Mike in the Wild

I hadn't visited Jamaica in more than thirteen years when I found myself there with a day to spend off of a cruise ship.  It was easy for me to decide what I was most interested in: birds.  The island is one of the largest, and perhaps the most verdant, that ships visit in the Caribbean so I imagined there should be some interesting avian discoveries in store.  However my cruise didn't offer a specific birding excursion and I hadn't researched enough to travel independently.  Fortunately my Montego Bay stop sold a tour entitled "Go Native Jamaica" that boasted a nature walk at a tropical plantation in the hilly outskirts of town.  I was convinced when I read, "Watch for different bird species." Of course most of the tour focused on the history and landmarks of Montego Bay, Jamaica's second largest city, and on the nation's culture as a whole.  As my bus struggled through rush-hour traffic on its way to a  seventeenth century fort, we passed by ca...