<div>An ornithologist&rsquo;s account of his youthful, year-long, cross-country birdwatching adventure: &ldquo;A fascinating memoir of an obsession.&rdquo; &mdash;Booklist At sixteen, Kenn Kaufman dropped out of the high school where he was student council president and hit the road, hitching back and forth across America, from Alaska to Florida, Maine to Mexico. Maybe not all that unusual a thing to do in the seventies, but what Kenn was searching for was a little different: not sex, drugs, God, or even self, but birds. A report of a rare bird would send him hitching nonstop from Pacific to Atlantic and back again. When he was broke he would pick fruit or do odd jobs to earn the fifty dollars or so that would last him for weeks. His goal was to set a record&mdash;most North American species seen in a year&mdash;but along the way he began to realize that at this breakneck pace he was only looking, not seeing. What had been a game became a quest for a deeper understanding of the natural world. Kingbird Highway is a unique coming-of-age story, combining a lyrical celebration of nature with wild, and sometimes dangerous, adventures, starring a colorful cast of characters.</div>

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Kingbird Highway

<div>David Sibley, Don and Lillian Stokes, and many more share their inside tips&mdash;and witty observations&mdash;on the birding life. The biggest names in birding dispense advice to birders of every level&mdash;on topics ranging from feeding birds and cleaning binoculars to pishing and pelagic birding&mdash;in these lighthearted essays accompanied by illustrations. Whether satirizing bird snobs or relating the traditions and taboos of the birding culture, this collection of wisdom is as chock-full of helpful information as it is entertaining. &ldquo;The book is a delight to read and will generate new enthusiasm for the hobby. The 25 black-and-white line drawings are hilarious.&rdquo; &mdash;Booklist</div>

Good Birders Don't Wear White

<div>True life essays that show how a son&rsquo;s connection with birds helped him reconnect with his mother, from the ornithologist and author of Kingbird Highway. At age 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 explain to her what drove his obsession with bird life. His explanation forms 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 about life, and even about the meaning of birds, from his mother. Flights Against the Sunset brings together nineteen essays, mostly adapted from Kaufman&rsquo;s long-running column in Bird Watcher&rsquo;s Digest. They weave an original story that examines how we communicate about our passions with those who do not share the same interests and how to celebrate the world of infinite possibilities and wonder. &ldquo;A skilled storyteller. The stories presented here are uniformly captivating and entertaining, but there is also deep insight into birds, people, and life.&rdquo; &mdash;The Birder&rsquo;s Library </div>

Flights Against the Sunset

<div>Avid North American birders share wit, wisdom, advice, and what fuels their passion for birds. Birding gets you outside, helps you de-stress, exercises your body and mind, puts your day-to-day problems in perspective, and can be lots of fun. Birders know this, and in this collection of thirty-seven brief essays, birders from diverse backgrounds share their sense of wonder, joy, and purpose about their passion (and sometimes obsession). From the Pacific Ocean to Central Park, from the rainforest in Panama to suburban backyards&mdash;no matter what their habitat, what good birders have in common is a curiosity about the natural world and a desire to share it with others. In these delightful essays, each accompanied by an endearing drawing, devoted birders reveal their passion to be fulfilling, joyful, exhilarating, and maybe even contagious. Contributors include many well-known birders, such as Richard Crossley, Pete Dunne, Kenn Kaufman, Michael O&#39;Brien, Bill Thompson, and Julie Zickefoose&mdash;and a portion of the proceeds goes to the American Birding Association, North America&#39;s largest membership organization for active birders.</div>

Good Birders Still Don't Wear White

<div>The story of how the associate editor of Birding magazine set himself a lofty goal: to become the first person to see half the world&rsquo;s birds in one year.In 2015, for 365 days, with a backpack, binoculars, and a series of one-way tickets, Noah Strycker traveled across forty-one countries and all seven continents, eventually spotting 6,042 species&mdash;by far the biggest birding year on record. This is no travelogue or glorified checklist. Noah ventures deep into a world of chronic sleep deprivation, airline snafus, breakdowns, mudslides, floods, war zones, ecologic devastation, conservation triumphs, common and iconic species, and scores of passionate bird lovers around the globe. By pursuing the freest creatures on the planet, he gains a unique perspective on the world they share with us&mdash;and offers a hopeful message that even as many birds face an uncertain future, more people than ever are working to protect them. &ldquo;Birding Without Borders is light-hearted and filled with stories of exotic birds, risky adventures, and colorful birding companions.&rdquo;&mdash;New York Times Book Review &ldquo;Highly recommended for anyone interested in travel, natural history, and adventure.&rdquo;&mdash;Library Journal &ldquo;Even readers who wouldn&rsquo;t know a marvellous spatuletail from a southern ground hornbill will be awed by Strycker&rsquo;s achievement and appreciate the passion with which he pursues his interest.&rdquo;&mdash;Publishers Weekly</div>

Birding Without Borders

<div>A close look at one season in one key site that reveals the amazing science and magic of spring bird migration, and the perils of human encroachment. Every spring, billions of birds sweep north, driven by ancient instincts to return to their breeding grounds. This vast parade often goes unnoticed, except in a few places where these small travelers concentrate in large numbers. One such place is along Lake Erie in northwestern Ohio. There, the peak of spring migration is so spectacular that it attracts bird watchers from around the globe, culminating in one of the world&rsquo;s biggest birding festivals. Millions of winged migrants pass through the region, some traveling thousands of miles, performing epic feats of endurance and navigating with stunning accuracy. Now climate change threatens to disrupt patterns of migration and the delicate balance between birds, seasons, and habitats. But wind farms&mdash;popular as green energy sources&mdash;can be disastrous for birds if built in the wrong places. This is a fascinating and urgent study of the complex issues that affect bird migration.</div>

Kenn Kaufman
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Books By Kenn Kaufman (3 Books)

Kingbird Highway

Flights Against the Sunset

A Season on the Wind

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Books By Kenn Kaufman (3 Books)

Kingbird Highway

Flights Against the Sunset

A Season on the Wind

RELATED POSTS ABOUT KENN KAUFMAN

Get weekly updates and deals from Early Bird Books

Corporate

© 2024 OPEN ROAD INTEGRATED MEDIA