The first ruby-throated hummingbirds arrived yesterday. They joined the busy, entrancing wildlife pageant staged daily in the backyard.

I encourage the show by hanging bird feeders – four this year. They attract cardinals, tufted titmice, house finches, goldfinches, bluebirds, wrens, nuthatches, chickadees, woodpeckers, blue jays and the occasional brown-headed cowbird and gray catbird. And the usual mob of smart-alecky squirrels.

But the show would go on even without feeders.

Brown thrashers seldom visit the feeders. Yet yesterday, two chose my yard for … how to put this? … their springtime passion.

A day earlier, a red-bellied woodpecker tapped on the side of a tree, extracting treats for the pestering youngster clinging to bark nearby.

The new spring’s new bunnies dot the clover-spotted lawn.

A couple of weeks ago, a red-shouldered hawk swooped in not 15 feet away after prey. Probably a chipmunk.

The chipmunks are a joy. We have more this year, and they are industrious and of course cute. And remarkably noisy as they scurry and chase in leaf litter.

So, to our buzzing hummingbird friends: Welcome to the pageant.