News: VENTflash Archive
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Catch up on the latest news from Victor Emanuel Nature Tours by reading the latest VENTflash.
VENTflash #158
Victor Emanuel: May 02, 2013
Dear friends, After a lovely week at my beach house on the Bolivar Peninsula near High Island, I've come to the conclusion that it is impossible to see enough warblers! The sight of even one fresh-plumaged warbler in the springtime simply whets your appetite to see more. In all, I ended up seeing a total of 22 warbler species on this most recent visit. Hooded Warbler — Photo: Greg Lasley In addition to birding, I also spent time with two of the three VENT tours that visited...
VENTflash #157
Victor Emanuel: March 29, 2013
Dear friends, This autumn marks the twenty-third year since Kevin Zimmer took over the reins of VENT's Southeastern Brazil tour program from legendary ornithologists Ted Parker and Robert Ridgely. After two years, Kevin was joined by Andrew Whittaker, and they have been enthusiastically sharing the marvelous Atlantic Forest avifauna of Southeastern Brazil with our groups ever since. Iguacu Falls — Photo: Kevin Zimmer In our opinion, Brazil is one of the great birding and wi...
VENTflash #156
Victor Emanuel: March 25, 2013
Dear friends, Over the last month I've led two tours—an Amazon River Cruise in Peru and the Rockport, Texas Birding Workshop—that rank among the best trips I've ever been a part of. Red-bellied Macaws— Photo: Angel Cardenas Unless you've traveled to the jungles of South America, the region we call "Amazonia" is unlike any place you've ever been. When traveling to Amazonia for the first time, nothing you read or study can prepare you for the actual richness and b...
VENTflash #155
Victor Emanuel: February 15, 2013
Dear friends, For almost 20 years, VENT has operated an annual trip for the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology's Chairman's Council and Administrative Board. The places we like to visit with this group include a diversity of domestic and international destinations, and all offer the essential combination of great birding and excellent accommodations. This year's trip, which finished up last weekend, was to the Sueño Azul Resort in Costa Rica. This short getaway focused on the famed...
VENTflash #154
Victor Emanuel: January 30, 2013
Dear friends, This week I returned from the Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival in Titusville, Florida. This festival attracts the largest gathering of birders of any birding and natural history oriented event in the country. It was started in 1998 by Laurilee Thompson, a fifth generation Floridian who can trace her ancestry in the state to before the Civil War when her great-great-grandfather came up the St. John's River and settled. Following a career in commercial fishing,...
VENTflash #153
Victor Emanuel: January 09, 2013
Dear friends, The end of one year and the beginning of another is a time to look to the past as well as to the future. When I started birding in 1948, there was only one field guide available to birders, A Field Guide to the Birds (guides for eastern and western North America) by Roger Tory Peterson. Now there are a number of excellent guides including Kenn Kaufman's Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America, David Sibley's The Sibley Guide to Birds, and the National Geographic Fi...
VENTflash #152: Last Chance for Early Registration Savings!
Victor Emanuel: January 04, 2013
Dear friends, With the new year underway, I want to remind you about several early registration discounts we are offering on our upcoming Alaska tours (June 2013), and on birding and natural history cruises to the Galapagos Islands (July 2013) and Lesser Antilles (February 2014). These special offers present rare opportunities to save money on travel to world-class destinations; however, these chances for savings will expire soon!ALASKAMale Willow Ptarmigan, Alaska — Photo: Barry Z...
VENTflash #151
Victor Emanuel: December 20, 2012
Dear friends, This month marked a very special occasion for VENT when the majority of our U.S.-based tour leaders came to Austin to join our office staff for a two-day company meeting. Although our time together was short, I felt the event was very successful and also a lot of fun. Since our leaders reside across the country, many of them seldom see one another except when co-leading tours while others essentially never cross paths. Additionally, our leaders and office staff rarely have the o...
VENTflash #150: Holiday Sale!
Victor Emanuel: December 05, 2012
Dear friends, Last year we rang in the holiday season with our first-ever Holiday Sale. That event proved so popular that we have decided to do it again this year!For a limited time, December 5-21, 2012, we are offering discounts of 25% or 10% off two spaces on a select set of 2013 tours. These spaces are offered on a first-come basis and we anticipate they will sell out quickly. Please contact us right away to take advantage of this rare opportunity.Red-crowned Cranes, Kushiro, Japan —...
VENTflash #148, Continued
Victor Emanuel: November 17, 2012
Although our heads will soon fill with thoughts of the holiday season, I want you to know that a number of tours departing over the next three months still have a couple of spaces available. If you are someone who can travel on short notice, or simply are feeling inspired to get out of town during the winter, I thought you would like to know about exciting opportunities for travel to Panama, the American Southwest, Japan, Venezuela, and Hawaii:Panama: Christmas at El Valle's Canopy Lodge,...
VENTflash #148
Victor Emanuel: November 17, 2012
Dear friends, During the walks I take through a park near my house, I derive great pleasure from seeing such common birds as Blue Jays, Carolina Wrens, and Cardinals, but it's a really special treat when something out of the ordinary turns up. This past week I was on one of my walks when I spotted two Golden-crowned Kinglets, tiny birds that are usually scarce this far south except during invasion years such as we are experiencing this fall.Golden-crowned Kinglet, Immature — Ph...
VENTflash #147
Victor Emanuel: October 23, 2012
Dear friends, Sometimes I am asked where VENT finds the remarkable local leaders that we use on many of our tours. The answer is that they come to us in a variety of ways. Some are people I have personally met through my travels; some are discovered by our full-time leaders; and others come through recommendations from our clients. Longtime VENT travelers Paul and Betty Rae Davis of Midland, Texas are an example of the latter. Over a year ago Paul told me about a Japanese birding gu...
VENTflash #146
Victor Emanuel: October 12, 2012
Dear friends, Alaska owns an undeniable mystique, thanks in large part to its marvelous scenic splendor, spectacular wildlife, and enduring wilderness spirit. I am fortunate to have visited Alaska several times. The wonderful encounters with birds and other wildlife that I've experienced on each of my trips there served as unforgettable reminders of why Alaska is such a powerful draw.Mount McKinley, Alaska, June 22, 2012 — Photo: Kevin ZimmerVENT has been operating trips to Alaska f...
VENTflash #145
Victor Emanuel: September 28, 2012
Dear friends, I consider East Africa the world's premier wildlife viewing destination. I am especially fond of Kenya, with its varied habitats, excellent national parks and reserves, good infrastructure, and marvelous diversity of birds and mammals. For these reasons, I believe that our Kenya tour is one of our most exciting departures.African Elephants — Photo: Victor EmanuelOur next Kenya Birds and Wildlife tour will operate October 26-November 13, 2012. Although this trip departs...
VENTflash #144
Victor Emanuel: September 10, 2012
Dear friends, A summer full of wonderful trips concluded with the best trip of all, a week at Abra Patricia Lodge in the Northern Andes of Peru. I've just returned from co-leading a private trip there with longtime VENT leader and friend, Steve Hilty. Steve has been a star leader for VENT for over two decades. A former Peace Corps volunteer, Steve earned his PhD at the University of Arizona and wrote the first comprehensive field guide to the birds of any South American country. His book,...
VENTflash #143, Continued
Victor Emanuel: July 26, 2012
VENTflash #143, Continued - Due to length, VENTflash #143 appears in two parts. FALL TOURS WITH SPACES STILL AVAILABLE CLOSING THOUGHTS FALL TOURS WITH SPACES STILL AVAILABLE A number of our autumn tours are full, but a few spaces are still available on upcoming trips to Washington, Peru, Argentina, and Brazil. With an abundance of birds and other wildlife, each of these trips makes a good choice for a fall getaway.Washington: September Migration in the Pacific Northwest, Septe...
VENTflash #143
Victor Emanuel: July 25, 2012
Dear friends, In over 35 years of travel, I have never experienced such a contrast of landscapes in such a short amount of time as I did in early July. On July 1, I was at the Canopy Tower in Panama not far from the equator looking at toucans and howler monkeys. A week later I was in Spitsbergen, Norway at 78° north latitude about to co-lead a cruise that would result in the best polar bear experience of my life, as well as my lifer walruses!Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo — Photo: Barr...
VENTflash #142
Victor Emanuel: June 26, 2012
Dear friends, Two weeks ago I returned from leading a marvelous birds and history cruise to Greece and Turkey where our tour group saw some of Southeastern Europe's most striking birds including Rueppell's Warbler, Black-eared Wheatear, and Black-headed Bunting.Black-tailed Godwit, Brazoria NWR — Photo: Bruce ShermanUpon my return home, I was greeted with the news that a host of Eurasian birds had appeared right here in North America. The recently completed VENT tour to Gambell ...
VENTflash #141
Victor Emanuel: May 11, 2012
Dear friends, Two weeks ago on a mild and beautiful morning in northwest Montana, I spent 90 minutes watching one bird. And what a bird it was—a Great Gray Owl! That thrilling memory from our Montana Owl Workshop, which I've just returned from co-leading with Denver Holt, will forever be etched in my mind.Great Gray Owl — Photo: Steve HendricksOur experience with this magnificent creature, North America's largest owl, began dubiously enough when, on the previous morning, w...
VENTflash #140
Victor Emanuel: April 05, 2012
Dear friends, As part of the South by Southwest Film Festival held this March here in Austin, Texas, I had the opportunity to attend a screening of a remarkable film entitled The Central Park Effect, a movie about birds and birding in New York City's famed Central Park. It is the best film about birding that I have ever seen. It features marvelous bird photography and an excellent score, but the best parts of the film, in my opinion, are the comments about birding from a number of ...
