April 6, 2020

Dear friends:

In the weeks since the pandemic crisis heralded mass disruption to society, I and our team of office staff and tour leaders have been hard at work servicing our customers. At the same time, I have been in close touch with many of our tour leaders, and we want you to know that VENT is well positioned to get through this crisis and that we look forward to brighter days ahead. However, with most of us sheltering at home for the foreseeable future, we want you to know that we are thinking about you during these troubled times and want to stay in touch. Recently, we began receiving messages and notes from our tour leaders that are intended for you.

Starting this week, these messages will appear in a brand-new email communication we’re calling “Messages and Memories.” In the coming weeks and months, through “Messages and Memories,” you will be hearing directly from VENT tour leaders at least a couple of times a week. Some of the messages will be simple expressions of hope and well wishes while others will relate prized memories from past tours or remarkable experiences in birding and in nature. I hope that these messages will brighten your days while serving as sources of hope and inspiration until we can again be together doing what we love: being out in nature, birding, and sharing these passions with others.

Our debut message comes courtesy of Dion Hobcroft, a veteran VENT tour leader and Australia resident who leads many tours in the Australasia region and in Africa.

Best wishes,

Victor Emanuel

Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo © Dion Hobcroft

Dear friends,

Wishing all of my friends in North America and across the globe best wishes from the Land Down Under. As you head into spring, we head into winter, and it is this time of the year that Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos make an appearance in my backyard as they drop down from the mountain forests of the Great Dividing Range into the coastal country. Their piercing wailing is enough to get anyone’s pulse racing. Dreaming of getting back on the road with the VENT family.

Best wishes,

Dion Hobcroft