EcoTravel at Connecticut Audubon Society

Toll Free 1-800-996-8747

Small Group

Adventure

Supporting Environmental Education and Conservation!

If you would like to receive the EcoTravel Newsletter and

our Nature Photos via your email, would like a detailed itinerary for one of our overnight tours, want to signup for a day trip or overnight, please drop us a note at

ecotravel@ctaudubon.org

or call toll free

1-800-996-8747

Andrew Griswold

CAS Director of EcoTravel

Visit my blog to find out what we are doing at EcoTravel, where we are traveling, and what we are seeing!

TV News Links!

Eagles in Essex

Seldon Island

Priscilla Wood

EcoTravel Assistant

Testimonial - David S.

It really was a great trip, thanks mostly to all the hard work you did to prepare for it, and we are really in your debt. I am still spinning over how great it was.

Click for Full Details of

Day Trips

Click for Descriptions of

Overnight Tours

CALL NOW FOR

UNIQUE

GIFTS!

TRAVEL GIFT CERTIFICATES

Boat Tickets

Binoculars

More!

If you have a special someone who needs a very unique gift, or have someone who is just plain hard to shop for, consider giving them a gift certificate to travel with Connecticut Audubon Society. Your special someone can apply your gift to any of our travel programs; day trips, work shops, museum tours, or overnight travel listed in the EcoTravel News and on this website. Give them a choice of one of our many destinations, or pick one out for them yourself!

The Best

OPTICS FOR BIRD WATCHING

If you need help in selecting binoculars or a spotting scope, give the EcoTravel Office a call. We are dealers for the full lines of binoculars and scopes made by Vortex, Meopta and Swarovski. We would be pleased to help you find the equipment that best fits your needs and budget. Call for our discount pricing.

SPONSORSHIP FUND

The Ulric Hellmann Sponsorship Fund within the EcoTravel Program, now makes travel available to teachers, students, and families who would otherwise be unable to participate. This allows the program to reach a larger segment of the community and remove financial barriers. It is important that Connecticut Audubon Society’s programs are made as accessible as possible to everyone. If you are interested in making a donation to this fund or know of a worthy recipient, please contact Andrew Griswold at the EcoTravel Office. All donations are tax deductible.

Testimonial - Margaret L.

Having just returned from a fabulous 4 days at the Vineyard with "our group" I wanted to say thanks for the great job you did with driving, arranging all activities and suggesting the "succulent lobster roll!"

Rarities Expeditons

Anytime!

Have you ever wanted to chase a rarity near Connecticut, but couldn’t find directions, or were concerned about going alone? Here’s your chance to join CAS EcoTravel Rarities Expeditions. We’ll provide the transportation, driver, company, and experienced leadership. This is how it works: first, call EcoTravel to sign on. When a bird of significance is in “the area,” EcoTravel will contact you with the chance to join the adventure. You have the option to come along or wait for the next big rarity. The fee will be determined by how far we have to drive for each bird. Call 800-996-8747 to get your name on the list! Call now so you will not miss out!

CUSTOM AND PRIVATE TOURS

Connecticut Audubon Society EcoTravel offer custom tour design assistance including private tours for you, your family, or a private group. Give us a call if your would like more information on these special services.

FAMILY RATES

Family travel can be some of the most joyful and cherished experiences of our lives. Perhaps you can remember how a journey somewhere helped shape your own life, or helped create memories and understanding and love among family members. I know that holds true for many of us at CAS. But if you've ever traveled with your family to some of the world's wild places, you already know that there is no experience that brings people closer together. There's a real thrill that accompanies discovering wildlife and meeting people from different cultures in a friendly, easy way. That's the kind of atmosphere we try to create for families on all of our tours. Please, call for special family rates.

HELP US EARN MONEY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AND CONSERVATION

If dates for CAS tours do not work for you, or if there is a tour that you are looking for but do not see listed, we are able to provide you with many natural history destinations through our contacts with the for-profit travel industry. These companies will make a donation to our education programs when you sign up for one of their tours through us. Call us to book!

Please call or send an email to learn more about these extensive offerings or to make an appointment to visit our EcoTravel Office in Essex, CT.

Anhinga

Anhinga anhinga

Grand Texas

Next Offered April 2010

Burrowing Owl

Athene cunicularia

Arizona Tour

Next offered August '10

Lupine

Arizona Tour

Next offered August '10

Woodland Arrangement

Nova Scotia Tour

Call for departures!

Hudson River Day Trip

Mt. Katahdin, Maine

Peregrine Falcon

Block Island

Next offered Oct. 2010

Cooper's Hawk

Ant Nebula

Great Horned Owl

Tri-colored Heron

Green Jay

Peregrine Falcon

Block Island

Next offered Oct. 2010

Grand Texas

Next Offered April 2010

Galapagos

Next Offered April 2010

Galapagos

Our personal yacht!

Dave Tripp

CAS Tour Leader

and Volunteer

Jaguar and Bird Tour Offered again October 2010!

Connecticut Audubon

Society

EcoTravel

Support Environmental Education and Conservation

by traveling with our small, personal groups!

All proceeds support Connecticut Audubon Society's

environmental education and conservation programs.

Click Here for Full Details of

Day Trips

Click Here for Descriptions of

Overnight Tours

Featured Event

Bald Eagles

on the CT River

February 6 – March 21, 2010

Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10AM

Saturdays and Sundays at

9AM, 11AM, 1PM, and 315PM

Connecticut Audubon Society (CAS) will again sponsor numerous boats to view eagles wintering along the Connecticut River. Bald Eagles and occasionally Golden Eagles, can be found along the lower river, where this wintering ground is host to the largest concentration of eagles in the Northeast; as many as 100 individuals. Aboard the boats will be naturalists from CAS to assist in identification and to help distinguish the birds’ different ages. Our vessels have a large heated cabin, restroom, and open decks. Tours are approximately one and three quarters hours in length. Be among the first to reserve your spots for this winter adventure or purchase a Gift Certificate for the holidays Fee: $40.

Call 1-800-996-8747

Featured Day Trips

Harlequins at Newport

Wed., Jan. 27 11AM – 9PM

Harlequin ducks, the fashion plates of the winter seas, are a rare sight in Connecticut, but participants are nearly guaranteed to see them at Sachuest Point in Newport, Rhode Island where a large percentage of the dwindling North American population spends the winter. Join Andrew Griswold, CAS Director of EcoTravel, for a look at the harlequins and other winter ducks at the point, plus a tour of additional birding spots around Newport. The group will go out to dinner before coming home. Transportation from Connecticut is provided. Please bring a lunch and money for dinner. Fee: Members $65. Nonmembers $75.

New Date!

Boston Museum of Science

Sat., Jan. 30 7:30AM-5:00PM

Travel to Boston for an exciting day at the Museum of Science with Bob Kuchta. While there, experience some of the 500 permanent exhibits, including “A Bird’s World,” which hosts an extraordinary collection of mounted New England birds. The IMAX film “Roar: Lions of the Kalahari,” will offer an up-close encounter with incredible predators and depict their struggle for survival in the desert of Botswana. Includes transportation and entrance fees. Fee: Members $75. Nonmembers $85.

Featured Overnight Tours

Amazon Cruise

Our Most Popular Cruise!

Two depaartures per month! Call for exact dates!

(a one night stay in Manaus is required before the cruise)

This trip explores some of the most untouched rainforest in all of the Amazon. On your eight cabin expedition vessel, you will venture far up some of the least inhabited rivers in the Amazon Basin. Travelers explore areas very rarely visited, and seek out the mysterious life of the wilderness that stirs in the forest and in the heart of the Amazon Basin. This is the most thorough, detailed, and sophisticated trip offered in the entire Amazon and comes with rave reviews from past CT Audubon Society participants. The guides are accomplished naturalists and you will see creatures almost never seen by other visitors. This trip is like being on a time machine in that one is able to visit places that have not changed for millions of years. Truly the trip of a lifetime and an easy tour for seniors and families! Fee: $2,400. Call for dates! Extensions available! Great trip!

Call 800-996-8747 for detailed itineraries.

NANTUCKET ESCAPE
Long-tails and Razorbills
January 15 - 18, 2010 4 Days!
Birding starts the minute the mainland is left behind, yielding scoter, eider, Long-tailed Duck, and perhaps Razorbill. Travelers can revel in the peace and quiet of an off-season resort, the inescapable sense of history, and the abundance of open space along the wind blown moors and interior pine barrens. Participants enjoy the sunset spectacle of thousands of Long-tailed Ducks flying to their nighttime roost and then relax at one of the delightful pubs in the heart of the historic town. Enjoy this relaxing long weekend. Birds we hope to see include Razorbill, Northern Gannet, Iceland Gull, and a few rarities. Fee: $795.

Click Here for Full Details of

Day Trips

Click Here for Descriptions of

Overnight Tours

Exclusive Northern Adventure

The Northern Tier of the United States is one of the least birded areas of our country, not because of its lack of birds, but because of its vast, not easily accessible tracts of land. CAS EcoTravel has eliminated the difficulty of reaching this area by designing and running an exclusive private tour for you and four others aboard a private aircraft with a CAS tour leader and local guides all along the tour’s route. Travel to New York and visit the Connell Laboratory of Ornithology, Jamestown, NY to the Roger Tory Peterson Institute, Michigan in search of North America’s rarest warbler, the Kirtland’s Warbler, Minnesota for its vast boreal forests and bog nesting birds, North Dakota for the outstanding sparrows of the prairies, and South Dakota to visit the Black Hills, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Monument, and the Badlands. On the way home, stop in Wisconsin to see the highly endangered Whooping Crane. This trip is designed to use the King Air 200 made by Beechcraft. Long known for its quality, the King Air is a safe, reliable and versatile aircraft uniquely suited to perform a variety of flight services. The King Air, powered by two Pratt and Whitney PT6 turbo prop engines, offers safety, exceptional reliability and performance. The aircraft has a remarkable record of reliability. Call us about this exceptional opportunity for adventure along our Northern Tier. This is all first class service and absolutely the trip that you will talk about for years to come. Call now to reserve your exclusive departure for June 2010 and for more information. 800-996-8747.