Our journey started south of Montego Bay. During our overnight stop there, we started with Magnificent Frigatebird over the bay, along with numerous egrets and herons roosting on an island in the bay. Smooth-billed Ani and especially White-crowned Pigeon and Zenaida Dove let us know we were in the tropics. The white-bellied American Kestrel was a surprise, but we would see many of these birds which were once scarce on Jamaica. Unfortunately, the dark morph Kestrel eluded us on this trip. This first stop was also our introduction to Jamaican cuisine with Steamed Bammy, a pancake-shapped, steamed cassava bread, and Callaloo, a leafy green similar to kale. The Ackee and Saltfish followed the next morning.
The next day we headed south, then east towards Marshall's Pen and the nearby ranch of Ann Sutton who is at the forefront of conservation in Jamaica. Along the way, we made a stop at Rockland's Bird Sanctuary where we had our first Red-billed Streamertail and Jamaican Mango, some sipping nectar perched from our hands. These striking birds were joined by numerous, colorful Bananaquits and Orangequits. We also had our first views of Jamaican Oriole and J. Woodpecker, the only species of their kind on the island. At the Sutton Home, we had some terrific birds. The Jamaican Tody was stunning and not particularly shy, a challenging, but rewarding photo opportunity! The more elusive Ruddy Quail Dove was finally located and seen fleetingly during its brief traverse of the trail behind us. Caribbean Dove was beautiful, but likewise shy. By contrast, the noisy, almost comical Jamaican Lizard Cuckoo sounded similar to a Barred Antshrike. Meanwhile, the Chestnut-bellied Cuckoo was even larger and just as colorful. The cryptic Arrowhead Warbler was seen well on several occasions. On the other hand, the Jamaican Spindalis was readily identified from a distance given its bright, unmistakable field marks. The Greater Antillean Bullfinch and Yellow-shouldered Grassquit were readily identified too. The Jamaican Euphonia, while plain to behold, uttered a call similar to that of a Cactus Wren. Likewise, the Jamaican Becard was quickly identified by its call, a sound like a finger swept across a comb. And Olive-throated Parakeets were conspicuous among the showy orange blossoms of a tree identified as belonging to genus Erythrina (or possibly Piscidia).
The first day trip from Marshall's Pen to the coast and back through the Black River valley yielded the locally endangered West Indian Whistling Duck, along with Masked Duck, and immature white-morph Reddish Egrets, while Least Bitterns and Sora were heard well, but could not be coaxed out of the marsh. By contrast, a couple days later in the vicinity of Portland Bight, Clapper Rail was seen well in broad daylight. On the drive back to Marshall's Pen, at least four Barn Owls were seen perched by the road. That evening, the Jamaican Owl, similar to a Strix genus owl, is a resident of the Sutton property. It was seen well at dusk as it moved from its roost tree into an enormous West Indian Cedar.
The second day trip started early as we drove to reach Cockpit Country by dawn. It is so named because the limestone cliffs are very steep, creating the impression of pits used for cock-fights. This rugged land made a hideout for the Maroons who escaped slavery. Here we had both Black-billed and Yellow-billed Parrot, along with the "gobbling" Jamaican Crow, and Jamaican and Blue Mountain Vireo. On the drive back, the yam stakes on the hillsides were covered with leafy vines shining with dew, an unusual sight.
We left Marshall's Pen to make our way to Kingston with a detour to Portland Ridge to see Bahama Mockingbird. We also had remarkable views of Clapper Rail. This day, we had a sweep of Myiarchus flycatchers with Sad, Rufous-tailed, and Stolid Flycatcher all encountered. This area had been hit particularly hard by Hurricane Ivan a few years ago.
Our first journey out from Kingston was to the nearby Blue Mountains. Although close, the drive into the mountains was tortuous with the road climbing along the contour, often clinging tenuously to rocky abutments on the steepest slopes. Our first stop at Woodside Rd was very productive. We had outstanding views of Crested Quail Dove along the road. Both Jamaican and Greater Antillean Elaenia were lured into view. As for thrushes, we had all three, namely Rufous-throated Solitaire, White-eyed and White-chinned Thrush. Perhaps the least numerous of the endemic birds is the Jamaican Blackbird. With great fortune, we quickly found this otherwise scarce bird. We were fortunate to see our target birds for the day early as the clouds and rain built soon thereafter. After the fog and mist descended on us, we enjoyed lunch at the remote Starlight Chalet, then we sampled Blue Mountain coffee and beans on our way back to Kingston.
Throughout the island, Loggerhead Kingbird, American Redstart, Northern Parula, Black-and-White, and Black-throated Blue Warbler were common and seen well. Likewise, Red-billed Streamertail, Jamaican Tody, and Jamaican Woodpecker could be found easily and appeared to be distributed widely in the mountains.
On the final day of the trip, we left early for the journey around the eastern end of the island to seek the specialties of the John Crow Mountains. We were rewarded with Black-billed Streamertail, the close relation of the Red-billed that occurs in the mountains of the rest of Jamaica. We also had great views of Worm-eating Warbler, a lifer for yours truly, a birder notably weak on eastern warblers. We celebrated with lunch at a Jerk Centre, a specialty of Jamaican cuisine. After lunch, a distant white speck was the best view we could manage of White-tailed Tropicbird which nests in a few protected sites near the shore.