This was the second of back-to-back runnings of this mainstay tour for us, with Raymond and Dwayne starting up with us shortly after finishing the first Field Guides Jamaica tour of 2024. We convened in Kingston on the night of the 2nd, and had a good Jamaican dinner to start things off. Food is a good way to get this summary started, as a matter of fact, since it was such a highlight for many of us throughout. Along the way we made sure to stop for lunch at Boston Bay, legendary as one of the best areas for authentic Jamaican jerk, as well as stopping in Port Antonio for some excellent ice cream during a toasty early afternoon. In addition to the jerk and the ice cream, we had many other memorably good meals, including curried goat, native fish, and Jamaican specialties bammie and festival (a real group favorite).
This tour has mostly relaxed mornings relative to other birding tours, but we started off with one of our two early departures on day one, but it was with a very good reason! We made our way through Kingston to the arid cactus-filled Hellshire Hills overlooking the southern coast. This is one of the two main areas where the Jamaican-endemic subspecies of Bahama Mockingbird dwells. We got there early enough to eventually find a couple of them showing well, and before the tropical sun forced them back into the shadows of the dense shrubbery. We also found several Stolid Flycatchers (a regional specialty), and got our first taste of several other Jamaican endemics, including Jamaica vireo, mango, and oriole. After a lovely lunch, we wound our way over the Blue Mountains, to the north side of the island. We ended the day at the lovely Mockingbird Hill hotel (MBH), which would be our home base for the next four nights.
The next three days provided us with some great birding using MBH as a launching pad to explore the foothills on the eastern end of the island, the heart of the Blue Mountains to our southwest, and some lower elevation forest nearby the hotel. We saw nearly all the Jamaican endemic bird species during these three days. Our repeated and delightful experiences with both Red-billed and Black-billed streamertails were standouts, and we sorted through the more widespread endemics (White-chinned Thrush, Jamaican Spindalis, Sad Flycatcher, Jamaican Vireo) and northern migrants (Black-throated Blue Warblers, American Redstarts, Northern Parulas) to find some of the lower density endemics, like Blue Mountain Vireo, Jamaican Lizard-Cuckoo, Chestnut-bellied Cuckoo, and of course the ever-difficult (but very rewarding) Crested Quail-Dove and Jamaican Blackbird! Other great avian experiences in this part of the island included a confiding Jamaican Pewee, singing Vervain Hummingbird, cooperative Arrowhead Warblers, and of course many wonderful encounters with Jamaican Tody, the charismatic sprite of the forests here. Aside from afternoon dips in the refreshing pool for those who wanted, the grounds of MBH held some nice afternoon and early morning birding too, with more looks at some of the above-mentioned endemics, as well as stellar views of both Northern (Jamaican) Potoo, and Jamaican Owl.
Eventually, it was time to depart the eastern end, and head to towards Montego Bay. Our afternoon here included a visit to the legendary, and truly incomparable, Rocklands Bird Sanctuary. This tiny sanctuary presented us with amazing viewing opportunities for Caribbean Dove, Orangequit, and Yellow-faced and Black-faced grassquits. That was all great, but real highlight here was the opportunity to have Red-billed Streamertails and Jamaican Mangos buzzing all around us, and often landing on us as we hand fed them. This magical experience will live on in all of our minds for a long time to come. Our post-Rocklands visit to the (surprisingly non-odiferous) Montego Bay Sewage Ponds gave us the opportunity to see a small group of West Indian Whistling-Ducks in the company of hundreds upon hundreds of other waterbirds.
Our final full day of birding was spent in Cockpit Country, where we finally connected with really good views of Jamaican Crow, the Jamaican subspecies of Olive-throated Parakeet, Greater Antillean Bullfinch, and Yellow-billed Parrots. We also had our second Jamaican Elaenia of the trip, and more views of Rufous-tailed Flycatchers and Jamaican Becard (both endemics). Our lunchtime along the waterfront afforded us with point-blank views of Magnificent Frigatebirds lolling around on the warm breeze before we headed back to Mynt to say goodbye to Dwayne and Raymond, and had a break before another delicious dinner put on by Valerie at Mynt. Those that chose to do a little extra birding from the balcony in the morning were treated to some more close views of Loggerhead Kingbirds, White-crowned Pigeons, Antillean Palm Swifts, and just before breakfast a couple of migrant birds that are scarcely detected in Jamaica: White-eyed Vireo and Purple Martin. We then had our breakfasts and final goodbyes were said, as we scattered back to Canada and the US, leaving our week in paradise behind.
My sincerest thanks to Dwayne and Raymond, without whom this tour would not have been nearly as successful or delightful. It was also great to have our awesome Marcelo Barreiros along, giving us an embarrassment of riches on the guiding front. Last but not any any means least, I want to thank all seven of you fine folks for your company on the tour - you were a cohesive, relaxed, and fun group, and Marcelo and I both look forward to seeing you all again, somewhere in this lovely bird-filled world of ours.
KEYS FOR THIS LIST
One of the following keys may be shown in brackets for individual species as appropriate: * = heard only, I = introduced, E = endemic, N = nesting, a = austral migrant, b = boreal migrant
WEST INDIAN WHISTLING-DUCK (Dendrocygna arborea)
On our next to last day we found seven of these scarce Caribbean ducks at the Montego Bay sewage ponds.
BLUE-WINGED TEAL (Spatula discors)
Three seen from the Westmoreland Bridge and then hundreds at the Montego Bay sewage ponds.
NORTHERN SHOVELER (Spatula clypeata)
Hundreds at Montego Bay.
RING-NECKED DUCK (Aythya collaris)
One female/immature at the MoBay sewage ponds.
LESSER SCAUP (Aythya affinis)
One female/immature at the MoBay sewage ponds.
RUDDY DUCK (Oxyura jamaicensis)
Plenty of these in MoBay, including many males in shiny new blue-billed breeding plumage, some of which had variable amounts of black in the white cheek patches, which is an interesting trait that seems to be more common in Ruddy Ducks here than in Ruddy Ducks in the US and Canada.
LEAST GREBE (Tachybaptus dominicus)
We had over a dozen at the MoBay sewage ponds, including a group of four or five at very close range.
PIED-BILLED GREBE (Podilymbus podiceps)
4 at the Westmoreland Bridge.
ROCK PIGEON (Columba livia) [I]
A few around the hotel in Kingston and then scattered in small numbers elsewhere.
WHITE-CROWNED PIGEON (Patagioenas leucocephala)
Throughout our travels, especially on the north side of the island including at both of our lodges. One bird we saw on the final morning at Mynt had a yellowish throat patch that was the result of it burying its head in the large flowers of an adjacent tree, much like hummingbirds get their foreheads stained by pollen.
PLAIN PIGEON (Patagioenas inornata exigua)
A rare Caribbean pigeon, this subspecies is only on the island of Jamaica, and only known to be reliable at a couple of places. One of them is in Falmouth, where we watched the tail end of a departure flight from roost, as they headed out to evaporate into the canopy of the hills for the day.
RING-TAILED PIGEON (Patagioenas caribaea) [E]
Any forested area we birded, and especially common in the Blue Mountains and at MBH.
COMMON GROUND DOVE (Columbina passerina jamaicensis)
We encountered the Jamaican subspecies several times, including at Hellshire Hills and Rocklands.
CRESTED QUAIL-DOVE (Geotrygon versicolor) [E]
We had a stellar experience with the much sought after and often tricky "Mountain Witch" this year. On Ecclesdown Road, we all heard a couple of these singing back and forth from fairly close, and eventually Marcelo found one perched close enough for most folks to get a good view of it before it dropped back down to the forest floor. Then, the next day in the Blue Mountains, we had great and prolonged views at a couple which were feeding on the ground up the slope above us beneath a fruit tree.
RUDDY QUAIL-DOVE (Geotrygon montana)
One feeding along the edge of the track at Ecclesdown Road gave some nice scope views before it melted back into the forest, as they do.
CARIBBEAN DOVE (Leptotila jamaicensis jamaicensis)
We hadn't gotten a sniff of this species until we got to Rocklands, at which point we were treated to a faceful of them. A super cool looking columbid, and the nominate subspecies.
WHITE-WINGED DOVE (Zenaida asiatica)
Common throughout the island, though never in huge numbers.
ZENAIDA DOVE (Zenaida aurita)
Our first outside-the-van view was a bird walking around in the road and on a lawn at Errol Flynn Marina, and we saw them in ones and twos a few other times as well.
MOURNING DOVE (Zenaida macroura)
The only ones we saw from outside the bus were one on a mudflat downriver from the Westmoreland Bridge, and one on the ground at the MoBay sewage ponds.
SMOOTH-BILLED ANI (Crotophaga ani)
A flock of more than ten was hanging around the cactus forest at the Hellshire Hills, and then we had scattered sightings, mostly from the vehicle as we drove hither and yon.
MANGROVE CUCKOO (Coccyzus minor)
We heard, and a couple of folks got a quick glimpse of, one of these at the Hellshire Hills, which is decidedly un-mangrovey (and typical habitat for them here in Jamaica).
CHESTNUT-BELLIED CUCKOO (Coccyzus pluvialis) [E]
After initially playing hard-to-get, these huge cuckoos gave us some good shows a couple of times. Their Squirrel Cuckoo-like behavior and upset stomach-like grunting never got old.
JAMAICAN LIZARD-CUCKOO (Coccyzus vetula) [E]
Good views of a couple of these super cool cuckoos at Ecclesdown Road, and then one that posed for an eternity at San San.
NORTHERN POTOO (CARIBBEAN) (Nyctibius jamaicensis jamaicensis)
A fantastic muppet of a bird. Dwayne found one for us roosting on dead snag on the grounds of Mockingbird Hill, and we also heard one (presumably that bird or its mate) calling during dinner on a couple of nights there. We then saw another one perched on a day roost at Rocklands, thanks to Fritz, and even got to watch it preen for a bit.
BLACK SWIFT (NIGER) (Cypseloides niger niger)
A tricky one to lock down in the Caribbean. We saw a flock swirling over a distant ridge while we birded up in the Blue Mountains, and since the light was so good, we were able to make out that in addition to their more shallowly forked tails than White-collared Swift, they were in fact all dark, with the only paler color being some slightly paler brownish on the heads when the sun hit them just so.
WHITE-COLLARED SWIFT (Streptoprocne zonaris pallidifrons)
Some reasonable views of them around Hardwar Gap, some folks had at least one zip by the deck at Mockingbird Hill one evening, and then we passed through a feeding flock on the day we drove all the way west across the island.
ANTILLEAN PALM SWIFT (Tachornis phoenicobia phoenicobia)
Some groups here and there around the island. Mostly in the lowlands, but also a couple up over Hardwar Gap.
JAMAICAN MANGO (Anthracothorax mango) [E]
Our first view was our second best, with a male showing spectacularly well in excellent light at Hellshire Hills. It really brought out all the varied tones of this big hummer. We then enjoyed them coming to hand-held hummingbird feeders and sometimes perching on our fingers at Rocklands.
VERVAIN HUMMINGBIRD (Mellisuga minima minima)
The second smallest bird in the world, just barely larger than its cousin from the next island over: Cuba's Bee Hummingbird. We had singing males at both Ecclesdown and Hardwar Gap.
RED-BILLED STREAMERTAIL (Trochilus polytmus) [E]
We saw a few of these in forested environments, like the Blue Mountains, but the most memorable experience was obviously our intimate time with them at Rocklands.
BLACK-BILLED STREAMERTAIL (Trochilus scitulus) [E]
Great views of them on the grounds of MBH, where each pink flowering tree seemed to be owned by a different adult male. We also had a really nice showing from a male in the forest at San San.
COMMON GALLINULE (Gallinula galeata)
Common at the Westmoreland bridge and MoBay ponds.
AMERICAN COOT (Fulica americana)
We had white-shielded Caribbean Coots at both Westmoreland and MoBay, and had dozens of their Red-shielded American cousins at MoBay, where we didn't have time to scrutinize every coot.
PURPLE GALLINULE (Porphyrio martinica)
A distant one was strolling around on lily pads well downstream from the Westmoreland bridge.
BLACK-NECKED STILT (Himantopus mexicanus)
Common in the river from the Westmoreland bridge.
SEMIPALMATED PLOVER (Charadrius semipalmatus)
A dozen of these were on the mudflats adjacent to the mangroves at Father Bull.
KILLDEER (Charadrius vociferus)
Several at the Westmoreland bridge.
NORTHERN JACANA (Jacana spinosa violacea)
A couple picking around well upstream of the Westmoreland bridge, and then a couple at MoBay.
RUDDY TURNSTONE (Arenaria interpres)
We had one or two at the Westmoreland bridge, and then fifteen at the mudflats at Father Bull.
LEAST SANDPIPER (Calidris minutilla)
Three flew into the driftwood and mud in the middle of the coastal pond at Hellshire, and then there were also a handful at MoBay.
SPOTTED SANDPIPER (Actitis macularius)
Westmoreland and MoBay.
GREATER YELLOWLEGS (Tringa melanoleuca)
Hellshire, Westmoreland, and Montego Bay.
LESSER YELLOWLEGS (Tringa flavipes)
Seen in direct comparison to its somewhat more common Greater cousin, at both Hellshire and Westmoreland.
LAUGHING GULL (Leucophaeus atricilla)
Our biggest congregation was over a hundred at Father Bull where, try as he might, Bob couldn't get one to come down and land on his hand to eat a french fry.
ROYAL TERN (Thalasseus maximus)
Scattered at coastal sites, with best looks coming at Father Bull.
WHITE-TAILED TROPICBIRD (Phaethon lepturus)
We saw around 20 circling back and forth and sometimes chasing each other around in courtship off their breeding cliffs off Port Antonio.
MAGNIFICENT FRIGATEBIRD (Fregata magnificens)
These graceful behemoths were common along the immediate coast, and we also saw one kiting around over the swifts at Hardwar Gap.
BROWN PELICAN (SOUTHERN) (Pelecanus occidentalis occidentalis)
A few spots around the coast.
GREAT BLUE HERON (Ardea herodias)
Singles at a couple of locations, including Westmoreland and Father Bull.
GREAT EGRET (Ardea alba)
Just a couple here and there.
SNOWY EGRET (Egretta thula)
Coast and river.
LITTLE BLUE HERON (Egretta caerulea)
Common around the coast in ones and twos.
TRICOLORED HERON (Egretta tricolor)
Including Westmoreland and Port Antonio.
CATTLE EGRET (Bubulcus ibis)
The most widespread and frequently encountered heron during our travels.
GREEN HERON (Butorides virescens)
Perched at Westmoreland and then a couple of coastal flybys.
BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON (Nycticorax nycticorax)
Multiples flying over, heading to or from roost sites, during our morning drive from Port Royal to Portmore.
YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON (Nyctanassa violacea)
An adult walking though the mangroves at Errol Flynn Marina, and then a youngster roosting in a mangrove at Father Bull.
WHITE IBIS (Eudocimus albus)
Westmoreland bridge.
GLOSSY IBIS (Plegadis falcinellus)
Pretty common, though never in big numbers. Largest concentration was at Westmoreland.
TURKEY VULTURE (Cathartes aura)
Abundant.
OSPREY (Pandion haliaetus)
We encountered this somewhat scarce winterer on each of the first three days, most flying by or circling with vultures, though one came down to grab a fish out of the Wag Water River at Westmoreland.
RED-TAILED HAWK (JAMAICENSIS) (Buteo jamaicensis jamaicensis)
The nominate subspecies of Red-tailed Hawk (the type specimen of Red-tailed Hawk is from Jamaica) graced us with its presence on most days, always in flight.
JAMAICAN OWL (Asio grammicus) [E]
Wow! A stupendous experience with this stellar bird at MBH, where Dwayne expertly found one for us during a night walk after dinner one evening. We got to watch it as it looked around for prey on the ground below its exposed perch, and we walked away from it while it was still there. On the morning we left MBH, Dwayne found us another one on a day roost around the parking lot, so we got so see one in the daytime and one at night.
JAMAICAN TODY (Todus todus) [E]
This is one of the most wanted groups of birds in the Caribbean, and with good reason. We got repeated excellent views of these cuties which may have one of the biggest charisma-to-body size ratios of any bird.
BELTED KINGFISHER (Megaceryle alcyon)
A few brief views.
JAMAICAN WOODPECKER (Melanerpes radiolatus) [E]
Widespread, abundant, and awesome.
AMERICAN KESTREL (HISPANIOLAN) (Falco sparverius dominicensis)
The race of American Kestrel that is resident in Jamaica is a distinctive one, with super pale, sometimes entirely unmarked underparts. We saw them several times, including one playing with its food atop a flame tree on our final morning at MBH.
MERLIN (Falco columbarius)
A nice flyby at the Hellshire Hills on morning one was our best connection with this little terror of the skies.
BLACK-BILLED PARROT (Amazona agilis) [E]
Real nice views at both Ecclesdown and Stewart Town.
YELLOW-BILLED PARROT (Amazona collaria) [E]
Many, many of these "lightbulbs" flying over us in great light at Ecclesdown, and then some nice perched views at Stewart Town.
GREEN-RUMPED PARROTLET (Forpus passerinus) [I]
Our best perched views were on cacti at Hellshire Hills, and we had them as flybys a number of times the rest of the week.
OLIVE-THROATED PARAKEET (JAMAICAN) (Eupsittula nana nana)
Flybys only until our final full day of birding, when we got some great views of perched birds at Stewart Town.
JAMAICAN BECARD (Pachyramphus niger) [E]
Good views at Ecclesdown, Blue Mountains, and Stewart Town.
JAMAICAN ELAENIA (Myiopagis cotta) [E]
One at Ecclesdown, and then a couple at Stewart Town.
GREATER ANTILLEAN ELAENIA (JAMAICAN) (Elaenia fallax fallax) [*]
This one gave us more than a run for our money at Stewart Town, calling from the canopy a few times, but never showing itself to us despite some effort.
JAMAICAN PEWEE (Contopus pallidus) [E]
Stellar walk-away views of a lone bird foraging from a branch at (or below) eye level at Ecclesdown.
SAD FLYCATCHER (Myiarchus barbirostris) [E]
The endemic Sad Flycatcher made some folks very happy as we got to see it over and over again.
RUFOUS-TAILED FLYCATCHER (Myiarchus validus) [E]
Good views at a few locations, with the best looks coming at San San and Stewart Town.
STOLID FLYCATCHER (Myiarchus stolidus stolidus)
Great looks at a few of these regional endemics at Hellshire on our first morning.
LOGGERHEAD KINGBIRD (LOGGERHEAD) (Tyrannus caudifasciatus jamaicensis)
Bold and abundant.
BLUE MOUNTAIN VIREO (Vireo osburni) [E]
Nice views of this wingbar-less endemic vireo at Ecclesdown Road.
WHITE-EYED VIREO (Vireo griseus)
A big surprise on the very last morning was an adult White-eyed Vireo that Martin spotted from the deck of the Mynt while we did our pre-breakfast big sit. There are only 7 prior records for Jamaica in eBird, and it's likely the first time one has been recorded on a Field Guides tour here.
JAMAICAN VIREO (Vireo modestus) [E]
Our constant aural companions, and we also saw them well a few times too.
BLACK-WHISKERED VIREO (Vireo altiloquus altiloquus)
These were just arriving back from their wintering areas during our tour, and they were particularly conspicuous at San San, where we saw two of them quite well.
JAMAICAN CROW (Corvus jamaicensis) [E]
We waited until the morning of our last full day before we polished this one off (after a brief sighting from the vehicle on day 1). We saw plenty flying around and vocalizing well at Stewart Town.
PURPLE MARTIN (Progne subis)
BARN SWALLOW (Hirundo rustica)
Three of these flew over as the very last additions to our final morning's big sit, just before the last of us descended to breakfast.
CAVE SWALLOW (CARIBBEAN) (Petrochelidon fulva poeciloma)
We saw flocks of these a couple of times from the bus, once higher up in the Blue Mountains, and once in Cockpit Country.
EUROPEAN STARLING (Sturnus vulgaris) [I]
A couple of these zipped by quickly on the final morning in Montego Bay.
BAHAMA MOCKINGBIRD (Mimus gundlachii hillii)
A super cool pickup for us. We saw this endemic subspecies, after a bit of nail biting, on our first morning at the Hellshire Hills. Eventually multiple individuals teed up nicely for us, and one pair interacted with each other, apparently heedless of the birding group that was ogling it, and heedless of their reputation as shy and skulky.
NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD (Mimus polyglottos)
Common and conspicuous throughout the island, especially in settled areas.
RUFOUS-THROATED SOLITAIRE (RUFOUS-THROATED) (Myadestes genibarbis solitarius)
Woo-ee, what an elegant looking bird! We got spectacular views a couple of times throughout our morning in the Blue Mountains.
WHITE-EYED THRUSH (Turdus jamaicensis) [E]
The skulkier of the two endemic Turdus, we eventually got nice looks at birds, first at the Blue Mountains.
WHITE-CHINNED THRUSH (Turdus aurantius) [E]
Common in the forests, with plenty along and in the road in the Blue Mountains, and a couple of cooperative birds at MBH.
SCALY-BREASTED MUNIA (Lonchura punctulata) [I]
A quick flyby flock that Martin and Marcelo got on towards the very end of our big sit were clearly estrildids, and they seemed to be the duller brown, more locally common of the two species that occur in Jamaica.
JAMAICAN EUPHONIA (Euphonia jamaica) [E]
We heard the good ol' car starter plenty of times during our trip, and also saw it quite well at several locations.
JAMAICAN SPINDALIS (Spindalis nigricephala) [E]
The males are eye-popping, and the females are confusing, and we saw plenty of each!
JAMAICAN ORIOLE (Icterus leucopteryx leucopteryx)
Relatively widespread in wooded habitats, from the desert to the montane forests.
JAMAICAN BLACKBIRD (Nesopsar nigerrimus) [E]
This is generally regarded as the most difficult endemic to see, as they move around through the forest solitarily, hunting for insects in epiphytes, dead leaves, and around dead or tying tree trunks. We found two of them as we birded along the road at our first stop in the Blue Mountains, and they gave us atypically good views!
SHINY COWBIRD (Molothrus bonariensis)
A male seen on a couple of mornings at MBH, and a couple of female flybys, at MBH and Mynt.
GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE (Quiscalus mexicanus)
Over the past ten years, Great-tailed Grackle has gone from scarcity in Jamaica to being the dominant grackle species around the Kingston area. We saw plenty on our first day.
GREATER ANTILLEAN GRACKLE (Quiscalus niger crassirostris)
Common in a couple of places, especially around our lunch spot in the Blue Mountains and Errol Flynn Marina.
OVENBIRD (Seiurus aurocapilla)
A couple of these at San San.
WORM-EATING WARBLER (Helmitheros vermivorum)
A couple seen well at San San, and then one seen by a couple folks at Stewart Town.
BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER (Mniotilta varia)
One of the more common American warblers in the forests of Jamaica.
SWAINSON'S WARBLER (Limnothlypis swainsonii) [*]
One was incessantly chipping at San San, but only Doug and Dwayne got very brief views of it before it buried itself in the vegetation of a gully.
COMMON YELLOWTHROAT (Geothlypis trichas)
Encountered several times in appropriate scrubby habitat.
ARROWHEAD WARBLER (Setophaga pharetra) [E]
We had brief views at Ecclesdown Road and in the Blue Mountains, but really really good views at San San, and also reasonable views at Stewart Town. It's the only wood-warbler that is a Jamaican endemic, so it's a particular delight to see for warbler devotees.
AMERICAN REDSTART (Setophaga ruticilla)
The most common and conspicuous warbler during our week in Jamaica.
CAPE MAY WARBLER (Setophaga tigrina)
Just brief sightings at MBH and Mynt.
NORTHERN PARULA (Setophaga americana)
Common, and seen well in several places.
YELLOW WARBLER (GOLDEN) (Setophaga petechia eoa) [*]
Singing away at the Falmouth bypass, though we didn't see it.
BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER (Setophaga caerulescens)
Some excellent views of both males and females - the sexes look so different that it would be easy to convince someone that they were two separate species.
PALM WARBLER (WESTERN) (Setophaga palmarum palmarum)
A few during our travels, with most folks getting on them at either MoBay sewage or Hardwar Gap.
YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER (Setophaga dominica)
Good views of this patchy winter resident (which is especially tied to palms on the wintering grounds) at MBH, Stewart Town, and at Mynt.
PRAIRIE WARBLER (Setophaga discolor)
Pretty common for us, and encountered in most places outside of dense primary forest.
BANANAQUIT (GREATER ANTILLEAN) (Coereba flaveola flaveola)
Abundant and widespread, and we were hard-pressed to go anywhere in the island where we didn't hear one singing.
YELLOW-FACED GRASSQUIT (Tiaris olivaceus olivaceus)
Brief sightings for some in the Blue Mountains and at Mynt, but a phenomenal experience for everyone with the nectar-feeding individuals at Rocklands.
ORANGEQUIT (Euneornis campestris) [E]
The typical drab gray or gray-brown bird of the forest, and quite abundant. On a few occasions we were treated to good looks at the orange throat on the males, and at Rocklands this feature was in our faces.
GREATER ANTILLEAN BULLFINCH (Melopyrrha violacea ruficollis)
Some okay to good views for the group at the Blue Mountains, but then some really good ones at Stewart Town.
YELLOW-SHOULDERED GRASSQUIT (Loxipasser anoxanthus) [E]
A really nice view of a male at Ecclesdown Road.
BLACK-FACED GRASSQUIT (Melanospiza bicolor marchii)
The commoner of the three species of grassquits, and we heard them singing quite a few times in addition to our multiple views (including the up close and personal views at Rocklands).
NORWAY (BROWN) RAT (Rattus norvegicus) [I]
Briefly at Errol Flynn Marina.
SMALL INDIAN MONGOOSE (Herpestes auropunctatus) [I]
A few brief sightings along the road system.
Totals for the tour: 122 bird taxa and 2 mammal taxa