Runaway Bay, Jamaica, 8th to 22nd July 2016 A report by Colin Manville

After an indifferent holiday to the Yucatan coast of Mexico in 2015 we thought we would try somewhere new for us. I opted for Jamaica as it had been recommended by friends and it had 28 endemics for me to try for. As usual, in consideration of my non-birding wife I always choose the resort before doing any analysis of the local avifauna. I opted for the Bahia Principe hotel at Runaway Bay in the north of the country. We have used this hotel chain previously and the format would be familiar to us. Google earth suggested some grounds for me to bird around so the deal was done. Runaway Bay is situated 40 mins west of Ocho Rios not too far from Cockpit Country so fortuitously it was well situated. I planned to hire a car for a couple of days each week, one day each week for birding and one day for sight-seeing. I soon got cold feet about taking the car to Windsor or similar in Cockpit Country, not because of any driving difficulty but potential damage to the car. I decided to investigate guides to minimise any financial risk. I contacted Wendy Lee who is local to Runaway Bay but at US$45per hour, a morning trip to Cockpit Country would be a minimum of US$270. Ouch! The hotel itself provided small manicured grounds with sandy beach fronting a small area of mangroves. The more extensive grounds were essentially “out of bounds” for guests as there was extensive building works being undertaken and a large area had been fenced for safety. The result was a relatively undisturbed area which could be accessed by a determined guest. No one seemed bothered by my presence in the “off limits” area in fact I was always greeted with a cheery wave by passing contractors. The hotel frontage to the road has a decent amount of tall trees and beyond the main road to the west is coastal forest and a swamp fed by Pear Tree River. Nearby (east) was the Runaway Bay golf course (which I didn’t visit). The weather was excellent, almost always over 30c with the odd white cloud and a light east/north east breeze which was always welcome. We had a shower one morning and the following afternoon which brought in clouds of hirundines – so not all bad 

Copyright Colin Manville 2016

Page 1

I have a copy of “Birds of the West Indies”, which is not particularly useful as the range maps are effectively useless and some of the plates do not do justice to the species in real life. So I obtained a copy of “A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Jamaica” which has had some praise in trip reports. This turned out to be a fantastic buy, the perfect field guide. The range maps are detailed and the text deals with habitat, feeding, breeding, voice and confusion species. There are sufficient photographs of each species although some include the use of flash photography which makes them look a bit unnatural. Unfortunately there is a “however”. The book had barely been out of the suitcase before it fell apart, the spine becoming unglued. It did not prevent the book being used at the time, but I expect better. On my return to the UK, the supplier of the book couldn’t send me another but I did get a refund. My original copy was published by Helm/A C Black. I managed to source a US “Princetown” published replacement copy thinking it would be printed and bound by a different company. Unfortunately they are all printed and bound in China by C&C Offset Printing Co. Therefore, I am kind of expecting the new one to fall apart on a subsequent visit. Prior to travelling I looked at a few trip reports, but July is not a popular time for birding in Jamaica. The best trip report by far was Mike Powell’s (via cloudbirders) who was kind enough to answer my email questions and proffer additional advice based on his visit – top bloke. I was optimistic of having a nice relaxing break with some decent birding as there are 28 island endemics (27 if Red billed Streamertail is demoted to a subspecies of black billed), 17 endemic island subspecies and 18 Caribbean species and subspecies. All in all there are about 60 birds to play for which is a lot of potential for a smallish island. I wanted to see as many as possible without too much effort but I knew I wouldn’t see them all, bizarrely, I prefer not to clear out all the species on a human holiday in case I have to go back – leave at least one! For optics I took Leica Ultravids, a NikonED50 scope (not used), Slik carbon fibre tripod and a Cannon 7DII with a MkII 100 – 400 zoom. For recording bird sounds I use a bog standard Samsung phone which is adequate for the task. I have included a list of the species seen at the bottom so if you are impatient go straight there. For the more patient, to get a feel for what this area is like, there follows a few pages of my ramblings with some pictures.

Copyright Colin Manville 2016

Page 2

Most birding on the hotel site was done between 06:30 and 08:00 in the morning and 17:00 and 18:00 in the evening being pre-breakfast and dinner. This fitted in well with our holiday routine and with bird abundance. Apart from the omnipresent Kingbirds and Doves and Grackles the sightings of birds around the sight dropped off amazingly quickly. By 10:00 the sight was quiet bird wise, however I am sure the determined birder could root out a few more birds but nothing that could not be seen easily earlier in the day. With that in mind, the first day produced 27 species which is a decent return for the grounds which were unexpectedly small. Generally speaking the species seen were the ones that would be expected in the grounds of a Caribbean hotel with a smattering of Jamaican specialities. Endemics were represented by Jamaican Euphonia, Jamaican Oriole and Jamaican Woodpecker. The Yellow Warbler (above) was only seen in the hotel mangroves. My “research” suggested I would be unlikely to see any “seabirds” apart from Magnificent Frigatebird, so the daily visits of Royal Tern were an unexpected pleasure. On my second morning I concentrated more on the mangrove area of the beach. New birds for the morning were a pair of Blackwhiskered Vireo which called constantly in the mangroves. New endemics were represented by a pair of Jamaican Mango which were either displaying or fighting. Although I had seen a Yellowcrowned Night Heron in flight the previous day, there was an adult and juvenile in the mangroves this morning. Slightly further along the beach beyond the site boundary at the mouth of Pear Tree Bottom River is an Egret roost hosting a couple of hundred Egrets, mainly Cattle and Snowy with the odd Great Egret, Little Blue Heron and bizarrely a couple of Brown Pelicans. On my way back to the hotel accommodation area I access the fenced off site area. This looked like it could be good being relatively undisturbed, immediately giving up 3 Olive throated Parakeets which were new for the trip. Later in the morning it clouded over and delivering a light rain shower, this soon cleared with the sun returning.

Copyright Colin Manville 2016

Page 3

Day 3 and the law of diminishing returns was already biting deep. The only new birds of the holiday were a Belted Kingfisher along the beach and in the evening when the usual Antillean Palm Swifts were augmented by Cave Swallows and a brief visit by a party of 5 Antillean Nighthawk which didn’t hang around long enough for a picture. I thought I would see them most days but surprisingly they never returned. The following day an early morning walk (or creep) along the hotel frontage produced Redbilled Streamertail catching flies at the top of the tallest trees. A Jamaican Crow put in a noisy appearance and was heavily mobbed by Mockingbirds and Kingbirds. The Olive throated Parakeet flock had increased to 12. Juvenile Shiny Cowbirds were abundant around the grounds mainly being fed by Jamaican Orioles. In the late afternoon the hirundine influx consisted mainly of Cave Swallows with a couple of Northern Rough Winged Swallows thrown in. Whilst absent mindedly viewing them from our top floor balcony a larger dark swift passed overhead. I grabbed a camera as it did a single circuit of the hotel. It returned just once and I managed some crap record pictures of a White-collared Swift. I was pleased with this lifer having failed to see this species in previous visits to the Caribbean. I used some of the time today to organise a hire car for Thursday and Friday. As I have mentioned previously I was very nervous about superficially damaging a brand new hire car. My problem was solved when a holiday rep’ I was talking to said he had a friend who would lend me a car. Although it seemed a bit strange, I went for it. I was assured that the owner would not be bothered about minor dent or scratches. The car would be available Wednesday evening so I could make an early start Thursday morning. Wednesday produced 28 species around the site, nothing new for the trip but some decent record shots. The only happening of note was that the car was delivered. It was probably about 5 years old, a bit careworn but perfect for my needs. The young owner reassured me he was not bothered about minor damage and handed over the vehicle and documents.

Copyright Colin Manville 2016

Page 4

Thursday dawned and I set off at 05:30 for Stewart Town on the edge of Cockpit Country. It seemed a relatively simple trip and leaving the car next to the police station appealed to me especially as it was not a car that would attract attention. The journey was much more difficult than it appeared on the map. My first issue was that this particular Jamaican Car had a very dark film on the windows making it very difficult to see out except in bright sunlight. This meant that I had the side windows down so that I could corner in relative safety. I had expected pot holed roads, but the B3 south to Browns Town was in good shape. There no road signs at all – none. So, needless to say, at the first junction I went wrong. So putting that right I arrived in Browns Town. I had to ask the way, no problem. Even though it was early there were plenty of people to ask the way. I had a slight hesitation when one person I asked directions from (who was sitting on a chair in the middle of a roundabout) pointed to the left, then changed his mind and pointed to the right. Anyway I was finally on the B11 west to Stewart Town which was of the rutted cratered type I had expected. I arrived at Stewart Town in about an hour which was slow going for a 25Km journey. I parked near the police station [18:23.168N -077:26.968W] and set off up the track. The weather was perfect, 28c clear with a light easterly breeze. The track is in light forest most of the time (still quite dark for photography) with occasional clearings. I didn’t bother with a tripod today wanting to be relatively unencumbered. I started seeing good birds immediately and within 20 minutes I had sighted Jamaican Vireo, both Parrots, Sad Flycatcher, Greater Antillean Bullfinch, Jamaican Spindalis and Yellow-shouldered Grassquit and they just kept coming with Stolid Flycatcher, Black-whiskered Vireo, Black faced Grassquit, Greater Antillean Elaenia and Orangequit. It had taken me about 90 mins to reach the first small holding as there had been so much to see, identify and take record shots of.

As can be seen from the map above the track is over your left shoulder as you walk south. [18:22.657N -077:26.850W] The track rises quite steeply but it is worth the effort. As you reach the Copyright Colin Manville 2016

Page 5

clearing there is a person shelter which was thankfully unmanned. The clearing is actually a cultivation where a variety of crops are grown. New birds noisily demanded to be entered into the record book with Green-rumped Parrotlet, Jamaican Becard (difficult to get a picture), Jamaican Pewee (pictured right), Jamaican Elaenia and the introduced Scaly-breasted Munia . I also thought there was a Grasshopper Sparrow amongst the considerable quantities of Grassquits but I couldn’t grab a convincing picture so it doesn’t count! I spent about 40 minutes just standing near the shelter marvelling at the quantity of birds as well as the number of species. I noted 15 species in or at the edge of the clearing standing in one spot. However, I couldn’t afford to spend any more time enjoying this area so I back-tracked to the main path as there were some species that I had considered easy bankers that I hadn’t yet come across. On reaching the main path I continued on towards Dunn’s Hole and immediately encountered two of the obvious missing species, White-chinned Thrush and Arrowhead Warbler. I was amazed that it had taken two and a half hours to see the warbler. I pressed on passing a couple of large clearings which yielded not much so just before ten o’clock when the birds were thinning out I decided to return to the car. I realised that I had not seen the Jamaican Tody. Not again, I have dipped Toadies in Cuba and the Dom Republic! As I walked back to the car I tried a bit of playback at suitable spots – nothing. There were loads of Thrushes on the return, maybe late risers or perhaps I was more attuned to them. Just past the entrance to the first clearing I jammed into a Crested Quail Dove. I thought I flushed one on the way up but I couldn’t be sure. This was the real deal in a really dark section of the forest. The camera was on completely the wrong settings but with a very low shutter speed but I did

Copyright Colin Manville 2016

Page 6

manage this slightly blurred record shot. I was really pleased to connect with this species as it can be difficult. I was satisfied with my mornings work, and it got better when I noticed a Jamaican Lizard Cuckoo with its prey. I watched it for a while toying with an unfortunate frog. Its behaviour became clearer when a juvenile cuckoo which had been sitting quietly 10meters away impatiently burst into noisy life. Parent joined the youngster and they moved off together. Almost back at the car I approached a sunny glade which looked suitable for a Tody. I scanned but there was nothing. Slowly turning around, still nothing. I couldn’t believe that this spot did not hold a Tody which, in the last hour had become my most wanted species by some distance. I refocussed my gaze from 4m to 1m and there one was, right in front of me, slightly higher than head height. No binoculars required. The final species of what had been a perfect morning. In the afternoon we drove to Ocho Rios for a little light shopping. My wife hated not having direction signs on the roads or in the towns. So I had the car for tomorrow as well, but where to go? I didn’t really fancy the drive to the Mountains based on the time it took me to get to Stewart Town so I opted for a repeat performance of today but with a tripod to help the photos in the darker areas of forest. On Friday I set off a little earlier but stopped for a family party of Jamaican Crows. After parking I set off up the track. I was dismayed to find a light mist in the bottom of the valley and hollows. It clearly had an effect on the birds because between 06:15 and 06:30 I heard and saw nothing! Indeed only a Grassquit and Bananaquit until 06:45. Thirty minutes had passed and virtually nothing seen. I was beginning to think I had made a huge mistake when I spotted two Doves on the track ahead. Typically they were in a very dark area and not particularly approachable so I banged off a couple of pics at 1/40 and 1600 ISO with the help of the tripod. I was particularly pleased to identify them as Ruddy Quail Dove, another elusive species. Things were looking up, Carribbean Dove was up next, but if you think that

Copyright Colin Manville 2016

Page 7

the RQD picture is poor the Carribean Dove registered a new low in quality. Still the forest was now waking up and just before I reached the small holding clearing I had White-eyed Thrush (more crap pics) and a party of Arrowhead Warbler. The Thrush was the second lifer of the morning and that was as much as I could reasonably hope for on this second visit. The clearing held 22 species this morning with the Jamaican Becard pair giving better views as did the Jamaican Elaenia (below). The clearing was alive with Arrowhead Warbler including many green juveniles which after the relative paucity of Warblers yesterday was surprising. After the pressure of almost not seeing a Tody yesterday it should come as no surprise that one was forthcoming in the clearing. Two Black-billed Parrots showed off their red wing patches in flight. (Despite the Yellow-billed being more abundant, 90% of my parrot flight photos were Black-billed.) There was also a possible Rufous-tailed Flycatcher flyby but it may have been wishful thinking. The hour that I spent in the clearing was brilliant and I had to force myself to leave. Backtracking to the main track I managed to photograph a very brief encounter with a Rufous-tailed Flycatcher –this time tickable - another lifer.

Carrying on towards Dunn’s Hole a cheeky Greater Antillean Elaenia and a party of 3 White-chinned Thrush kept me interested as did a Vireo which gave a call which I can only describe as a Kookabura call, it remains unidentified! Another bunch of Warblers passed and 3 more Jamaican Tody enlivened the passage of time. In the final clearing I had a distant Plain Pigeon in flight. I have not mentioned them much but Black-whiskered Vireo were especially abundant on this track as were Arrowhead Warbler. At the final clearing I decided to call it a day as it was 10:00 and birding was getting slow. Today it took only 30 mins to return to the car including a stop for Crested Quail Dove another Rufous-tailed Flycatcher (pictured above) and another 3 Jamaican Tody!

Copyright Colin Manville 2016

Page 8

I feel that my first outing to Stewart Town was far better than the second , not just the excitement of somewhere new, but more birdy. This feeling is confirmed by the species list at Annex A for both the number of species as well as the quantity of each, for instance Parrots were virtually absent on the second day. In the late afternoon we decided to go out except the car would not start! I decided it would not be worth the risk going to the Blue Mountains in a car that potentially would not start! This was an easy call for me to make as we had already decided that we would return to Jamaica. The car was returned early! We decided that we would go for an organised mountain bike ride to the Blue Mountains. This is not particularly extreme as all of the riding is downhill! I took my binoculars but the camera remained in the safe. It worked out quite well as I noted Grasshopper Sparrow on the way there and the way back (at different locations). The ride started at Holywell and whilst looking for a calling Solitare one of the bike guides pointed out an “old man bird” or Chestnut-bellied Cuckoo and a pair of Blue Mountain Vireos. The biking party flushed two Jamaican Blackbirds - this birding business really is easy  although I did not obtain any photos. I had a pair of Ring-tailed Pigeon fly over giving splendid views and just prior to a light rain shower 15 or so Black Swift screamed down a valley passing a few feet over our heads. Fortunately the racket they made provided me with enough notice to stop and get binoculars on them. And that was about it, the hotel provided a few more photos and a couple of new species for the holiday in the form of Killdeer and Laughing Gull being the only gull seen in two weeks at the seaside (a record low). I really enjoyed Jamaica both as a holiday and birding destination. It has a really laid back feel and is very relaxing. I managed to pick up most of the endemics either around the site or by visiting the track south of Stewart Town. At some point I will return at which time I will bird the Blue Mountains proper which should be relatively easy. I should also mention that a new toll road has now been built between Ocho Rios and Kingston and costs about US $10 one way. Species list follows below. Colin Manville [email protected]

Copyright Colin Manville 2016

Page 9

Copyright Colin Manville 2016

Page 10

Copyright Colin Manville 2016

Page 11

Copyright Colin Manville 2016

Page 12

Copyright Colin Manville 2016

Page 13