Asheville is the only city in North Carolina with Cerulean Warblers in its backyard. From 12 to 24 male Cerulean Warblers hold territories on the Blue Ridge Parkway each year from Craven Gap to Lane Pinnacle Overlook. EMAS has adopted the Bull Creek IBA and volunteers have monitored its small population of Cerulean Warblers since 1998. In 2010 we partnered with the Cerulean Warbler Reserve in Colombia and with our spring Birdathon we raised over $3000 to buy additional land adjacent to the reserve. In 2011 we raised over $5000 to help preserve the Cerulean Warbler.

    Australia-- the very name conjures up visions of a wild land full of incredible birds and animals unique in the world, and it is. Our Venture takes us from Cairns on the northeastern coast to Melbourne in the south. We will explore a variety of habitats in eastern Australia: sub-tropical rain forests, pristine white beaches, the Great Barrier Reef, untouched eucalyptus forests, rugged high country, semi-arid deserts and desert plateaus, and, of course, the exotic Outback.

     Panama is the geographical crossroads of North and South America, where the flora and fauna of the Americas meet, intermingle and produce an overwhelming variety of both plants and animals. Panama covers an area of 75,648 square kilometers, somewhat smaller than the state of South Carolina, but with over 880 species of birds recorded from within its borders.

     Tanzania, in East Africa, supports one of the largest diversity of birds species in Africa with over 1000 species recorded. On this Ventures tour, we'll start the trip in Arusha and visit Tarangire National Park, Lake Manyara (home of the tree climbing lions!) and Serengeti National Park including the famous and incomparable Ngorongoro Crater.

     Of all the birding destinations in the world, Papua, New Guinea would have to rank among the most fascinating & exotic. The virutally untouched forests come alive with incredible Fruit-doves, Fig-parrots, Fairywrens, Jewel-babblers, Pittas, Honeyeaters & Berrypeckers. Of the 740 species of birds recorded in New Guinea, 330 species are found nowhere else.

     Often considered one of the most scenic stretches of landscape in the world the Cape of South Africa ranks among Africa's premier birding destinations. It provides easy access to a good selection of coastal and mountain specials, and some of the world's best sites for such highly localized endemics as Knysna Warbler and Cape Siskin, and seabirds such as African Penguin.
We will make several day-trips out of Cape Town, including West Coast National Park with Southern Black Korhaan and thousands of shorebirds, the vineyards of Wellington, where we will sample some of the delicious wines, and the spectacular coastal drive down to Betty's Bay.

KwaZulu-Natal, the heartland of the Zulu nation, offers subtropical birding with excellent mammal watching.