Brad

I was lucky enough to be invited by the Jamaica Tourist Board to visit the island and see the amazing bird watching opportunities that Jamaica has to offer. Jamaica has 28 endemic bird species (species that live only in Jamaica) and it is possible to see them all in one trip with a knowledgeable local guide. I missed a couple of them, but the trip was meant to be an overview to get me to see a number of different birding locations in Jamaica rather than personally get me to see as many birds as possible.
I, along with five other journalists who focus on bird watching topics, was put up at two of Jamaica’s finest eco-friendly hotels/ lodges during my stay. Both offer great food and accomodations while maintaining environmentally sound business practices. I enjoyed both Hotel Mocking Bird Hill and Forres Park very much. We were able to find unique birds on the grounds of both places and both were within relatively easy driving distance of some of Jamaica’s top birding habitats (for the experienced local drivers that were provided to us).
Click this link to read more about the bird watching vacation in Jamaica or click here if you just want to see the pictures from the Jamaica trip.

recently had the opportunity to visit the bird banding research station at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge on Plum Island. This was my first opportunity to observe mist nets in use and to observe wild birds being tagged. It was a wonderful learning experience and a chance to see wild birds closer than you would in any other circumstance that I can imagine.

The bird banding research station at Plum Island is run by the Mass Audubon’s Joppa Flats Education Center and is closed to the public except by prior arrangement. You can read about the bird banding research station and view a slideshow of birds being caught in the mist nets and processed before being released.

On a recent pelagic bird cruise to the Tern Breeding Colony on the Isles of Shoals in New Hampshire, I witnessed a Great Black-backed Gull swallowing a Common Tern whole. The Common Tern, although it was likely a juvenile, would have had a wingspan of 25-30 inches. The Gull was able to distend it’s throat like a pelican or a snake and swallow the entire bird. The entire event is captured in ten photographs arranged in a slideshow along with more details of the cruise.

Pictures of a gull swallowing a tern whole