PABirder

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Back in 2007, I was on an Alaska cruise and we stopped at Icy Strait Point (a.k.a. Hoonah). Went on a whale watch trip there and saw quite a few fin humps from humpbacks. Then while having dinner sitting by the window at one of the specialty restaurants, we saw humpbacks breaching all over the place right in the bay!

Also, Maine/Nova Scotia cruises may also have whale watching.

Gidewey52, you made me pull my diary out for St. John (USVI) - back in 2006, I saw bananaquits, black-necked stilts, white-cheeked pintails, ground doves, brown boobies, frigatebirds, and several Antillean crested and green-throated Carib hummingbirds.

Thanks, Nicole!!

Noodles84, what were some of the birds?

hvbaskey, a list maybe?

Tammy, where ever you go, there will probably be pelicans, frigatebirds, and tropicbirds near the ports. Also many islands may have bananaquits, collared doves, ground doves, white-winged doves, Zenaida doves, and pearly-eyed thrashers. What ever island you go to, you can pretty much look up on the web and find a list.

If you are going to Jamaica, the birds there are quite good. Two of the neater birds are the Jamaican tody and streamertail hummers (YS Falls usually has a set of feeders that attract large numbers of streamers and others). Wikipedia has a pretty good list.

Good luck,

Dave

jdbirch, quite a list of birds!!

Agru, thanks for the link to Birdingpal!

Rob, sounds like your memory served you quite well!

I saw a brown-footed booby at St Thomas and a peregrine falcon landed on the stern of the ship as we left St Thomas and posed for me.I saw a brown-footed booby at St Thomas and a peregrine falcon landed on the stern of the ship as we left St Thomas and posed for me.

How neat!

When I was in Costa Rica (2003), saw quite a few leaf cutters (right along the highway between the airport and downtown San Jose!), a few oropendolas, slothes, monkeys, too! Tons of tanagers and flycatchers of all different types!

jdbirch - I'm surprised you didn't see any anis! The 2 times I was at Virgin Gorda, I saw them.

Salt ponds off the beach can be good, too. Been to quite a few in St. John and Jamaica.

jdbirch - I tried what you said and couldn't find Bird Island. I did see a picture of some reindeer on the road, though. Is there a specific name on the picture that is displayed?

Went to Costa Rica back in '03. Was quite a trip! Just sitting outside the hotel in San Jose, I picked up about 10 new birds in about 7 minutes. Never did get to see a quetzal, though.

As for birds hiding in the Arctic Circle - they can be hard to see if it is very foggy! Although I've been to Alaska twice, never been as far as the circle (closest was Fairbanks). Did have some pretty foggy weather, though (in August-September).

Wow! Quite a list.

Jdbirch - What kind of birds did you get at Colon, Puerto Limon, and Cayman?

Benjismum, did you get to your trips? If so, how was the birding?

Me too, but as I'm only doing Cozumel, Progreso & Roatan, I don't think it's likely :( but I now know where to try for next time!

 

Anyone got any ideas of what I'm likely to see? bearing in mind I'm gonna have two kids and a non-birding husband with me! As a UK birder I will even be pleased with some of the more common stuff that we don't get over here.

Try these sites:

http://www.backyardnature.net/yucatan/birdover.htm

http://www.birdinghonduras.com

We only went on 1 real guided tour for birding - www.reliableadventuresjamaica.com. That is where I saw the todys and potoo. The rest of the time was just a site-seeing tour where I did my own birding (trip to YS Falls and Black River).

Just got back from a land trip to southern coast of Jamaica. Went on a couple guided trips of the Bluefield Mountains and coastal regions (including a YS River trip) - saw streamertails, Jamaican todys galore, a Northern Potoo, euphonias, elenias, loggerhead kingbirds, and about 40 other species. Weather was also great (about 70 at night to 85 during the day, mostly sunny with clouds coming up mid- to late- afternoon, HOT sun!)

Just coming back from an Alaskan cruise this summer, I found they had many wildlife-related excursions. But then, people who go to Alaska typically want to see that kind of thing (myself VERY included). The Caribbean is a different animal - most who go on those cruises are probably less interested in the wildlife and more interested in the sun, beaches, shopping, and possibly snorkeling/kayaking which is still a short-term sun-based activity. I imagine people who go to the islands for the wildlife typically will stay on the island rather than cruise.

Myself, I will be going to Jamaica in February for the week (non-cruise) and hope to do some birding. On that note, I am open to any ideas for birding spots and guides anyone has especially for the Whitehouse area.