Name: Exploring Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Start: 2023-02-19T00:00:00.000Z
End: 2023-02-26T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico

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Puerto Vallarta, famous as a playground for Hollywood stars, featured weekly on episodes of The Love Boat in the 70s and 80s, and home to a wintering population of Humpback Whales, is the newest destination for a Ventures Birding mid-winter expedition! From shorebirds and gulls on sandy beaches, to estuaries full of waders (and crocodiles!), to land birds ranging in altitude from sea level to pine forest, our week-long trip explores the diversity and culture of this beautiful region of Southwest Mexico.

Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico

Exploring Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Ventures Birding Tours

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Small travel company based in Asheville, NC, specializing in birding &amp; nature tours both locally &amp; worldwide.

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Puerto Vallarta, famous as a playground for Hollywood stars, featured weekly on episodes of The Love Boat in the 70s and 80s, and home to a wintering population of Humpback Whales, is the newest destination for a Ventures Birding mid-winter expedition! From shorebirds and gulls on sandy beaches, to estuaries full of waders (and crocodiles!), to land birds ranging in altitude from sea level to pine forest, our week-long trip explores the diversity and culture of this beautiful region of Southwest Mexico.

About this trip

Wonderful tour with 90 lifers.  Great food and nice lodges.  Simon and local guides were outstanding.  Alan

Trinidad & Tobago - Piping Guans, Bellbirds & More

Awesome adventures in Trinidad!! In addition to amazing birding the  Local guides provided a deep dive into the culture with visits to several homes of friends, favorite restaurants and wonderful lodges. We saw over 200 species of birds which allowed me to add over 100 to my life list. 

The evening dinners on the porch overlooking Port of Spain were lovely and romantic.  Dining on a boat watching the scarlet ibis drift in, while we also saw flamingoes, was one of the most memorable moments of the whole trip.  Food was good, oilbird hike amazing.  The lodge in Tobago, with palm tanagers flying through the kitchen, was a lovely quiet place to bird.  

Enjoyable day of birding.  My first experience with a guided trip.  I will be coming back

Afternoon at Mills River Park

Great trip. Vicky knows her ducks and other waterbirds and where to find them. We look forward to more trips with her as a guide

Duck Day in Asheville

The trip was very enjoyable, in spite of the cold weather.  Michael Werndley is a great guide and fun to be with. The main attraction was the chance to see up to ten species of owls, many of which can often be seen after migrating down from more northern areas in Canada. The group saw a Snowy Owl,  Hawk Owl, Barred Owl, and (the major attraction) two impressive Great Gray Owls! Other local species included Snow Buntings, Common and Hoary Redpolls, a Northern Shrike, Canada Jay, Pine Grosbeaks, Golden Eye,  numerous Bald Eagles, and a Merlin (sitting atop our hotel in Minneapolis). In addition, the group saw many winter species common to our own area. An unexpected treat was the sight of three wolves totting along the frozen harbor shoreline in Duluth! A great time was had by all!

Northern Minnesota 2024 - Owls & Winter Finches

Weather was a lot better than I anticipated, but even if it had been exceptionally cold, this trip is definitely worth it.  To see the snow-covered landscape scenes, the beauty of the Black Spruce trees, all the native habitat for the Great Gray Owl, was an exciting and enjoyable experience.  The food choices were fantastic as were the views of Lake Superior.  Dress warmly and go for it!

This was our second trip with Keith Watson and it was very special - he is wonderful to bird with, and to just be with.  Our group was small and it made the trip that much more meaningful.  We saw beautiful places, beautiful birds, and had lots of good food and good company.   We had difficult weather at times and Keith was able to keep our spirits up and make it feel adventurous rather than adverse. Very grateful.

Cranes Galore at Hiwassee

This was a uniquely wonderful birding trip. Great group and great birding, with fantastic local guide, Sean, and always wonderful, Simon Thompson.  We had our own chefs,  one of whom  traveled with us, with wonderful food and some Suriname local food.  The Surinamese people were warm and welcoming. Fantastic trip!1

Suriname 2023

We had a congenial group of people and two outstanding guides.  We saw many of the Guyana endemics, even the cute little ones.  The country is hot and humid but we usually had breaks (or a drive in the air-conditioned bus) during the hottest part of the day.  The food was amazing - especially the fresh cinnamon rolls at breakfast.  Suriname is ethically diverse and has a fascinating culture. Sometimes we had to take "showers" from a bucket but the temperatures were so warm it was fine.

The usual excellent Ventures tour with unforgettable birding and  migration spectacles. Kansas is starkly beautiful. Our trip leader Mike did a great job all around. he also met the challenge of finding memorable places to eat in rural Kansas

Kansas: Open Country Specialties 2023

Great trip!  The accommodations and grounds around the lodge were perfect and beautiful. Food was excellent; everything made from scratch!  The staff was friendly and considerate.  Our Panamanian bird guide was amazing.  He went over and above expectations in finding birds for us.  Of course, we all know Simon is the best!  I would do this trip again and again!

LH

Hawk Migration at Canopy Lodge 23

We had a great time - beautiful scenery and very informative! My partner is definitely more excited about birding than ever after the trip.

Fall at Sandy Mush

Everything was first rate:  birds, tour leaders, accommodations, meals, and the other tour participants.  I especially liked that the tour was based at one location where we could unpack and enjoy some time off if needed.  One thing I would change is not advertise this trip as "Spectacular Hawk Migration at Canopy Lodge".  Hawk migration in October is indeed spectacular in some parts of Panama, but the Canopy Lodge or any of the locations visited are not where the vast majority of hawks migrating through Panama occur.  I knew this before the tour so was not disappointed.  We did see a nice variety of raptor species, just not the migration spectacle that can be seen elsewhere.  

Great trip and lots of sparrows as promised.  And great looks at a flock of pipits.  Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!

Sparrow Shindig

Ventures Birding selected a great day to bird Jackson Park and 'Clifton did his best to help us identify the variety of warblers passing through.  Warblers don't seem to be in need of rest as they flit from leafy branch to the next but we did manage some great views and saw quite a number of different species.  The best view was perhaps not of the warblers more often higher up in the trees but of a Rose-Breasted Grosbeak sitting placidly on an eye level branch just feet away.  That was an unexpected plus to a nice birding experience.  

Connecticut Warbler Search

Great tour, guides found a lot of warblers and it was very helpful to learn more about warbler identification.

Fall Warbler Workshop #2 - '23

I enjoyed having Mike as a guide on my first venture with him. He is extremely knowledgeable and skilled in finding and identifying the many warblers passing through. Mike pointed out a lot of field identification tips that helped me expand my own skills. His depth of experience and his enthusiasm for sharing what he knows made it a great birding day. 

Fall Warbler Workshop #1 - '23

This was an awesome experience, my wife and I were the only ones that showed up. Mike Resch was our professional guide. Mike is a master birder, I have never seen anyone with his knowledge and skill. He could identify birds by call and in their fall plumage. We were about done when he received a text about a Limpkin that had been found in his hometown and he invited us to follow him.  He treated us as friends, we spent about 8 hours with him and I added so many birds to my life list. What a bargain and great time.

Spectacular Fall Migration @ Ridge Junction - 2

A slow-paced meandering birdwalk often distracted by conversations with unafilliated random birders in search of local birds.  

Mills River Migration

Washington is a beautiful state.  Several considerations to be made:  maybe not in August when it's soo hot to go into the arid section.  Birds were not active.  Also, not to visit a National Park on a weekend day.  The lines getting in, difficulty parking, and crowds took away from the experience and we missed the Rosy Finch.  :)  It was no problem for us, but the tour needs to be given more than a "moderate" level of hiking and exercise.  Some attendents were not able to keep up, and slowed us down here and there.  
The pelagic trip was awesome!  We happened to see 59 orcas, along with many of the bird species expected.  The town of Westport was a nice little fishing town.  Not touristy - perfect.  The Olympic National Park had a great trail to a waterfall that took us through gigantic trees and lush vegetation.  Definitely what you'd expect in Washington state.  Getting to the top of Hurricane Ridge, we had close views of Mt Olympus, but it was unfortunately, a smoky day due to wildfires.  So....we were not able to have the view of Puget Sound and other mountains.  Our lodgings were good, and majority of meals were fabulous.    We were able to find most of the target birds except when it was crowded or too smoky.  All in all, we enjoyed this trip.
This review is for myself and Leo C.

Washington - Pacific Northwest Birding 2023

We had a great time, and we learned a lot. Aaron is a superb birder!

Rarity Round-Up - Kite Watch 23

Ventures trip to Arizona rocked! Our experienced guide, Aaron Steed, led us to all the right birds - the Arizona specialties along with several ABA rarities. The trip was well planned, running smoothly and efficiently. Taking the unusual higher-than -normal temperatures under consideration, Aaron kept the group well fed in birds, food, and icey drinks! I highly recommend this trip and Aaron as a guide!

Southeastern Arizona Specialties 2023

Goal of the trip is to find as many bird species as possible.  Very successful and I would recommend trip for serious birders.

Simon is so wonderful and accommodating as always! His knowledge is beyond measure! Vicky joined as well to help with Simon. She was a pleasure to meet and has a great eye for birds of prey!

Mt. Mitchell Birding

We had a lovely romp on the dge of Mt. Mitchell, although it was pretty quiet for birding.  As always, Simon was an amazing resource to conduct our tour, which kept things remarkedly interesting and enjoyable!

Great trip format, wonderful travel mates, and a fun highly knowledgeable guide!  We found most of our target birds and had lots of laughs along the way.  I highly recommend this adventure!!

This trip was well planned, active, fun and dedicated to seeing as many rare birds as we could.

We had a fantastic group of birders and a dedicated, knowledgeable and fun guide in Aaron Steed. We saw a lot of wonderful birds, despite the high temperatures, and I particularly loved going up into the canyons and mountains, an environment in which I had not yet birded. I’ve never been disappointed by a Ventures Birding trip, and their record remains unbroken.

We had a great time. An excellent guide, Kevin Burke, a very nice group, and wonderful birds. And don't forget the lobster rolls!

Maine & New Hampshire - Puffins, Thrushes, & Boreal Specialties

 Wonderful people, fantastic birds, and great food.   The accommodations were comfortable and quiet and there was plenty of room in the van.   Our guide, Kevin, is a highly skilled birder who finds the birds and makes sure everyone gets on them.  He also worked tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure that the trip would be a success.  Thank you Kevin and Ventures for another amazing trip!

Fantastic trip that I highly recommend.. Beautiful country with lots of great birds and wildlife. Excellent guide.

Cranberry Glades, WV 2023

The trip as great. Craig and Pam took us to great locations for so many birds. Had so much fun. 

Ohio and Michigan

Per usual, birding with Ventures Birding is an absolute joy and an adventure. Aaron is a Grade 
A++++ guide. We saw our primary target, Yellow-winged warblers 3 times, with excellent views. We saw multiple other warblers, even though getting a little late in the season, as well as a wide selection of other species of birds and raptors. The Max Patch/Harmony’s Den area is gorgeous and had a great time.

Spring Warbler Workshop at Harmon Den 2023

A most productive and enjoyable trip. Kevin Burke guided our small group expertly to find all the beautiful songbirds we hoped to see and more.  Knowing all their calls and local habitats paid off bigtime. 

Warbler Weekend - Spring 2023

Lots of birds.  Food edible but not varied. Fantastic scenery and culture.  Hotels varied. Weather wonderful. Worth the long plane ride.

Bhutan- Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon 2023

Clifton Avery was an exceptional guide who led us to hearing and seeing a wide-ranging collection of birds.  The locations we visited were beautiful and ending at the brewery, which is also in a beautiful spot, was a great conclusion to a very fun day. My husband and I highly recommend this day tour!

Birds & Beers

This was a great trip that surpassed our expectations. The logistics supporting the trip including the booking process, level of contact preceding the trip and then the ground transportation and accommodation were handled appropriately and professionally. Our guide, Michael  Plauche, was a gem. His knowledge of birds and of the local areas we visited was encyclopedic. Michael ensured that all parties on the trip had the opportunity to see the various species we encountered. His pace of birding was not rushed and he valued a quality experience over a desire to find every last species in the area. He also tailored his approach to be inclusive to birders with different levels of expertise. He managed to support all of the party in a seamless manner. Our trip was also advertised as a food experience and that did not disappoint. We were treated to a variety of Cajun and Creole flavors that were truly memorable. The meals rivalled the birding and was enough to want you to come back for more. Michael and his wife Catherine who handled a lot of the cooking and the other participants on the trip, collectively contributed to make this an outstanding trip.  Thank you Ventures Birding for such a memorable experience. 

Spring Migration and Cajun Food, Grand Isle, LA 2023

Birding doesn't get much better than the Gulf Coast of Louisiana during spring migration! We saw it all from White Pelicans, Snowy Plovers, Buff-belled hummingbird , and I can't forget the Reddish Egret dancing for his dinner!  As advertised, birds and food, this trip was much more than I expected.  Michael, the guide, has bionic ears and excellent eyes.  He's an easy going professional birder, making sure everyone sees the bird.  Both Michael and wife, Catherine, are from Louisiana, living in North Carolina now.  With a lot of hard work, Catherine, prepared an excellent Cajun meal every night from Craw-fish boil the first night to crabs and Gumbo the last night with wonderfully delicious dishes in between!  I highly recommend this trip!    

We had a wonderful time in Louisiana with one day of birding in New Orleans and the remainder of the week on Grand Isle. You won't find a better guide than Michael Plauche and, since Louisiana is his home, he is extremely knowledgeable about the birds and best area birding sites. Michael's wife, Catherine, along with some of their friends and family, provided the most delicious authentic Cajun meals imaginable, better than you could find in most restaurants. All in all, it was a terrific week.

A beautiful day of birding with a competent and caring guide afforded our group with a wonderful experience with over 50 species of great birds. Top birds of the day for me were the several Red-headed woodpeckers, Prothonotary Warble, Great Crested Flycatcher, American Bittern, and Kingbird, all year birds for me.  Also several Great Blue Herons were nesting in the marsh with chicks showing in their nests.  Kevin did an outstanding job hearing and finding the birds and the pace was relaxing, yet efficient so we could see as many birds as possible.   I had never been to the Conestee Nature Preserve and it was definitely worth the trip.  Finally, I appreciated riding with Kevin from Hendersonville and back to the Preserve,  especially when we had to re-route our return trip due to a train wreck.  

Alan Lenk

Spring Warbler Workshop at Lake Conestee

As always Kevin is fantastic. Lake Conestee is marvelous- a truly unique habitat. Strongly recommend as a yearly day trip

This was a fun afternoon. We birded in different park and local recreation areas with various habitats leading to quite a nice number of species.  The birding in the evening location was quite rough driving, but yielded views of beautiful early migrant warblers;  plus it was fun hearing the woodcocks at dusk.  Great day!

Woodcocks & Whip-poor-wills 2023

We had an amazing trip with Venture Birding tours! Aaron was extremely knowledgeable. We stopped at 4 different spots to view birds and added several species to our ebird list! Thanks! 

Early Spring at Sandy Mush

The trip easily exceeded expectations. Kevin and Jay are knowledgeable and helpful guides, ably assisted by Keith Watson in recording our findings. Jay also provided very interesting insights in to Costa Rican history and culture. I would highly recommend Ventures Birding Tours to other birders.

Costa Rica: Volcanoes, Tanagers & Hummingbirds 2023

This was an amazing, inspirational first birding adventure. We had been birding before but nothing like this. Everyone from Kevin, Keith, Jay, and Pablo to the other 8 experienced, passionate birders, were patient with my husband and I as we learned on the 'fly'. 
We had everything that we needed including great hotels, safe and comfortable van driving, a wide variety of birding sites, delicious Costa Rican cuisine (though very large portions) and of course great birding stories from that day in Costa Rica and from around the world. The trip was better than our wildest imagination. Thank-you so much for this opportunity. 

For our first trip to Costa Rica, we travelled with our “dream team” (Ventures hosts Kevin and Keith, CR expert guide Jay and driver/photographer extraordinaire Pablo) over 8 days to enjoy 31 checklists, 228 lifers and loads of treasured memories. All four are experienced, knowledgeable, personable, and very good at what they do. They consistently managed to put us on each bird, either with scopes or pointers, providing abundant photo opportunities. We covered a lot of ground, but never felt rushed. We stayed in a variety of beautiful accommodations along the way—each with its own charm (and access to nearby birds). Enjoyed the meals, and the opportunity to dine on authentic CR cooking. Ventures Birding handled all the trip details seamlessly and we always felt in good hands. Wonderful trip!

Perhaps the best Venture Tours ever I have been on.  Results:  307 birds, 207 lifers and I got to see and photograph the Resplendent Quetzal, among the worlds most beautiful birds. 
In addition,  the lodges and food were top rate, along with the local and Ventures Guides. Ventures guide Kevin did an outstanding, professional, and courteous performance. I was very pleased with this tour. 

Awesome birding experience in Costa Rica. Our guides Kevin and Keith made sure we were well taken care of from the time we landed in SJO  and throughout the journey.  Local birding expert Jay, and Pablo our bus driver,  always seemed to know exactly where to go to spot new species and then set up spotting scopes for close up view. We saw 285 species in 10 days. Best way to experience Costa Rica is with a “bird’s eye view”! Thank you for a wonderful time dear friends!!

We had a very nice trip and saw lots of birds and pretty countryside. Vicki did a great job and having Bill along was fantastic! The farm was beautiful and their hospitality was more than anyone could hope for. It was a very good day! We were glad the weather cooperated! Bird highlights were Loggerhead Shrike, Horned Larks, Wilson's Snipe, Bald Eagle, Waterfowl, and sparrows.

Exploring Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Exploring Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

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