Birding West Jamaica Endemics

Friday, February 8: Portland Parish to Montego Bay

Doctor's Cave Beach Hotel

Bird of the Day: Rufous-tailed Flycatcher

Before breakfast from our balcony, we saw the first of several Rufous-tailed Flycatchers for the day, and the expected Loggerhead Kingbird.



When our vans left, by request, we went directly to the famous Blue Lagoon on a bay in the ocean. It is a beautiful clear blue colour 180 ft deep. It is very popular with divers and, apparently, also with American Redstarts.



We then went up Fairy Hill/ Goblin Hill and got out of the vans to bird. Veda and Wolde called for White-eyed Thrushes, and some did respond, but they did not come out in the open for photos. Northern Parulas and Rufous-tailed Flycatchers were more cooperative.



Barbara discovered a lovely green anole lizard.



Before long we had to leave to start the long trip back to Montego Bay. We enjoyed street scenes along the way. Wolde stopped at a fruit vendor, but he was not satisfied with the bananas. Instead, he bought two bags of Otaheite apples or Malay apples. Known as Jamaican apples, they were originally from Malesia and Australia; tasty!



We pulled into the Ultimate Jerk Centre at Runaway Bay for lunch, where three Greater Antillean Grackles greeted us.



This was our last meal together, so we had a group photo taken. Dave gave our guides the tips we contributed and Barbara also gave them Canadian maple cookies and pens. Bill gave Veda and Deceita some recent publications from OFO so they could see about birding in Canada. As Bev had enjoyed the discovey of Scotch Mints, Barbara gave her the bag so she could look for them in New Jersey.



We said goodbye to Ruth and Wayne, who were going directly to the airport with Veda and Dion. The traffic heading into Montego Bay was fierce, but we got them there in time.
Soon, we arrived at the Doctor’s Cave Beach Hotel, which is NOT on the beach but across the road from another hotel which is on the beach. After a fond farewell to our guides, we checked in and went for a dip in the pool, while Dave haggled about his payments made with Expedia. He got it straightened out and then we all went across the road to Usain Bolt’s restaurant. We each had our photos taken with statues of Bob Marley and Usain Bolt. We had a good dinner on the restaurant balcony. We returned to our hotel - Bev had an early morning flight, so we said our goodbyes to her.

February 8 Birds

Bayview Eco Resort, Portland, JM
Feb 8, 2019 8:11 AM - 8:12 AM
Protocol: Stationary
2 species

White-chinned Thrush 1
Loggerhead Kingbird 1
Rufous-tailed Flycatcher 1

Blue Lagoon (18.170, -76.386), Portland, JM
Feb 8, 2019 9:09 AM
Protocol: Incidental
1 species

American Redstart 1

Fairy Hill/Goblin Hill (18.172, -76.397)
Feb 8 2019 10:0 am
Protocol: travelling
4 species

Northen Parula 1
White-eyed Thrush 1
Rufous-tailed Flycatcher 2
Greater Antillian Grackle 3