{"id":59836,"date":"2023-03-13T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-13T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/?p=59836"},"modified":"2023-05-08T11:03:25","modified_gmt":"2023-05-08T15:03:25","slug":"island-icon-ann-sutton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/cruising-and-chartering\/island-icon-ann-sutton\/","title":{"rendered":"Jamaican Birdwatching with Ornithologist Ann Sutton"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Ornithologist <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n Cruisers visiting Jamaica have the chance to encounter 30 bird species that are found only on the island.<\/span>\n D. Branson Hay<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n\n

Sure, Jamaica has beaches, reggae and jerk. But Ann Sutton knows well the island\u2019s true national treasure: its birds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have around 30 endemic species that aren\u2019t found anywhere else in the world,\u201d says Sutton, an ornithologist, guide and respected voice in Caribbean conservation groups. \u201cSo we get birders who have these long life lists who, in one morning, can get 15 to 20 birds they\u2019ve never seen before. And the birds are so accessible. You can see at least 20 of them from my veranda.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sutton\u2019s veranda is at Marshall\u2019s Pen, a coffee plantation and former home of Jamaica\u2019s governor-general that is now a protected national heritage site, private nature reserve and prime birding destination (by appointment). When Sutton first arrived in Jamaica in the 1970s and then settled into Marshall\u2019s Pen\u2014her husband\u2019s family estate\u2014the only relevant bird guide had mostly line drawings and written descriptions. \u201cImagine trying to identify birds from just a few words,\u201d she says. \u201cI set out to make that natural history more accessible.\u201d And so she and her husband, Robert, also a preeminent ornithologist at that time, hired a photographer and published \u201cA Photographic Guide to the Birds of Jamaica.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read More:<\/strong> Island Icon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\u2019s eager to compile even more bird sightings through the upcoming BirdsCaribbean 2023 seabird census.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019d love to have participation from the yachting community because they can often visit places that nobody else can get to,\u201d she says. Cruisers can go to the BirdsCaribbean website for details on how to get involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are some of your favorite local bird species?<\/strong> The Jamaican tody is a bright green ball of fluff with a bright red beak and throat. The streamertail hummingbird is Jamaica\u2019s national bird. It\u2019s bright emerald green with black wings and a long tail. The Jamaica owl looks like a fairy puppet.\u2009\u2009\u2009<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ann Sutton\u2019s A-List on Jamaica<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Treasure Beach:<\/strong> It\u2019s a beautiful environment. Visit one of the nice seafood restaurants. The fish is caught in the morning and is on your plate in the afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blue Mountains:<\/strong> Hardwar Gap is a wonderful place to see a lot of endemic bird species. It\u2019s quite accessible, only about a 40-minute drive from Kingston.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Portland Bight Protected Area:<\/strong> It\u2019s Jamaica\u2019s largest mangrove system and protected area.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ornithologist Ann Sutton helps cruising birders add Jamaica\u2019s many winged wonders to their life list.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":59837,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"BS_author_type":"BS_author_is_guest","BS_guest_author_name":"Kristin Baird Rattini","BS_guest_author_url":"","hydra_display_date":"","hydra_display_updated":false,"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"156","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Robert, Jamaica-based ornithologist Ann Sutton and her husband Robert make birdwatching history more accessible for visitors.","_yoast_wpseo_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","arc_story_id":"","arc_website_url":"","custom_permalink":"","arc_subtype":"","arc_exclude_from_feeds":false,"sponsored":false,"sponsored_label":"Sponsored Content","sponsored_display_label":false,"sponsored_image":false,"post_right_rail":true,"post_right_rail_ad_1":true,"post_right_rail_ad_2":true,"post_right_rail_ad_3":false,"post_right_rail_ad_4":false,"post_right_rail_recirc":true,"fixed_anchor_ad":true,"post_top_ad":true,"post_off_ramp":true,"post_taboola":false,"labels":true,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":"","sponsored_url":"","social_share":true,"ad_targeting":"","ad_settings_ads_on_this_page":true,"ad_settings_automatic_ad_injection_into_the_content":true},"categories":[156],"tags":[218,396,2062],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59836"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59836\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}