Other than a few sightings while on walks at local parks, I hadn’t seen a single hummingbird all spring and most of the summer. 

It wasn’t for lack of trying. I put out the same feeders and filled them with the same liquid I always do: four parts water, one part sugar. They never came. Not in April or May. Not in June or July. 

August was headed toward a shutout as well until one day late in the month, it all changed. And it changed in a big way. Not only did a few hummingbirds show up, but they were around constantly. They visited the feeder one at a time, of course, because god forbid they’d actually share a feeder with four ports. 

There were at least three ruby-throated hummingbirds that drank from the feeder and the flowers in the hanging basket all day, every day. I know there were at least three because when I was watching once, two started chasing each other, and another landed on the feeder. 

They weren’t shy hummingbirds either. I could sit outside within a few yards from the feeder and basket and they would come eat. I could hear their chirping and chittering and their wings humming. 

No more than five or 10 minutes passed between visits. Whether I was inside looking out the window at the flowers, or outside sitting next to them, the hummingbirds provided nearly constant entertainment. 

Then, as suddenly as they arrived one day in late August, they stopped coming one day in early September. I watched them with delight one evening and didn’t see a single one the next morning. It was fun while it lasted anyway.

The ruby-throated hummingbird fall migration actually starts in July with some birds, mostly males, heading south. Most hummingbirds migrate in August and September with some stragglers waiting until October. That pattern fits my hummingbird experience this year. I wish them well on their journey, and perhaps they’ll come back in spring or early summer and not wait until August next year.

Most ruby-throated hummingbirds will spend the winter in Central America and southern Mexico. Some will make the exhausting trip across the Gulf of Mexico, and some will take a longer land route. Still others will spend the winter in Florida or otherwise on the Gulf Coast.

I’ll keep my feeders filled and fresh even though my trio of loyal hummingbirds has disappeared. The migration is well underway, but there are plenty of hummingbirds yet to pass through New England. Fall and even early winter is often the time odd species of hummingbirds show up randomly in New England. Species such as rufous or Calliope hummingbird have been known to show up, but it is extremely uncommon. Rare or not, you stand a much better chance of seeing one if your feeders are still out.

Speaking of rare hummingbirds: I received photos from a reader in Langdon, N.H., of a leucitic or albino ruby-throated hummingbird. It looks like an albino hummingbird to me, but I’ve learned over the years that labeling something albino usually sparks a debate, so I’ll leave it at leucitic or albino. The photos are on my website www.birdsofnewengland.com if you want to see for yourself. 

I’m hoping my late August flurry of hummingbird sightings is not the last of it. I’ll keep my feeders filled and eyes open for the next few weeks anyway.