Northern Cardinal at the Feeder

 

 

We are back in Jersey. After a gray week, it was sunny this AM. This male cardinal likes safflower for breakfast. We switch to safflower at this time of year because the cardinals and titmice like it, but grackles and starlings don't (so they say).

Jamaican Shore Birds at Goldeneye

 

Great Blue Heron

White-tailed Tropicbird

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

After 6 days at Geejam, we went to Goldeneye which had fewer trees but more beaches.
There was a reef about 200 feet off shore. A great blue heron would fish there every evening. There was a yellow-crowned night heron perched above our villa the first evening. In the morning white-tailed tropicbirds would soar in the breezes.

Perching birds at Goldeneye

Northern Mockingbird

Olive-throated Parakeet

Jamaican Woodpecker

Jamaican Mango Hummingbird

Olive-throated Parakeet on a ackee tree

 

A group of Parakeets would come by every morning. They always stopped at the Ackee tree but never stayed long. One morning, Mike got his coffee early and was waiting for them.

Jamaica: Not Just 4 Birds

 

One day when walking down the road, we encountered a herd of goats that had escaped. As former goat owners (really), we know that if you restrain the leader of the herd, the others stay nearby. However, it looks like it broke free, taking the rest on an excursion.

 

One morning, a cute dog walked by in the greenery below our cottage. We gave it some left over jerk chicken from the previous day's outing.

Kingbird

 

 

Sad Flycatcher with an ant

 

The Sad Flycatcher is endemic to Jamaica. It's a little smaller and has more yellow than the kingbirds. Here it's eating an ant.

Lizards in Love

 

 

We saw this "cutting lizard", also known as a Venus lizard in a tree. He was making some displays to impress females. Chris was a little impressed, but later he found someone more his type. Reptiles aren't our favorite creatures, but we have to admit it was adorable how long they were cuddling.

Black-throated blue warbler having some Noni

 

 

We had a noni plant outside our cottage at Geejam. Every morning a black-throated blue warbler would come by for breakfast. A bananaquit would frequent here as well, but we got better pictures of them in a nearby tree.

Ring-tailed Pigeon

Other birds we haven't identified yet

 

 

Superhero bird: Yellow-faced Grassquit

 

 

 

 

 

 

We weren't sure who these are. Chris thinks any masked bird might be a superhero. We posted it on whatbird and found out it was a Yellow-faced Grassquit.

Jamaican Oriole

 

Jamaican Stripe-headed Tanager

 

 

 

The Stripe-headed Tanager was always eating.

Orangequit

 

 

 

Did you know there is an orangequit in addition to the bananaquit? We didn't. It's endemic to Jamaica and hung out by our cottage and the bar at Geejam.

Black-billed Streamertail

 

 

 

 

 

This was our fourth trip to Jamaica since about 2002. On our first trips we were not "birders," but we did see this amazing streamer-tailed hummingbird. At first you just can't believe your eyes when you see it (especially if you've already had a welcoming rum punch drink.) We have some blurry pictures from our first trips before we became birders and got a better camera. Even with the new camera, this lively little bird proved to be hard to photograph. The lighting was a challenge and it moves around quickly and often. We enjoyed them every day especially when we weren't trying to get good photos of them.

We actually didn't go to Jamaica to bird watch, but during the last minutes of packing, Mike talked Chris into bringing the big camera and binoculars. We planned on maybe making a one-day excursion to do birding. As it turned out, our cottage at Geejam was perched like a tree house and such amazing birds came to us there that we never had to make a special trip out to see them. We also didn't know that Geejam was in a wildlife and bird sanctuary. We spent less time at the beaches (better for our skin) and more time birding than we thought we would. Traveling as birders this time, we learned that many birds are endemic to Jamaica. This made it very special, and we think others should go to Jamaica to see the birds (in addition to the enjoying the beaches, the food, the climate and the people of Jamaica.)

Rooster

 

 

While you may think this is a rooster, our bird book says it's a red Junglefowl.

Kestrel

 

This kestrel was hanging out on a tree outside our cottage at Geejam.

 

Here, he's having a snack at the Bushbar.

Jamaican Woodpecker

 

The Jamaican Woodpecker is a little larger than the red-bellied woodpeckers we see in New Jersey. There were lots of them around, and they announce themselves loudly as ours at home do. They are so beautiful, why shouldn't they call attention to themselves!

White-crowned pigeon

 

Even the pigeons are prettier in Jamaica.

Sandpiper

 

Cattle Egret Breeding Plumage

 

This cattle egret was at Frenchman's Cove in Jamaica. We are familiar with the cattle egret and see them in Florida and the Caribbean, but we don't think we've ever noticed one in breeding plumage before. As many of you know, we are fond of fancy hairstyles on birds, so we especially like this photo.

Yellow Crowned Night Heron at Frenchman's Cove

 

 

We like night herons. A few black-crowned night herons hang out at Lake Nelson during the spring and summer. We found a yellow crowned night heron in a tree in Frenchman's cove and then a juvenie in the freshwater stream that feeds into the ocean.