Before I move on to the final chapter of the Caribbean birding adventure, let’s have a look at the Lesser Antilles from the perspective of an organized birding tour that went to 9 islands. Rigdon Currie has a wonderful channel on Youtube for birders and I always enjoy seeing how other people experience the same birding locations. You get a better perspective of the parrot outlooks and how difficult it is to spot the parrots as they zoom past.
Last but not least, Puerto Rico coming up next!
The Rufous-throated Solitaire (Myadestes genibarbis) is a species of bird placed in the family Turdidae. The bird is nicknamed the siffleur montagne (or mountain whistler) in Dominica. This little guy came pretty close to me at the Syndicate.
They are found on several Caribbean Islands such as Dominica, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Martinique, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent.
I love this cute “red beard” effect of their colouring!
The Imperial Amazon Parrot (Amazona imperialis), is locally known as the Sisserou,and found only on the Caribbean island of Dominica. I only caught a glimpse of one and was unable to get a photo so here’s what Wikipedia has – a captive bird and a drawing.
The Sisserou is proudly featured on the flag of Dominica.
They have a very small range in the Morne Diablotins (Syndicate) and the Morne Trois Pitons National Parks. I got my best view through Dr Birdy’s scope at Syndicate.
We will have to be content with captive birds as no one seems to have filmed them in the wild and posted on Youtube.
The Antillean Crested Hummingbird (Orthorhyncus cristatus) is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. I saw this one as we were driving up to the Syndicate Forest. I think it’s a female as the crest isn’t that bright blue colour.
They are found in found in the Caribbean Islands of Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Montserrat, north-east Puerto Rico, Saba, Saint-Barthélemy, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sint Eustatius, the British Virgin Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Lesser Antilles. The only island where I saw one was Dominica.
These clips really show the beauty of the male bird’s crest!
And this one is trying to have a drink and a bath at the same time!
The Red-necked Amazon (Amazona arausiaca), also known as the Red-necked Parrot, Dominican Blue-faced Amazon, lesser Dominican Amazon, and Jaco Parrot, is an amazon parrot endemic to Dominica. I was really lucky to get these shots at the Syndicate.
They are easiest to see in the Morne Diablotins (Syndicate) and the island overall. They are much easier to find than the Imperial Amazon.
This is how they look from the parrot lookout.
And sometimes they come a bit closer as these lucky people found. You can see how well they camoflage against the leaves – which is good as it protects them from predators.
Actually his real name is Bertrand Jno Baptiste but Dr Birdy has the prescription for finding Dominica’s two endemic parrots and many other birds such as the Antillean Hummingbird. I contacted him by email and arranged a morning of birding using his car with a pick up at the Tamarind Tree Hotel. The hotel staff know him quite well as the proximity of the property to the (pink route) Syndicate (Morne Diablotin National Park) attracts many birders.
Since we arrived after dark, I was excited to see how beautiful the island is!
As we drove to the Syndicate, we saw some seabirds flying by and a few fishermen.
I can’t quite make this one out.
Antillean Crested Hummingbird
Blue-headed Hummingbird
We keep driving uphill.
A smaller trail leads to the parrot lookout.
Don’t worry, you don’t have to hike to the summit. This is a relatively easy walk through the forest.
Dr Birdy leads the way. Notice that scope? This was essential to see the Sisserou especially.
We were the only ones there. We set up the scope and got the cameras ready, then it was a waiting game. 
Dominica’s most wanted!
Rufous-throated Solitaire 
Mostly Red-necked Parrots flying back and forth through the gorge. Trying to get a photo at a distance was quite a challenge! If you look very closely, you can see the tiny specks in these photos. I did my best to enlarge them below.
Red-necked Parrot (Jaco) 
This is an Imperial Parrot (Sisserou) flying through but I messed up the only “flight shot” I had.
No better luck when trying to digiscope the Sisserou. I was able to see him perched but couldn’t manipulate my iPhone to find him.
I barely got the back of his head behind leaves, I had to aim wide angle at the general area so zooming in didn’t produce much.
It was getting close to noon and we had a 5pm flight and uncertain bus transport ahead so we had to be satisfied that at least we saw the birds! We head back towards Portsmouth and Dr Birdy dropped us at a bus stop where we finally did get a bus passing the airport. 
It was a great morning and we saw the birds we wanted (even if I couldn’t get a decent shot) and we never would have found the perched parrots without Dr Birdy. He’s a cool guy and one of the top birding guides in the Caribbean so definitely book him if you want the best chances to see the SIsserou! He can be reached by email.
We only had one day and since I had a mission – see the 2 endemic parrots of Dominica, I went looking for a hotel as close as possible to the Syndicate Reserve, where they can be seen. The Tamarind Tree fit the bill for location and it turned out to be a really nice place with amazing views!
Unfortunately with a late flight we didn’t have time to use the inviting pool
The room was large, clean and very comfortable.
The rooms open onto a large verandah with tables and chairs to relax and enjoy the view.
I loved the artwork in the room!
We had dinner in the restaurant which was good. The wifi works here so I was able to get caught up.
They do have some parrots items for sale. I was tempted by this huge wooden plaque but it would have been a hassle to carry around. Now that I am home, I wish I would have bought it! I was hopeful to find something smaller the next day in the market. I was not to know there wouldn’t be enough time to shop!
This is what I did buy. It’s actually laminated in plastic and came in a set of 4 so people could use them as placemats but I prefer them as decorative art!
A few birds in the garden.
Tamarind Tree is on the opposite side of the island from the airport and it takes longer to get there than you might imagine as the roads are all twisty-turny mountain roads. Don’t let Google fool you, it was closer to 2 hours but we were driving at night so that may have slowed us down. The ride we got from the airport used the blue route. The pink route leads to the Syndicate Reserve. The grey route is where we returned to the airport. Dr Birdy dropped us at the junction of Portsmouth and the island road and we got a bus.
Tamarind Tree is a great small hotel that would suit birders, but the location may put some people off unless they rented a car as there is nothing nearby. The views and grounds are gorgeous and it is a great place to relax and enjoy the quiet island lifestyle. You can book on their website or use a portal like Rocketmiles or Pointshound to score some more airline miles.
Leaving St Vincent, I was annoyed (but not surprised when both Liat flights (connecting in Barbados) were late. Especially because it meant that we would miss the last bus and have to get a very expensive taxi to the other side of the island.
It’s possible to get a good deal on this flight and the taxes are supposedly included. This direct flight wasn’t available when we booked. Dominica had been hit badly by a hurricane and some flights were curtailed for awhile. It may look like taxes are included but there is an extra departure tax to be paid at the airport. They want cash which I didn’t have since I had made a point of spending all our ECD save a few bucks for snacks and I knew there would be ATMs at SJU to get USD easily. They finally took me upstairs to some kind of office and processed the fee on my credit card.
Waiting in the departure gate area. St Vincent Airport does have a small gift shop before security, nothing in the departure area.
We had a longer layover than expected in Barbados but at least they had a good variety of fast food places that take credit cards.
Some of the gates are in a different building down this long-ish hall. The shops and restaurants are in the main terminal.
Is this flight EVER going to leave?
Boarding at rear only.
You better put that backpack on the plane!
By this time I had caught on and we were sitting in the rear.
Goodbye Barbados!
Hello Dominica!
Another small airline.
Yay, the backpack is on the truck!
Outside the terminal, we met a man who had come to pick up his son and was headed our way so we paid him about half the taxi would have cost to take us to our hotel (which was on his way).
After birding in Dominica (post to follow) Dr Birdy dropped us at the bus stop outside Portsmouth. We waited about 15 minutes until a minibus arrived. They dropped us on the road outside and we walked into the airport.
Last minute birding outside the airport.
Goodbye Dominica!
Even after the airport tax hassle our troubles weren’t over. The flight to Antigua was only about an hour late. Much to my surprise, the flight from Antigua to San Juan left on time. It was a puddle jumper that stopped at St Kitts and Tortola enroute. It was in one of these islands that the schedule went all to hell. We were stuck on the tarmac for 2 hours waiting for another late Liat plane which had passengers connecting to our plane. At first they left us sweltering with no AC or water until everyone on the plane was in near mutiny, then they turned the AC on and brought us water. We finally arrived in San Juan just after midnight. Already exhausted, I had to navigate a rental car to our hotel, finally arriving around 2am.
The Caribbean is one of the most challenging regions to go birding in, especially if you are on a budget. You can get to most of the best islands for birding with miles but if you want to hop around between islands you are stuck with very expensive short flights. Sooner or later, you will probably have to fly on Liat which is popularly known as “Leave Island Any Time or Luggage In Another Termnal”.
The other option is birding from a cruise ship. This will get you to several islands and if you choose your itinerary wisely you could position yourself for some excellent birding. I was successful in birding Jamaica & Grand Cayman from a cruise ship several years ago.
The islands highlighted in yellow are some of the most popular ones for birding and for parrot lovers, they all have endemic parrot species.
CHOOSING THE ISLANDS TO VISIT
This was the easiest part. The islands are fairly small and it’s easy to find out where the birds are. I used eBird to get an idea but knew I would be hiring a guide at least on St Lucia and Dominica since time was short. I was after several amazing Amazon Parrot species which are endemic to particular islands. Puerto Rico has the Puerto Rican Amazon. Dominica has the Imperial Amazon (Sisserou) & Red-necked Amazon (Jaco). St Lucia has the St Lucia Parrot. St Vincent has the St Vincent Parrot. Trinidad has a couple of Parrotlets I was chasing – Green-rumped Parrotlets & Lilac-tailed Parrotlet. There are also several Macaws and Amazon species plus lots of hummingbirds & manakins around the island so it was a great all-rounder.
We used United miles on Copa to get from Bogota to Trinidad via Panama. Then we used miles from Port-of-Spain to St Lucia, only 4500 Avios for the short flight. After that, we had to use Liat to St Vincent, Dominica & San Juan.
On Trinidad & Puerto Rico, we rented a car and drove around on our own. On St Lucia, St Vincent & Dominica, we used a combination of guided birding tours (St Lucia), buses & taxis to national parks (St Vincent) and a private birding day trip on Dominica.
The Caribbean can be very expensive and even small lodges can be at least $150 a night. Luckily I had some Hotels.com free nights, 2 Expedia credits for a promo they messed up on and some Orbucks from a photo competition they ran in 2014 which got our small hotels on St Lucia, St Vincent & Dominica plus one night at a small hotel south of San Juan for free.
We had 2 nights free in Trinidad at the Radisson thanks to the 2 for 1 redemption opportunity that came with the Club Carlson Visa booked just one month before that particular benefit went away.
We had one free night at the San Juan Intercontinental courtesy of the Chase free night with the IHG Rewards Visa.
Yes, you read that right, getting lucky with some hotel promos got us the entire week in the Caribbean for FREE!
Over the next few weeks, I will be posting in detail about our birding in the Caribbean so stay tuned!
Every year Lonely Planet comes up with a travel hotlist for the following year and they just released their picks for 2017. Looks like I beat the crowds having visited Colombia & Dominica (blog coming) this year and Nepal in 2011 (blog coming). I’ll also be on trend for next year with Ethiopia on the itinerary!
