This was a great trip and we saw some amazing birds, especially large flocks coming in to settle for the night and dozens of birds (red winged and brewers black birds) seemingly popping out of the fields that had been harvested. The days were long, leaving early (6-6:30 am), returning to hotel for the night (7-8pm), lots of time in the van to cover the distances, changing hotels every other night and dealing with dicey weather was somewhat tiring. Not much downtime except during drives and we were birding from the van even then! As a friend said to me, this was an experience not a vacation!! Our fellow birdiers, only 4 ofus on the trip, were terrific, very sharing of their much better birding knowledge. Mike, our leader was tireless, handling all the driving, posting ebird lists, managing logistics for lunches and dinners, always upbeat. Would consider another Ventures trip, but would look for a bit more flexibility in use of time with options for downtime.

What a wonderful birding trip. Our guide Mike Werndly was knowledgeable, experienced and a great guy to hang out with. Although the pace is easy, the days are long. I plan to take other birding trips with Ventures.

Great weather, lots of warblers and grosbeaks. Clifton helped us ID and see the birds. Also enjoyed hawk watching from tower on Mt. Mitchell.