Has anyone on board been to Rocklands Feeding Station?
I know that I'm flying my nerd flag here but I'm a huge bird lover.
I've seen vids on youtube and it looks great.
If anyone has any info on it I'd be much obliged.
Thanx!
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Has anyone on board been to Rocklands Feeding Station?
I know that I'm flying my nerd flag here but I'm a huge bird lover.
I've seen vids on youtube and it looks great.
If anyone has any info on it I'd be much obliged.
Thanx!
I haven't been there yet.. but Markus and I really really want to go to Rockland's Bird Santuary on our next reach. It's on our bucket list.
So I thought we could all wave our nerd flags together and wait for responses to roll in. :)
(We're also big bird lovers. We have a hummingbird feeder outside our bedroom window and we hide behind the curtains to watch "hummy" feed. I can't imagine how cool it would be to have one land on my finger.)
6 more nights until Jamaica!...I'm excited for you! Are you all packed and ready to go?
Clarity,
Both of you too?
I put at least eight feeders out in the winter (Frost Bite Falls has a serious winter) and a heated bird bath.
Once a hummingbird got trapped inside our school.
He was exhausted and scared when we finally caught him (to release him).
He couldn't even flap his wings because he was so spent (high metabolic rate uses/loses energy quickly).
I was holding him in my palm and the poor guy couldn't move.
It dawned on me we should try sugar water.
His little haired-like tongue came out and he hit the sugarwater, it was like jump starting a car.
He went from spent to gone in under 30 seconds.
It was so cool to get to hold him.
In WI we just get one kind - the ruby throated.
Rocklands will be so great.
Next week.
I'll report on it.
I haven't been yet but just like Clarity, this is on my bucket list as well.
I was actually thinking of making a stop after we arrive in April as our plane lands fairly early and it is not too far from the airport. I was thinking of perhaps stopping there for a bit and then heading in to Negril afterwards
I have heard nothing but great things about this place and all the videos look so cool, a really unusual and very amazing experience I would say
I know Patty (Sather) has been as she has posted several videos of herself there feeding the hummingbirds before. So, maybe she will chime in and add her opinions.
I say, go for it!
My husband and I are huge bird lovers too. We have 7 different feeders around our house. Most of them on the deck. In the summertime we have two hummingbird feeders. They are so much fun to watch. We should probably put that on our to do list for our next trip. I keep forgetting about it...:o
Would be fun to get a group together in March. Anybody interested?
On our last two visits to Negril we noticed that the first house on the right, going to Seastar, has a lot of birds in the tree and on the ground. The man who lives there has come out and talked to us because we would stop every time to watch the birds. He feeds them and has a bird bath filled with water. I don't remember what he said they were but they're very colorful and small, sort of like a tropical finch. If you're in the neighborhood, check them out.
Because Seastar has such beautiful grounds you can watch all kinds of birds from your balcony. Our favorites are the doctor birds.
I have a patio cover with two skylights. Every now and then a hummer will try to fly up through the glass. They keep bumping their little heads and exhaust themselves, never realizing that flying down is to safety. If I see them, I get a dust mop and hold it under them until they land on the mop-head. Then I slooooowly move it away from the skylight and to open space. They then fly away.
I've had two of them lock into territorial fighting that both flew into my glass door, stunning themselves. I was able to gently pick them up and place them in a tree until thay came back to their senses.
Good times...:D
@ Marley - I was watching the youtube and I thought "Wow, that woman looks like Patty (even though I've never met her even though I once lived in North Dakota - small population)!
@Rum Runner thanks for the tip on the bird-man-of-Negril.
I'm going to be checking that out.
I know I'm a nerd but I'm packing my binoculars just for the birds.
One day I was conversing with my daughter and a cardinal landed on our deck.
I stopped conversing and blurted out "CARDINAL"! (they're not rare here I just like them).
My daughter looked at me and said, "You have A.D.D. only for birds."
Oh well, she works with special needs clients so this type of behavior doesn't flap her.
LOL, Rum
Make sure to stop by Xtabi or over by No Limit Bar and Pee Wee's Bar so you can see the parrots
Plenty of really cool birds to watch in Negril
Here you go guys
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCJYlkva6JY
It was a amazing relaxing day, I loved it.....
It is a amazing and facinating story how the place came about and the woman who started everything, you go into the place and sit in a covered patio, they give everyone the little bottles...and you wait...all of a sudden you hear them..fluttering their little wings and the little chirps...and one by one, they come, they just know....and you almost forget to breath the whole time cause you dont want them to leave..on the video near the end listen closely to the noise of the flutter in the wings , I swear you can feel the little breeze as they past by my cheek just listening to it..:)
Hey rum, :D It works to do both ! I multi task very well ....:eek:Quote:
Originally Posted by Rum-polephoreskin
We went in 2004. Wife & I along with Brother in law & Sister in Law. I had one hummingbird land on my finger and feed and it was a great experience. I spent most of the rest of the time trying to take pictures. The caretaker put some small seeds that looked like thistle seeds on Bet and her Sisters legs and they had some finch like birds land and eat seeds off their legs. We combined it with a raft ride down the great river from the Lethe Estate. I say do it but pick a day that there is no cruise ship in port. We were the only ones there for the first hour and it was great.
Steve
We did it last year, and if you like birds, you'll have a great time. We went on a day when we had friends coming in on an early afternoon flight, so we chartered a van, picked them up and went directly to Rocklands. I know you've had posts talking about the ride to Negril from MoBay, and you might want to consider arranging to have someone take you directly to Rocklands when you arrive, to save the round trip driving on another day. It's a lot closer to MoBay than it is to Negril!
A thread I wrote a few years ago. The prices have increased some.
http://www.negril.com/discus/messages/83412/78373.html
Regards,
Bob
A definite must-do!!! We went to Rocklands last trip...it was amazing!! We planned it for our last day on the way back to the airport. We got there around 9:30ish and stayed till about 11:30 then off to the airport to catch our flight home. It's only about 20 mins. from the airport. The road is absolutely awful to get up to Rocklands though...a really steep incline with a hairpin turn in the middle of it! I thought our driver was gonna burn his clutch out trying to make it up the hill. Hope he's willing to take us again this year cause I'd sure love to go again :)
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Patty,
I thought it was you, I saw your vid on youtube.
Then I said no way too much of a coincidence.
Then again you are from (at least living there) North Dakota, so it's just a small world thing.
Rum! It is smaller than we realize!!!! this last reach I was at canoe and finally met "fargoman" who we had been talking to on here for 2 years...finally met up at canoe ...and to find out he was one of daughters best friends! OMG! hahahahahaQuote:
Originally Posted by Rum-polephoreskin
Thats funny you would recognize me on you tube..:)
Yes this is something we want to do too. April trip is a late flight out and thanks to Dana will try to do the same thing on the last day. What a great idea. I love this board!
Rockland's Bird Sanctuary is an awesome place. I really didn't think I would like it, but it was great. Simply amazing to have those beautiful birds perched right on your finger. The owners tell great stories about the woman who started the place and how long it took her to train all the birds to come in. They will even give you a "garden tour" after - if they aren't too busy. Very resaonably priced and well worth the drive.