Advertisement

Hummers are on the way

April 16, 2008 at 12:45AM

Hummers are on the way Put out your hummingbird feeders now. The first ruby-throated hummingbirds return the second or third week of April, and the bulk of birds begin arriving later in the month.

Ruby-throated hummingbirds nest across Minnesota, though there are far fewer reports of hummingbirds each year from the southern half of the state.

The nesting season, which is closely related to the availability of insects and wild flowers, usually is well underway by early June, though some hummingbirds are often on their nests in late May.

MINNESOTA ORNITHOLOGISTS UNION

Book in brief Author Kenn Kaufman is one of birding's best storytellers. He lived a great story when he was a teen, dropping out of school, leaving his home and his family to hitchhike around the country in pursuit of birds. His travels -- and his stories -- since have been no less adventuresome or interesting.

His latest book, "Flights Against the Sky" (Houghton Mifflin, $24), is a collection of the (mostly true) stories he tells his mother one day as she lies ill in a rehabilitation facility. The setting for the book is touching: She wanted to hear his stories; he wanted to illuminate his passion for birds.

I enjoyed reading his stories as much as his mother evidently enjoyed hearing them. But I didn't care quite as much for his discussion of his relationship with his mother. Perhaps it's the reticence that comes with my Norwegian genes, but it was the birds I wanted to hear about. To my mind, Kaufman is at his best when he's writing about birds.

JIM WILLIAMS

Advertisement
Advertisement
about the writer

about the writer

More from Minnesota Star Tribune

See More
In this photo taken Monday, March 6, 2017, in San Francisco, released confidential files by The University of California of a sexual misconduct case, like this one against UC Santa Cruz Latin Studies professor Hector Perla is shown. Perla was accused of raping a student during a wine-tasting outing in June 2015. Some of the files are so heavily redacted that on many pages no words are visible. Perla is one of 113 UC employees found to have violated the system's sexual misconduct policies in rece

We respect the desire of some tipsters to remain anonymous, and have put in place ways to contact reporters and editors to ensure the communication will be private and secure.

card image
Advertisement
Advertisement

To leave a comment, .

Advertisement