Before the summer of 2008, hummingbirds had seemed like a beautiful myth to me. I had never seen one out in the world before, nor do I recall having seen one in a zoo or animal sanctuary. Because I have been intensely afraid of birds (the technical term is ornithophobic) my whole life, I had never had a particular desire to see a hummingbird. I didn’t even really think about it.

But then one sticky summer day ...