A Season on the Wind: Inside the World of Spring Migration
By Kenn Kaufman
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Hardcover, 288 pages
Price: Rs. 2,009
Reviewed by Ramki Sreenivasan
“See, love and conserve birds” is the loud and endearing message in Kenn Kaufman’s 2019 latest work. A Season on the Wind intertwines spectacular birding experiences, miracles of bird migration and challenging conservation work. Kenn expands on his integral role in the fascinating community built around birding in the Magee Marsh area, along Lake Erie, Ohio, a prime stopover for millions of birds during spring (and fall) migration. Kenn became a birding legend before he turned 20, when he hitch-hiked across the United States, notching 111,000 km. in the 1973 ‘Big Year’. His tally of 650 birds is famously inscribed in the birding classic Kingbird Highway. in the book, Kenn describes in breathtaking detail the annual bird migration at its peak in Ohio and his home turf, the Magee Marsh State Wildlife Area. I have been personally spellbound on many occasions while witnessing the warbler migration in Central Park, in New York, and I can attest it is a mind-boggling phenomenon, especially for a bird lover. I can only imagine the spectacle of millions of birds, including up to 40 species of warblers, sweeping in from Central and South America for a stopover on the way further North. Here, the peak of spring migration is so dazzling that it attracts birders from all over the world. it also climaxes with one of the world’s biggest birding festivals, called Biggest Week in American Birding.
What I find commendable is his unwavering commitment to keeping Magee Marsh and its birds safe. He and his wife Kimberly constantly battle the threat of encroachments like windmills, being hailed as “green energy” by power companies and governments. My respect for Kenn and Kimberly grew significantly as I read about their campaigns against wind farms sending a clear message to readers that nature lovers should also be its first defenders.
