Ventures Bird Watching & Natural History Tours

VENTURES
BirdingTours
Putting the fun back into Birding!
Bird Watching and Natural History Tours
P.O. Box 1095, Skyland, North Carolina 28776
Phone: 1.866.253.4247 Email: Travel@Birdventures.com

NEWS UPDATE!

Colombia
Endemics of the Santa Marta Mountains
November 21 - 28, 2008
with Simon Thompson

The Santa Marta Mountains in Northern Colombia are home to a whole range of

endemic birds, including the Santa Marta Parakeet, Santa Marta Bush-Tyrant, Santa Marta Seedeater, Santa Marta Warbler, Santa Marta Mountain Tanager, Santa Marta Brush-Finch…..and the list goes on. This mountain range, bordered by the Caribbean Sea on the north, reaches a height of over 18,000' or over 5,700 meters, with the highest peak being Cristobal Colon, Colombia's highest peak. Cloaked in coastal and montane forest, this portion of Colombia is a classic zone of endemism for many plants and animals.

With one of the best bird books covering any Neotropical country, The Birds of Colombia, Colombia is slowly reappearing to the birding community and this is now an excellent time to visit the richest bird country on our planet. Our accommodation throughout our short tour will be comfortable and convenient to the best birding spots. The food is excellent and the people very friendly. If you have never been to South America before, this trip to Colombia will open your eyes to the beauty and diversity that is South America.

Welcome to the Ventures website. We have put together quite a varied selection of daytrips, weekend and longer Ventures both within North America and further afield. Take a look at our 2008-2009 Calendar and you can find out more information on each of our upcoming birding and nature tours. You can enjoy watching warblers in the Carolinas, take a boat up the River Gambia, West Africa or enjoy watching seabirds on a pelagic trip off California. From the Danube Delta in Romania to the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, we hope you can join us for one of our birding Ventures in the coming year.

If you click on the image to the left you will find a short video of Three-wattled Bellbird taken at Santa Elena Preserve in Costa Rica by Harvey Neal.

It is an .wmv movie and it is a large file so it may take a little time to download. HINT - it may be easier to "right click" on the bird, choose the "Save Target As", save it to your desktop and open it from there.

Ventures

Ventures started 14 years ago under the auspices of Foothills Equestrian Nature Center (FENCE), Tryon, NC. In the summer of 1998, Ventures, Inc. became an independent entity under the ownership of Simon Thompson.

As we are based in the Carolinas, we will continue to offer a wide range of popular day and weekend trip throughout the Carolinas, with a unique blend of birds, butterflies and wildflowers. Because of our experience in birding and tour organization, we are also able to offer a wide range of tours both within the United States and many other countries.

We hope you are tempted by the wide variety of trips we have to offer, and that you will join us on one or more Ventures in the coming year.

Calendars

2008 - 2009 Calendar At A Glance

2008/2009
For more information on the below Ventures, click here.
Dates	Venture	Status
July 26, 2008	Butterfly Workshop
August 20, 2008	Frying Pan Tower and Black Balsam, Buncombe County, NC
Aug 27, 2008	Tree Identification and Bird Directions, NC
Sep 4-15, 2008	Panama Tower and Canopy Lodge, Panama	Full!
Sep 7-23, 2008	Hawk Mountain, PA, Delaware Bayshore & Cape May, NJ
Sep 20, 2008	Hawkwatching
Sep 20, 2008	Birds & Butterflies at Grove Stone Quarry, Swannanoa, NC
Sep 24, 2008	Cherohala Skyway, Graham County, NC
Sep 27, 2008	Fall Migration - Blue Ridge, Asheville, NC
Sep 28-Oct 15, 2008	Madagascar	3 Spaces Left
Nov 2, 2008	Pacolet Valley, SC
Nov 21-28, 2008	Santa Marta Mountain Endemics, Colombia
Nov 26, 2008	Winter Natural History Hike
Nov 30 - Dec 9, 2008	Cuzco and Machu Picchu Birding
Dec 17-24, 2008	Cape Endemics
Dec 29, 2008 - Jan 5, 2009	Eastern South Africa
Jan 2009	Jamaica
Jan 2009	New Mexico - Snow Geese, Sandhill Cranes and Rosy-Finches
Feb 2009	Guatemala Highlands
Feb 2009	Hawaii
Feb 27 - Mar 8, 2009	Western Ecuador: Río Canandé and Machalilla NP
Mar 9-12, 2009	Buenaventura Extension, Ecuador
Mar 13-23, 2009	Southern Ecuador: Antpittas and More, Loja and the Deep South
April 2009	Bhutan's Himalayan Kingdom for Pheasants, Babblers and Flycatchers!!
April 24 - May 1, 2009	Snowbird Mountain Lodge, Graham County
May 9-20, 2009	Costa Rica
May 2009	St. Paul, Pribilofs
May - June 2009	Grand Alaska
May 21-30, 2009	Ecuador Highlands
May 31 - June 10, 2009	San Isidro and Eastern Lowlands, Ecuador
June 10-14, 2009	Amazonian Extension, Ecuador

NOTE! These dates are provisional and subject to change! To be sent more information on any overnight Venture, or to register for a Day-Trip, please click here.

NOTE: Please confirm these dates by calling the Ventures office. Also contact us for additional information or to reserve a space on any Venture.

Who are we?

Originally from Suffolk, England, Simon has lived in North Carolina for over 10 years. He has lived in Lebanon, Kenya, Yemen, and Ghana, where his interest in birds and natural history began. In addition to traveling extensively in the United States, Simon spent six months in China studying the crane and bird of prey migration as a member of the British "China Crane Watch" expedition. As director and originator of Ventures Nature Travel program in Tryon, North Carolina, Simon has led many birding trips all over the world.

Scott was born and raised in the mountains of southern Appalachia, specifically the coal fields of West Virginia and southwestern Virginia. After 21 years in the United States Air Force, he retired in 1991.

The Asheville area has been his and Irene's home since 1992. Scott attended UNC-Asheville, earning a degree in biology in 1997. His studies focused on the flora, fauna, and natural history of the southern Appalachians.

For the last six years Scott has been a walk leader for UNC-Asheville's annual Wildflower Pilgrimage, also leading wildlife and wildflower walks at the Western North Carolina Nature Center and serving as First Vice President of the Friends of the Nature Center. He is a frequent guest host on Saturdays morning radio's "Nature News" which can be heard on Asheville's WISE 1310 AM and Hendersonville's WTZQ 1600 AM. and presents slide programs for civic and social groups in the area.

Tyler grew up near Wichita, Kansas where he started birding at age 10. He has traveled to eleven countries in search of birds. Leaving home at age 17 he traveled by thumb and Greyhound bus from Texas to Alaska to Quebec with binoculars in hand. He has worked as a bird guide in Costa Rica, Ecuador, and the United States. In addition to birding he has a scientific interest in birds and has worked on various ornithological research projects including raptor banding in Duluth, counting raptors in the Berkshire Hills, monitoring wintering neotropical migrants in Cuba, and monitoring migrants on Korea's offshore islands in the Yellow Sea. He is currently working towards a degree in Zoology. The best thing I enjoy about being a bird guide is that my lifelist is reset with every client and finding a 'lifer' for them is as enjoyable as seeing it the first time for me as well.

Gordon was born in Manchester, Northern England and has been a birder for over 20 years in Britain and Europe. He now lives in Cornwall in the far South West of England, where he works in his spare time with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds leading local trips and working on such projects as helping to protect the newly established Choughs. He has also been involved with the annual Migration count and survey on Raptors and Storks over the Straits of Gibraltar. Although he has been birding in Africa, Asia and North America, Gordon's real passion is for Swallows and Bee-eaters and loves birding in the Mediterranean . He enjoys leading birdtrips and meeting people with the same interest.

Bob has been an active field Birder for 30 years. Originally coming from NJ, he became very familiar with all arenas of birding from interior woodlands to coastal. Bob has done numerous Breeding Bird surveys for NJ Audubon, State of NJ and the Federal Government. Bob also participated in the NJ World Series of Birding on a State and County level. Since coming to Western NC., 5 years ago, Bob has continued to be involved in Bird Surveys and has been a leader of numerous Field Birding trips in Western North Carolina. He is always a popular field trip leader because of his acute hearing and knowledge of bird songs.

Mark Welford is originally from Bedford, England and has lived in the US for the past 25 years. He is married to Terry and lives in Statesboro, GA, where he is the Associate Professor in the Department of Geology and Geography at Georgia Southern University, Mark also studied in Illinois, Idaho and England, and as well as teaching, he spends time researching Geo-dynamics, Biogeography and Ecology of Tropical Montane Environments, Tropical Conservation and Geographic Education. He has also coordinated several squares for the Georgia Breeding Bird Atlas, participated in Operation Raleigh, done bird-banding in the US and South America and many other diverse projects. Mark has traveled to and birded in many countries in both eastern and western Europe including Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic. He also has extensive birding experience in South America and has spent a lot of time in Ecuador and Peru, where tour leading has been part of his repertoire. Mark has led or co-led the following Ventures: Coastal Georgia (co-led 2005); Western Ecuador (co-led 2006; led 2007); Romania (co-led 2006); Southern Ecuador (co-led 2008), and NW Ecuador and the Choco (led 2008)..

Marilyn Westphal is a native of the mid-west, but has been living in North Carolina since 1992. She is an environmental scientist studying stream, river, and lake water quality for the Environmental Quality Institute at the University of North Carolina-Asheville. She caught the birding bug about 15 years ago and has been an avid birder ever since. She is currently the president of the Elisha Mitchell Audubon Society in Asheville, North Carolina and is coordinating the mountain section site descriptions for a new bird guide for North Carolina for the Carolina Bird Club. She is also working on an information guide on the birds of the southern Appalachians for the Elisha Mitchell Audubon Society.

Originally from Liverpool, England, Andy has lived in Tallahassee, Florida with his wife Julie for over 3 years. After leaving high school in 1988 he joined the British Royal Navy and sailed under the seven seas in a Submarine! A career change was inevitable and after leaving the service he was selected to join the National Trusts apprentice ranger program and went to Bicton College in Devon to study Environmental Conservation. After graduating in 1999 he went onto work as a research assistant for the R.S.P.B and then as the assistant bander at Dungeness Bird Observatory for3 years. In 2003 he worked as the seawatch counter at Cape May Bird Observatory and later went onto band shorebirds there in 2005. Andy is also an Environmental Consultant, an avid photographer and travel writer. His travels have taken him to many places including much of Western Europe& the Mediterranean Islands, Canary Islands, South Africa, New Mexico and Arizona.

NEWS UPDATE!

Ventures

Calendars

2008 - 2009 Calendar At A Glance

For more information on the below Ventures, click here.

NOTE! These dates are provisional and subject to change! To be sent more information on any overnight Venture, or to register for a Day-Trip, please click here.

Who are we?

Contact Information

Last modified: July 21, 2008

Copyright 2008 Ventures, Inc.