There are two articles in today's paper about loss of the North Minneapolis Great Blue Heron colony to Sunday's tornado. You can find bird-related material on a weekly basis in the Home and Garden section of the paper, but birds seldom hit the news sections of the paper, and then usually when the news is bad in some way.

There is a source of good news about birds, however.

The National Wildlife Federation publishes a monthly email news review called the Birding Community E-bulletin. It contains a dozen or so short items keeping birders up-to-date about bird-related items from coast to coast. I receive it, and enjoy it. The address for the site is /www.refugenet.org/birding/birding5.html

The May issue covers a study of bird-seed contamination (don't worry); albatross nesting on Midway island, updating the story about birds hit by the sunami that struck Japan; the cuts made to bird-related programs in the new federal budget; some help for wild parrots in the Rio Grande area of Texas; a tip on rainy-day birding, which likely is better than you think it is; a book review or two; and a quiz. Plus more. Give it a look. It can be hard to find good news about birds and bird conservation. Past issues of the newsletter also are available on the site.