Flights Against the Sunset: Stories that Reunited a Mother and Son

If you’ve been birding for very long at all, you’ve probably heard the name Kenn Kaufman. You should have seen his field guide and perhaps the book on advanced birding that is required reading for any birders hoping to make sense of difficult birds like empidonax flycatchers. Hopefully you’ve been able to read some of the essays that he regularly contributes to bird-related publications such as Bird Watcher’s Digest, or his book Kingbird Highway that is one of the best birding books ever. If you have, you know that in addition to being an ace birder, he is also a very gifted writer. In that case, you don’t need a review to tell you that his latest book is worth reading. But just in case, and for the benefit of everyone else, here it is anyway.

The majority of this volume, about two-thirds of the chapters according to the author’s acknowledgements, consists of reprinted essays from Kaufman’s regular column in Bird Watcher’s Digest. They have been selected and re-worked in order to fit around a common framework – a visit by the author to his ailing mother. At the time she was confined to a rehab center recovering from a stroke. Partly at his mother’s behest, and partly in order to keep her focus away from her pain and condition, Kaufman tells her stories of his birding adventures around the globe.

I would wager that he had his mother completely enthralled, as Kaufman is indeed a skilled storyteller. The stories presented here are uniformly captivating and entertaining, but there is also deep insight into birds, people, and life. The 19 tales range in location from New Zealand to Kaufman’s hometown, and in time from the present to his pre-teen days. The adventures abroad are the most exciting. Through them, the reader gets to travel along to exotic places such as the plains of east Africa, the jungles of Venezuela, and the high Andes in Peru. The places and the birds seen may not be familiar to most readers, but the situations are universal. Most birders will probably not be fortunate enough to track down an elusive Plain-backed Antpitta in an abandoned research station/mansion in Venezuela as Kaufman’s tour group did, but the invoked feeling of nervous anticipation of trying to lay eyes on a hidden songster is universal among birders.

The local stories might not have the same sense of adventure, but they are still great reads. Kaufman’s encounter with a quartet of British birders who were too cool to get excited by “just another” Blackburnian Warbler was very funny. But then again, haven’t we all done that to some extent or another? Haven’t we all, at some point, said or thought, “Oh, that’s just another (fill in some gorgeous but not rare bird here)”? It’s refreshing to see that the true experts such as Kaufman try not to feel that way, and it’s something for which we all should strive.

The author notes at the beginning of the book, “the astute reader might suspect that a few episodes…may not have occurred exactly as described here.” Indeed, a few of them don’t seem very credible. I won’t go into any further details on these stories so that each reader can make up their own mind. However, this in no way detracts from the book.

While the chapters on birding are the meat of the book, don’t skip over the interludes with Kaufman and his mother. They tie together the essays, and imbue them with even more meaning and significance. They are very personal and each reader will probably react to them differently. Personally, I felt a keen sense of loss because I am unable to share birding stories with my mother, who I’m sure would have been interested, but whom I lost before I became a birder.

The only negative thing I can say about this book is that it is too short! It’s both fairly small and doesn’t have a very high page count. I definitely would have liked to have more. But then again, with writing this good, the book could be twice as long and I still would have wanted more.

Recommendation

If you have previously enjoyed any of Kaufman’s writings, then you know what to expect here, and I think it’s safe to say that you won’t be disappointed. For those that have not had the pleasure, this book is the best way to get acquainted with one of birding’s best authors.