There may well be no prettier May blossom than the tube-lobed flower of the Wild Columbine. And, for the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, there may also be no more important a bloomer. The reason is one of evolutionary synchrony. Hummingbirds have, over the eons, developed long bills and even longer tongues to use as straws for reaching the nectar hidden in the floral tubes of columbines and similarly built blossoms... or maybe it's the other way around, in which the flowers developed the tubes to take advantage of the hummer beak anatomy. Or, and this is probably closer to the genuine truth, it's a coevolutionary bit of both. However the partnership developed, the RTHs used to arrive here at about the time the columbines came into their floral glory. But now, thanks to global climate change, the flowers often bloom out of sync with hummingbird arrival times. This year, the blossoms are about a week later than usual, while the hummers came back "home" a week earlier than has been typical. Good thing I had the feeder out. Good thing the RTHs found another source of natural nectar.