VENTflash #135, Continued January 12, 2012
Posted by Victor Emanuel
Victor Emanuel
Victor Emanuel started birding in Texas 63 years ago at the age of eight. His travels have taken him to all the continents, with his areas of concentration being Texas, Ari...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 scenic renown is burnished by larger-than-life vistas of snow-capped mountains, countless glaciers, islands teeming with seabirds, coastal fjords edged with fog-drenched forest, vast boreal taiga, and untold miles of rolling tundra.
VENT has offered tours to Alaska for over 30 years. In 2012, the tradition will continue with four tours to our 49th state. Each of these trips will be led by top leaders, and each promises a superb variety of birds, landscapes, and wildlife. I want to remind you that discounts of $500/person are available on registrations we receive by January 31, 2012 for our Grand Alaska: Gambell/Nome Pretrip, Grand Alaska Part I, and Grand Alaska Part II tours.
Grand Alaska: Gambell/Nome Pre-trip, June 2-10, 2012 with Kevin Zimmer and David Wolf; $4,975 in double occupancy from Anchorage. Only 3 spaces remain. Register by January 31, 2012 and pay $4,475. Combine this tour with Grand Alaska Part I for an additional discount of $500 in double occupancy or $750 in single occupancy.
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Bristle-thighed Curlew — Photo: Kevin Zimmer |
Our Gambell/Nome trip offers exciting birding for Bering Sea specialties and Siberian vagrants at two western Alaska outposts. We should witness spectacular movements of seabirds, along with good chances of Asiatic rarities at Gambell; breeding Bluethroats, ptarmigan, Bristle-thighed Curlew, Gyrfalcon, and others, with musk ox, grizzly, and moose all possible at Nome.
Grand Alaska Part I: Nome & the Pribilofs, June 9-18, 2012 with Kevin Zimmer and David Wolf; $6,895 in double occupancy from Anchorage. Register by January 31, 2012 and pay $6,395. Combine this tour with the Gambell/Nome Pre-trip for an additional discount of $500 in double occupancy or $750 in single occupancy.
This tour focuses on two of the best birding areas in Alaska: Nome and the Pribilof Islands. We will emphasize finding Alaskan specialty birds and mammals in Nome while the Pribilof Islands offer an incomparable seabird experience. Thousands of Least, Crested, and Parakeet auklets, Thick-billed and Common murres, Horned and Tufted puffins, and Northern Fulmars nest along its towering cliffs and can be observed almost within touching distance, as can Red-faced Cormorants and Black-legged and Red-legged kittiwakes. Resident land birds include Rock Sandpiper, Pacific Wren, Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch, Lapland Longspur, and Snow Bunting. With luck, we may even turn up an unexpected Siberian vagrant or two.
Following is an excerpt from Kevin Zimmer's 2011 Grand Alaska Part I tour report:
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Bluethroat in Full Song — Photo: Barry Zimmer |
"We enjoyed excellent birding and had particular success with the many special breeding birds of the Nome region. Topping everything was our experience with the iconic Bristle-thighed Curlew. A displaying male came flying overhead just 30 minutes into our hike, and circled us a few times (singing all the while) before putting down a hundred meters upslope. With a little bit of maneuvering, we managed to flank him, and the bird froze in plain sight for exceptional views. After lengthy studies, a second curlew (seemingly a rival male) sang from some distance upslope, immediately eliciting counter songs from our bird, following which he launched himself in the direction of his rival. Our entire hike took 90 minutes, of which a solid 30–45 minutes was spent watching the bird!
Grand Alaska Part II: Anchorage, the Denali Highway & Kenai Peninsula, June 18-26, 2012 with Kevin Zimmer and David Wolf; $3,795 in double occupancy from Anchorage. Register by January 31, 2012 and pay $3,295.
Our focus will be on the many special breeding birds of south coastal and interior Alaska, with excellent opportunities for seeing many of Alaska's iconic mammals, as well as some of the most spectacular scenery that the continent has to offer.
Following is an excerpt from Kevin Zimmer's 2011 Grand Alaska Part II tour report:
"I wanted desperately to find a hawk owl for the entire group. Mile after mile we scanned the spruce tops, but every suspicious blob resolved into either a Gray Jay, Merlin, or a tuft of spruce needles. Finally, I decided to stop in an area that just looked good and play some tape. Immediately, the robins and Gray Jays started alarming. Their alarms heralded a long-tailed, gray ghost of a bird, flying toward me at eye level. "Hawk owl, hawk owl—everyone out of the van!" I shouted. I grabbed for the radio and signaled the others while racing back for the scope. As it turned out, I needn't have hurried. The hawk owl swooped up to the top of a spruce at the edge of the road and sat there clucking with indignation as Brad pulled his van in behind ours. Over the next 45 minutes we took turns enjoying the scope-filling views and attempting to photograph the repeated attempts of the robins to dive-bomb the owl… Eventually, the robins tired of their sport, the owl was preening and otherwise preoccupied, and we felt the pull of the ticking clock. It's not easy to turn your back and drive away from a close Northern Hawk Owl, but we did it."
Alaska Mainland, June 15-26, 2012 with Barry Zimmer and Brennan Mulrooney; $6,695 in double occupancy from Anchorage.
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Denali Highway, Alaska — Photo: Barry Zimmer |
This tour offers a complete cross section of birds. It focuses upon three very different areas: the rugged hills, tundra, and seacoast around the old gold-rush boomtown of Nome; breathtaking Kenai Fjords National Park and the adjacent Kenai Peninsula; and the sprawling wilderness in the shadow of majestic Denali (Mount McKinley), North America's highest peak.
Following is an excerpt from Barry Zimmer's 2011 Alaska Mainland tour report:
"On our second full day in Nome we ventured north out the Kougarok Road. It was yet another glorious weather day with sunny skies and temperatures in the low 60s. We stopped about 18 miles out as an Arctic Warbler was singing right next to the road. The warbler, a real Alaskan specialty, responded quickly, offering superb views. Someone in the group then spotted three grizzly bears on a distant hillside. We had nice scope views of a mother and two nearly grown young ambling up an open slope for about ten minutes.
"…Just as we came to a stop, I heard the wonderful skylarking song of a male Bluethroat on the left side of the road. We quickly piled out of the vans and almost immediately had very close scope views of this incredible bird. Time after time he ascended up against a backdrop of snowy peaks and then floated down to a willow top for all to admire. The stunning blue and red throat shone brightly in the morning sun, like a brilliantly colored Indian blanket. Another Arctic Warbler perched up just feet away from the Bluethroat. I finally took a moment to look at the eagle nest up to our right and noticed that the adult bird was sitting up nicely in full view.
"We finally dragged ourselves away from this embarrassment of riches and within ten minutes had come across a bull muskox right next to the road. A pair of Northern Shrikes feeding young followed, then a close pair of Northern Wheatears at our lunch stop, a dizzying array of tundra flowers, a large herd of muskox with babies and, finally, walkaway scope views of three Bristle-thighed Curlews. Welcome to Alaska!"
BIRDING ACROSS AMERICA BY TRAIN: SPACE AVAILABLE
This May we will operate our fifth Birding Across America by Train tour. As time passes so quickly, it's hard for me to believe that it has already been more than six years since this special trip debuted. The idea for the tour was mine, and though I suspected this kind of a trip would be well received, I had not foreseen it developing into one of our most popular domestic departures.
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Yellow-headed Blackbird, North Dakota— Photo: Brian Gibbons |
The premise of this adventure is a two-week traverse of the United States in which three major geographical regions—New York's Adirondack Mountains, the High Plains of North Dakota, and Puget Sound of Washington State—are linked by travel aboard an Amtrak train. There are many reasons why I enjoy this trip so much, but three I'd like to share with you are: 1) Participants are exposed to almost the entire northern part of our country including wildlife, cities, people, and an extraordinary collection of landscapes; 2) This tour routinely records about 225 bird species, among them an incredible representation of birds from the eastern, central, and western regions of the country (How many VENT tours promise Scarlet Tanager and Black Oystercatcher on the same trip?); 3) No other nature tour company has ever offered this kind of trip, thereby making the VENT trip totally unique.
This spring, VENT will again operate Birding Across America by Train, May 20-June 2, 2012, and will be led by Michael O'Brien and Louise Zemaitis. As many of you know, Michael is one of the country's top field observers in addition to an accomplished author and illustrator; Louise is a first-rate observer and naturalist. Together, I can't recommend a trip with them too highly.
The fee for this tour is $6,695 in double occupancy from Albany (ends in Seattle). Limit 14; 5 spaces remain.
LATE WINTER & EARLY SPRING TOURS WITH SPACES AVAILABLE
February, March, and April are perhaps our busiest months at VENT. It is this late winter/early spring transition period when we operate the majority of our tropical tours, while the specter of spring migration portends a surge in interest in VENT tours right here at home. Many of our trips departing in the next several months are full, but I wanted you to know that spaces are still available on a slate of attractive tours. I hope you will consider joining us on a VENT tour soon!
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Lovely Cotinga, Honduras — Photo: Kevin Zimmer |
Honduras: The Lodge at Pico Bonito, February 11-18, 2012 with David Wolf and a local leader; $3,695 in double occupancy from San Pedro Sula. 5 spaces remain.
Honduras: Copán, February 17-22, 2012 with Brian Gibbons and a local leader; $2,295 in double occupancy from San Pedro Sula.
Honduras: The Lodge at Pico Bonito, February 22-29, 2012 with Kevin Zimmer and a local leader; $3,695 in double occupancy from San Pedro Sula.
Colombia: The Central & Western Andes, February 19-March 6, 2012 with Steve Hilty and Luis Urueña; $7,195 in double occupancy from Bogotá. 1 space remains.
Short Costa Rica, February 25-March 3, 2012 with David Wolf and Mimi Wolf; $3,385 in double occupancy from San José. 4 spaces remain.
Grand Belize Part I: Crooked Tree and Hidden Valley, March 1-5, 2012 with Barry Zimmer; $2,495 in double occupancy from Belize City.
Grand Belize Part II: Chan Chich Lodge, March 5-11, 2012 with Barry Zimmer; $3,995 in double occupancy from Belize City. 2 spaces remain.
Combine Grand Belize Parts I & II and receive a discount of $175 per person.
Belize: Machaca Hill Rainforest Canopy Lodge, March 13-18, 2012 with Michael O'Brien and Louise Zemaitis; $3,995 in double occupancy from Belize City. 4 spaces remain.
Central Vietnam, March 16-27, 2012 with David Bishop; $4,395 in double occupancy from Ho Chi Minh City (ends in Hanoi). 3 spaces remain.
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American Pygmy Kingfisher — Photo: Michael O'Brien |
Belize: A Relaxed & Easy Tour, March 18-25, 2012 with Michael O'Brien and Louise Zemaitis; $2,995 in double occupancy from Belize City. 4 spaces remain.
Mexico: El Triunfo, March 19-29, 2012 with Brian Gibbons and Bob Sundstrom; $3,150 in double occupancy from Tuxtla Guttierez, Mexico (ends in Tapachula). 5 spaces remain.
Best of Costa Rica, March 20-April 1, 2012 with David Wolf and Mimi Wolf; $4,965 in double occupancy from San José.
Spring in South Texas, April 1-10, 2012 with Barry Zimmer and Kevin Zimmer; $3,115 in double occupancy from Corpus Christi (ends in Laredo). 2 spaces remain.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
January is always a stellar month for VENT. On New Year's Day, VENT groups were enjoying great birding in Antarctica, Belize, Panama, and Venezuela. That same day, other VENT travelers departed for tours in Colombia and Ghana. Before this month is over, we will have operated 16 tours including trips in the American Southwest and Florida where the weather is generally much milder than in many areas of the country.
VENT will be well represented at this year's Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival in Titusville, Florida, January 25-31, 2012. I will be in attendance at the festival along with Barry Lyon, Michael O'Brien, and Louise Zemaitis. As part of the activities, I will give a keynote presentation entitled The Greatest Birding Experience of my Life—which recounts the extraordinary discovery of an Eskimo Curlew, a bird thought to be extinct, on the Upper Texas Coast in the spring of 1959. My talk will be delivered on the evening of January 28.
Michael O'Brien will lead a South Florida Post-Festival Tour, January 30-February 4, 2012; $2,045 in double occupancy from Orlando. 4 spaces remain.
There is no better way to begin the New Year than out in the field enjoying good birding. We hope you have been doing just that, and hope to see you on a VENT tour soon!