News: VENTflash Archive
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Catch up on the latest news from Victor Emanuel Nature Tours by reading the latest VENTflash.
VENTflash #137
Victor Emanuel: February 02, 2012
Dear friends, Waved Albatross Pair — Photo: Greg LasleyThis summer VENT will again operate a birding and natural history cruise to the magical Galapagos Islands, July 5-17, 2012. Featuring the most comprehensive itinerary we've ever offered, participants will have a chance to see all the endemic birds of these islands. Our trip includes visits to all the major islands, and 10 nights aboard one of the best ships that cruise these waters, the 40-passenger Isabela II. The fee for this ...
VENTflash #136
Victor Emanuel: January 17, 2012
SNOWY OWL WEEKENDS WITH DENVER HOLTJanuary 28–February 1, 2012February 4–8, 2012Across much of the northern part of the country Snowy Owls are being seen in record numbers. Stories about this Snowy Owl invasion have been broadcast on NPR (National Public Radio) and have appeared in many newspapers. Since one of our leaders, Denver Holt, is one of the top Snowy Owl experts in the world, we decided to offer two Snowy Owl Weekend tours to offer an opportunity to see these magnificent...
VENTflash #135, Continued
Victor Emanuel: January 12, 2012
VENTflash #135, Continued - Due to it's length, VENTflash #135 has been split into two parts: ALASKA IN 2012—DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE! BIRDING ACROSS AMERICA BY TRAIN: SPACE AVAILABLE LATE WINTER & EARLY SPRING TOURS WITH SPACES AVAILABLE CLOSING THOUGHTS ALASKA IN 2012—DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE!Perhaps more than any other destination, Alaska conjures images of wild, unspoiled wilderness. It is, as the saying goes, "The Last Frontier," a place whose extraordinary sce...
VENTflash #135
Victor Emanuel: January 11, 2012
Dear friends,I enjoy seeing common local birds such as Cardinals, Blue Jays and Red-bellied Woodpeckers immensely, but I also enjoy the occasional chase to see a rare bird. I am a selective chaser. I like chasing rare birds that are not too far from home and that have a special allure. Since I am so fond of tropical birds, I especially enjoy seeing vagrants from the south that turn up in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Sometimes we are fortunate to find our own rarities. ...
VENTflash #134
Victor Emanuel: January 09, 2012
Dear friends, Yesterday's New York Times Travel Section contains an article entitled The 45 Places To Go in 2012. The first destination listed is Panama. "Go for the canal. Stay for everything else."Two spaces remain available on VENT's late January/early February Panama tours. I can't recommend them highly enough. My good friends Paul and Lucia Woodruff just returned from our New Year at Panama's Canopy Tower tour. Lucia sent me an email the day they returned to Aus...
VENTflash #133
Victor Emanuel: January 04, 2012
Dear Friends, I have been interested in the history and culture of ancient Greece since I was a teenager. In recent years, VENT has operated two trips to Greece, programs rich in history, culture, and nature. I rank those trips among the best travel experiences of my life.I am thrilled that VENT is returning to Greece this spring for another Birds and History cruise, this time to the islands of Crete and Santorini. For this special journey, May 20-29, 2012, we have chartered the peerless Sea ...
VENTflash #132
Victor Emanuel: December 15, 2011
Dear friends, One of the most special memories for any birder or naturalist is his first trip to the Tropics. I grew up in Houston, Texas. When I was ten years old I joined the Outdoor Nature Club. At one of the club events I met two wonderful men, Joe Heiser and Armand Yramategui. I was fortunate that both became my mentors.Blue-crowned Motmot — Photo: David Tipling/Canopy TowerIn December 1955 Armand invited Carl Aiken and me to go to Mexico with him to participate in t...
VENTflash #131
Victor Emanuel: December 12, 2011
Dear friends, In the spirit of the holiday season, VENT is offering two wonderful opportunities to give yourself, a friend, or family member the gift of birds for Christmas!In this issue:VENT'S FIRST CHRISTMAS SALEHOLIDAY GIFT CERTIFICATES NOW AVAILABLEVENT'S FIRST CHRISTMAS SALEVENT is holding its first-ever Christmas sale! For a limited time, December 12-22, 2011, we are offering 25% discounts off two spaces on a select set of 2012 tours. These spaces are offered on a first-come bas...
VENTflash #130
Victor Emanuel: November 18, 2011
Dear friends, I have recently returned from co-leading a marvelous birding and natural history cruise to the subantarctic islands of New Zealand. This remarkable voyage, VENT's second to the region in the last three years, began in Auckland, on the North Island, and ended in Hobart, Tasmania, and in between, showcased a series of wild and remote oceanic islands lying between 44° and 54° south latitude. Each of these island groups—the Chatham Islands, Antipodes Islands, Cam...
VENTflash #129
Victor Emanuel: October 13, 2011
Dear Friends, One year ago I was deeply honored when my local Audubon chapter, Travis Audubon Society, created the Victor Emanuel Conservation Award. This award honors a "conservation hero" of Texas, an individual who has been a strong advocate for conservation-minded stewardship of the natural world. To have this award named after me, and to be its first recipient, was an honor I will never forget.This year, October was ushered in with the second annual Victor Emanuel Conservation ...
VENTflash #128
Victor Emanuel: September 16, 2011
Dear Friends, This year I have been enjoying fall migration more than ever. Perhaps I'm feeling this way as a result of the truly brutal summer we've had, with Texas afflicted by record high temperatures and extreme drought. In any case, I have been savoring every migrant bird I find. I have especially enjoyed seeing many Baltimore Orioles and, of course, a variety of warblers. Orioles have always been among my favorite birds because they are big, conspicuous, and colorful.&...
VENTflash #127
Victor Emanuel: September 09, 2011
Dear Friends, In 1998 we chartered a ship for a memorable voyage to Antarctica, the Falkland Islands, and South Georgia. That trip represented a turning point in VENT's history as it heralded the debut of our birding and natural history cruise program. That voyage also marked the first time that Robert Bateman, the famous Canadian wildlife artist, joined a VENT trip. He told me it was one of the best trips he had ever made. Over the ensuing twelve years, VENT has operated cruise...
VENTflash #126
Victor Emanuel: August 19, 2011
Dear Friends, I have recently returned from a short vacation to Costa Rica, one of the premier birding and natural history destinations in the American Tropics. I was delighted to see a range of marvelous tropical birds including such favorites as Crested Guan, Blue-crowned and Tody motmots, Lesser Ground-Cuckoo, and Buff-rumped Warbler, among many others. Like a lot of birders and naturalists, I have a great fondness for the Tropics, and I always return from them invigorated and filled ...
VENTflash #125
Victor Emanuel: August 05, 2011
Dear Friends, As we close out the first week of August, I am pleased to report that our work on the new catalog of VENT tours has come to an end, and the finished product is now on its way to the printer! The completion of this project always represents a lot of work, but is an endeavor of which I am extremely proud. Through its pages, enticing descriptions of the places where VENT operates tours are accompanied by beautiful photographs from some of the world's top wildlife photographers....
VENTflash #124
Victor Emanuel: July 07, 2011
Dear Friends, I have just returned from a weeklong vacation in Barrow, Alaska. After this trip, I feel confident in saying there may be no better place in the world than Barrow to experience the High Arctic, a unique and incredibly beautiful ecosystem. During my visit, I had numerous looks at all four species of eiders, all three jaegers, Sabine's Gulls, lots of shorebirds, several Snowy Owls, and even a polar bear. Over the last couple of days I was thrilled to watch the tundra chan...
VENTflash #123
Victor Emanuel: June 10, 2011
Dear Friends, In the second half of May, I co-led our fourth ever Birding Across America by Train tour. Once again, we enjoyed a spectacular trip, with a fine group of participants and exposure to a marvelous array of birds, flowers, mammals, and scenery. This tour is one of my favorites, primarily because its premise is so unique: a cross-country birding trip that visits three distinct regions, from the Northeast to the Pacific Northwest, with each area linked by travel aboard Amtrak trains....
VENTflash #122
Victor Emanuel: May 10, 2011
Dear Friends, For birders and naturalists, every season brings its special events. This is especially true of the springtime, when every day brings perceptible changes in bird migration and the growth of trees and plants. One of the most anticipated and appreciated spring phenomena is the return of the warblers—those "butterflies of the bird world," whose brilliant colors and active movements are among the most vivid expressions of life. Not surprisingly, warblers are the...
VENTflash #121
Victor Emanuel: May 04, 2011
Dear Friends, Last spring a pair of Great Horned Owls nested in a cottonwood tree in the park across from my house here in Austin. Unfortunately, a heavy storm blew the nest out of the tree before the young had fledged. I am delighted to report that the owls have built another nest in my neighborhood this spring. This one is much more securely sited near the top of a live oak tree. By the time I learned of this nest, located a few blocks from the site of last year's attempt, it already co...
VENTflash #120
Victor Emanuel: April 15, 2011
Dear Friends, Although we're not yet a full month into spring, I have already enjoyed three weekends at my beach house that overlooks the Bolivar Flats on the Upper Texas Coast. While always impressive, the American Avocet show this year has been the best I have ever seen. Every morning, approximately 10,000 avocets congregate to feed in a backwater area only a hundred yards from my porch. Most of the birds are in breeding plumage, with cinnamon-colored necks. At times, a few hundred will...
VENTflash #119
Victor Emanuel: March 04, 2011
Dear Friends, Every so often during a meal on a VENT tour, a bird or mammal is sighted that is so exciting that it causes the dining room to empty! This phenomenon was most recently experienced by participants on our just-completed Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology Chairman's Council trip to the Pico Bonito Lodge in Honduras. We were eating breakfast one morning when one of the lodge guides entered the dining room with the extraordinary news that a Spectacled Owl had been discovered ...
