![Birding in Jamaica](jamaica_web_001.jpg)
jamaica_web_001.jpg
In April, 2013 we took a ten-day birding trip to Jamaica with the aim of finding all 28 endemic species - and many other birds on the island!
Arriving in Montego Bay, our route took us to Black River on the south coast in the west of the island, then inland to the Blue Mountains on the east side, and finally to Port Antonio on the northeast coast
![Road map of Jamaica](jamaica_web_002.jpg)
jamaica_web_002.jpg
A trip by pontoon boat along the Black River allows close access to the reed beds along the water...
![Black River Safari](jamaica_web_003.jpg)
jamaica_web_003.jpg
...so, one can sneak up on Least Bitterns...
![Least Bittern](jamaica_web_004.jpg)
jamaica_web_004.jpg
...and Purple Gallinules
![Purple Gallinule](jamaica_web_005.jpg)
jamaica_web_005.jpg
View of Blue Mountain Peak
(the highest point in Jamaica at 2256 m)
![Blue Mountain Peak](jamaica_web_006.jpg)
jamaica_web_006.jpg
View of Blue Mountain coffee
(before it's roasted!)
![Coffee beans](jamaica_web_007.jpg)
jamaica_web_007.jpg
Meanwhile the birders are searching for lifers!
![Searching for lifers](jamaica_web_008.jpg)
jamaica_web_008.jpg
Here's a lifer - with an ethereal call - a Rufous-throated Solitaire
![Rufous-throated Solitaire](jamaica_web_009.jpg)
jamaica_web_009.jpg
And here's a lifer - and an endemic (a bird only found in Jamaica) - a Jamaican Woodpecker
![Jamaican Woodpecker](jamaica_web_010.jpg)
jamaica_web_010.jpg
Common Potoo (pretending to be a stump - as they do)
![Common Potoo](jamaica_web_011.jpg)
jamaica_web_011.jpg
There's a Mangrove Cuckoo - somewhere in that bush!
![Mangrove Cuckoo](jamaica_web_012.jpg)
jamaica_web_012.jpg
Not all the animal life has feathers - this colourful lizard is a Graham's Anole (Jamaican Anole) and...
![Graham's Anole](jamaica_web_013.jpg)
jamaica_web_013.jpg
...it evidently has other attributes!
![Display](jamaica_web_014.jpg)
jamaica_web_014.jpg
The Jamaica Palace Hotel, our accommodation in Port Antonio, is full of artwork - both paintings and sculptures. Original oil paintings adorn all of the interior walls...
![Original artwork in the hotel](jamaica_web_015.jpg)
jamaica_web_015.jpg
...and all of the exterior walls!
![Paintings fastened to the outside walls!](jamaica_web_016.jpg)
jamaica_web_016.jpg
Not all of the metal sculptures are purely decorative
![Fireman](jamaica_web_017.jpg)
jamaica_web_017.jpg
Want to take a trip down the Rio Grande? The bamboo rafts are hand built by the captains - using bailing wire - and last for about six months before they become waterlogged and have to be replaced.
![Bamboo rafts](jamaica_web_018.jpg)
jamaica_web_018.jpg
Shooting the rapids!
![Rapids](jamaica_web_019.jpg)
jamaica_web_019.jpg
The trip gives us a chance to compare the Great Blue Heron...
![Great Blue Heron](jamaica_web_020.jpg)
jamaica_web_020.jpg
...with the Little Blue Heron
![Little Blue Heron](jamaica_web_021.jpg)
jamaica_web_021.jpg
No trip to Jamaica would be complete without a visit to the beach. This is Botany Bay, the home of...
![Botany Bay](jamaica_web_022.jpg)
jamaica_web_022.jpg
...jerk pork at Shaggy's Jerk Centre
![Jerk Centre](jamaica_web_023.jpg)
jamaica_web_023.jpg
The cooking method is quite sophisticated - note the carefully crafted BBQ grill and its cover!
![BBQ](jamaica_web_024.jpg)
jamaica_web_024.jpg
Another bird (we think) but,
(a) What is it, and
(b) What on Earth is it doing?
![What on Earth...?](jamaica_web_025.jpg)
jamaica_web_025.jpg
The answers to the skill-testing questions are:
(a) Yellow-Crowned Night Heron
(b) We have no idea!
![Yellow-Crowned Night Heron](jamaica_web_026.jpg)
jamaica_web_026.jpg
Easier to identify - a White-winged Dove...
![White-winged Dove](jamaica_web_027.jpg)
jamaica_web_027.jpg
...and a Loggerhead Kingbird
![Loggerhead Kingbird](jamaica_web_028.jpg)
jamaica_web_028.jpg
Also easy to identify - two happy birders - 107 species, 39 lifers - including all 28 endemics
![Two happy birders](jamaica_web_029.jpg)
jamaica_web_029.jpg
![Goodbye - see you later](jamaica_web_030.jpg)
jamaica_web_030.jpg
Or, translated from the original Jamaican:
Goodbye... see you later!
|