Birding West Jamaica Endemics

Wednesday, February 6: Portland Parish

Ecclesdown Road in the Blue and John Crow Mountains
Bay View Eco Resort

BIRD of the DAY: Chestnut-bellied Cuckoo

We were up before dawn checking out the birds from our balcony. A Sad Flycatcher was perched just a few feet away. Then a Jamaican Woodpecker flew in for a visit.



We hiked down the trail to breakfast, encountering others in our group birding. Barbara ordered the Jamaican breakfast, while Bill opted for the eggs.



We returned to our balcony briefly, but Deceita came urgently looking for us; a couple of Ring-tailed Pigeons were perched out front of the resort. Another endemic!



We headed off for the famous Ecclesdown Road. On the way, we stopped at a spot where there were many warblers and a Jamaican Lizard Cuckoo.



We carried on up the Ecclesdown Road, stopping to walk and bird. The first bird we saw was a Chestnut-bellied Cuckoo, which posed for photos. We saw several Jamaican Pewees, then guides called in to view a Crested Quail-Dove that they spotted low in the underbrush. This is a very rare bird! Another bird that we thought we might miss came in for a distant view – Jamaican Blackbird.



We saw both Arrowhead Warblers and Jamaican Vireos, but they were frustratingly difficult to photograph. We also saw many more birds, as noted in the checklist below. But we still needed the parrots.



We were starting to feel hungry, so Deceita passed around banana and plantain chips. We drove back down to the main road to the Boston Jerk Centre for lunch. A fellow was selling some home-made necklaces, but we did not bite. Another guy had Blue Mountain coffee for sale, but we thought the $20US price tag was too high for a pound.



After lunch we drove back up the Ecclestone Road where we finally saw both Yellow-billed and Black-billed Parrots.



Wolde announced that several of us wanted to go to a grocery store to do some shopping, so we went to one before returning to our resort. Imagine our surprise to find that the coffee was even more expensive. So again, we passed on the coffee, but we did buy some rum to take home

February 6 Birds

Bayview Eco Resort, Portland, JM
Feb 6, 2019 8:10 AM - 8:15 AM
Protocol: Stationary
3 species

Ring-tailed Pigeon  2
Turkey Vulture  1
Loggerhead Kingbird  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S52783208

Ecclesdown Road, Portland, JM
Feb 6, 2019 8:49 AM - 12:22 PM
Protocol: Traveling
3.895 kilometer(s)
29 species

Crested Quail-Dove  1
Chestnut-bellied Cuckoo  1
Jamaican Lizard-Cuckoo  2
Vervain Hummingbird  2
Streamertail (Black-billed)  2     One immature with no tail, dark bill. The other was adult with black bill, long streamers.
Turkey Vulture  11
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Jamaican Tody  2
Jamaican Woodpecker  1
American Kestrel  2
Yellow-billed Parrot  4     Flyover bvd
Olive-throated Parakeet  2
Jamaican Pewee  2
Loggerhead Kingbird  2
Blue Mountain Vireo  1     Heard
Jamaican Crow  1
White-eyed Thrush  3     Bvd
White-chinned Thrush  1
Jamaican Oriole  3
Jamaican Blackbird  2     Seen well and heard call
Greater Antillean Grackle  2
Arrowhead Warbler  3
American Redstart  4
Cape May Warbler  2
Northern Parula  2
Black-throated Blue Warbler  3
Bananaquit  1
Orangequit  2
Greater Antillean Bullfinch  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S52783126