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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
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A trip by pontoon boat along the Black River allows close access to the reed beds along the water...
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...so, one can sneak up on Least Bitterns...
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...and Purple Gallinules
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View of Blue Mountain Peak
(the highest point in Jamaica at 2256 m)
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View of Blue Mountain coffee
(before it's roasted!)
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Meanwhile the birders are searching for lifers!
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Here's a lifer - with an ethereal call - a Rufous-throated Solitaire
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And here's a lifer - and an endemic (a bird only found in Jamaica) - a Jamaican Woodpecker
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Common Potoo (pretending to be a stump - as they do)
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There's a Mangrove Cuckoo - somewhere in that bush!
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Not all the animal life has feathers - this colourful lizard is a Graham's Anole (Jamaican Anole) and...
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...it evidently has other attributes!
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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...
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...and all of the exterior walls!
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Not all of the metal sculptures are purely decorative
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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.
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Shooting the rapids!
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The trip gives us a chance to compare the Great Blue Heron...
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...with the Little Blue Heron
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No trip to Jamaica would be complete without a visit to the beach. This is Botany Bay, the home of...
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...jerk pork at Shaggy's Jerk Centre
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The cooking method is quite sophisticated - note the carefully crafted BBQ grill and its cover!
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Another bird (we think) but,
(a) What is it, and
(b) What on Earth is it doing?
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The answers to the skill-testing questions are:
(a) Yellow-Crowned Night Heron
(b) We have no idea!
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Easier to identify - a White-winged Dove...
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...and a Loggerhead Kingbird
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Also easy to identify - two happy birders - 107 species, 39 lifers - including all 28 endemics
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Or, translated from the original Jamaican:
Goodbye... see you later!
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