Maybe the bird was a harbinger, making itself visible so others would join it.

Maybe it was blown off-course in a storm. Maybe it was an explorer. Maybe it was lost.

However it endured to make its way to the North Shore of the Burrard Inlet, its presence made me happy. Spring is coming!

Note: I didn't have a camera with me, so you'll have to take my word for it.

And in early March, flowers started popping up. It's nice to see (finally!) some colour other than green and brown!

A Proud Bud!