Scarlet Macaws and a new Kenn Kaufman book!

The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw: One Woman’s Fight to Save the World’s Most Beautiful Bird
Bruce Barcott
February 5, 2008
Book titles and cover copy are often flush with hyperbole. Which bird deserves the title “World’s Most Beautiful” is debateable and subjective. But I’m not going to argue with the publisher of this book. I’ve been fortunate enough to see some wild Scarlet Macaws and they are easily the most spectacular creatures that I have yet to see.
Flights Against the Sunset: Stories that Reunited a Mother and Son
Kenn Kaufman
April 21, 2008
Sweet, a new book from Kenn Kaufman!

Book Description (from Amazon.com):
In a moving story about a son’s relationship with his mother, a world-famous birder relates the essence of his passion for nature.

At the age of sixteen, Kenn Kaufman left home to travel the world in search of birds. Now a grown man and a renowned ornithologist, he has come back to visit his ailing mother and to try to explain to her what drove his obsession with birdlife. His explanation takes the form of a series of interlocking tales from the frontier where the world of birds intersects with the world of the humans who pursue them. The stories range over settings from Alaska to Africa, from trackless jungles to parking lots. They delve into subjects from first dates to last rites, from imagination and desire to sleep deprivation, from poignant encounters with eternal mysteries to comical brushes with biker gangs and secret agents. But as the stories unfold, the ornithologist comes to realize that he can still learn some things from his mother, about life and even about the meaning of birds.

Flights Against the Sunset brings together nineteen of Kenn Kaufman’s best essays from his long-running column in Bird Watcher’s Digest. They are woven into an original story that examines how we communicate about our passions with those who do not share the same level of interest, and that celebrates the world of infinite possibilities and wonder.