North Coast to Mountains

Tuesday, March 15th: After breakfast we again we birded around Goblin Hill.

Goblin Hill

A few new birds were seen from Goblin Hill. A Great Blue Heron was out on the mud flats down below. A Peregrine Falcon was perched high on a nearby island, and I caught up with some Jamaican Euphonias in a tree.

A number of other birds were present in and around Goblin Hill. The flats also had Little Blue Heron, and American (Great) Egret. A couple of American Kestrels were hanging around. These are the island birds with light underparts. Black-billed Streamertail and Jamaican Mangos were in their usual spots near the feeders. Greater Antillean Grackles were singing their ungrackle-like songs, and some warblers and Jamaican Spindalis put in an appearance. White-crowned and Ring-tailed Pigeons were also present.

Ecclesdown Road

We then visited Ecclesdown Road. Chestnut-bellied Cuckoo was the only new bird, but we again saw many of the previously seen birds, including Jamaican Lizard-Cuckoo, Jamaican Tody, Jamaican Woodpecker, Yellow-billed Amazon, Olive-throated Parakeet, Jamaican Becard, Jamaican Elaenia, Sad Flycatcher, Rufous-tailed Flycatcher, Western Loggerhead Kingbird, Jamaican Vireo, White-eyed Thrush, White-chinned Thrush, Arrowhead Warbler, Jamaican Oriole, Orangequit, Bananaquit, Jamaican Spindalis, and Greater Antillean Bullfinch. Unfortunately, neither the Crested Quail-Dove nor Sclater's (Greater Antillean) Elaenia put in an appearance. We returned to Goblin Hill for lunch, then headed south into the mountains.

Into the Mountains

The most notable birds on our way up into the mountains were a flock of Scaly-breasted Munias that appeared next to the van. Silver Hill Gap is on the boundary between the Blue Mountains and Port Royal Mountains (above Kingston). We slowly continued on up to Silver Hill Gap, where we checked in at the Starlight Chalet and Spa. Once we had settled in, we headed out for some more birding, traveling past Section. We again saw a number of the Jamaican endemics, and added another wintering warbler to our trip list, Swainson's Warbler. Then we returned to the hotel for dinner.

Today I totalled 60 species including 2 lifers, bringing the trip total to 92 species including 27 lifers.

Starlight Chalet and Spa, Silver Hill Gap