Birding in Jamaica – BirdLife Jamaica Visits Green Castle Estate

Green Castle Estate had the pleasure of hosting members of BirdLife Jamaica for the group’s January field trip. Twenty-four birders from around the island took to the field here last weekend, finding 13 Jamaican endemics and another 3 Caribbean endemics.

Most members arrived Saturday, birded Davey Hill Lookout, then spent the night on the Estate.  High points were nose-close views of Jamaican Mangos and Red-billed Streamertails at the Estate House feeders, a Northern Potoo that patiently allowed close approach and unlimited photo and video opportunities, and a spectacular full moonrise over the Caribbean.

Although we woke to gray skies and rain Sunday morning, Blue Mountain coffee and muffins helped to cheer us until the showers paused. Then the group headed down the popular Waterfall Trail. Highlights were good views of a female Jamaican Becard, two Jamaican Elaenias, and all 3 Myiarchus flycatchers: Rufous-tailed, Sad, and Stolid. Plus, at trail’s end, Mingo Falls’ cascades delighted everyone!

After brunch, spotting scopes on the veranda focused on an American Kestrel tearing into a Bananaquit on a nearby mango tree. Then the group was off to the ponds for more birding and “butterfly-ing” and a visit to the coastal headlands before heading home. We thank BirdLife Jamaica for making Green Castle their weekend destination and look forward to their return in the coming months.

http://www.gcjamaica.com

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 at 1:07 pm and is filed under Birding in Jamaica. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.