This bird sanctuary is run by Fritz Beckford, a passionate champion of birds who will pour birdseed into your hand or provide you with a sugar-water feeder. Guests sit agog as hummingbirds streak in to hover like tiny helicopters before finally perching on their outstretched fingers. To get here, drive or take a bus or route taxi from Montego Bay towards Anchovy/Montpelier/Cambridge on the B8. Get dropped at the turnoff, from where it's around 500m up a steep, rutted road.
Fritz estimates his feathered friends devour nearly 900kg of seed each year (so much for ‘bird-sized’ appetites). If you need more avian action, Fritz leads tours from the house into the bush (US$25 per person), where you can also spot ground doves, orange- and bananaquits, Jamaican woodpeckers (flickers) and orioles. Birders have flocked here since 1958 when it was founded by noted ornithologist Lisa Salmon, who tamed and trained more than 20 bird species to come and be fed by hand.
More than 140 bird species have been recorded at this bird sanctuary, but the big draw is the hummingbirds, including the deep purple Jamaican mango hummingbird and ever-popular ‘doctorbird,’ all best seen around 4pm.
There's an on-site cottage (US$200) for keen birders.
