female- Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica
Author: Seth Inman
A Day in the Blue Mountains
Last week we shared the compilation of A Day in the Cockpit. Here’s the second installment of our expedition video, with about nine minutes of the Blue and John Crow Mountains:
Much of this footage was taken within the national park, or Continue reading
A Day in the Cockpit
Out of the several hours of video that we took during our first month of the Jamaican Golden Swallow Expedition, Justin has condensed the cream of the crop into a fifteen-minute compilation that flows from sunrise to moonlight, with lots of birds, scenery, and other life in between.
Watching the video above, you can Continue reading
The Rufous-throated Solitaire
Back when I wrote about our ascent of Blue Mountain Peak, I mentioned that the Rufous-throated Solitaire is a bird that can be pretty tough to spot.
In that prior post, I had a picture of the same individual featured in the video above. If you turn the volume up, you can hear all the shrill details of the bird’s call, and imagine sounds like those echoing through the misty hills — the guidebook to Jamaican birds actually describes the vocalizations as “ventriloquial,” which we found to be accurate. Continue reading
The Great Golden Swallow Gear Review: Part 4
A mongoose in the Havahart 1090
Havahart Medium 1-Door Collapsible Easy Set Trap, Model 1090:
Justin: Great product all-around. Lightweight, foldable, and easy to set once you’ve learned how to do so. It’s a solid unit that can take some hits and very rarely did the trap spring by itself.
Garmin Oregon 650 3-Inch Worldwide Handheld GPS with 8MP Digital Camera:
Justin: Most reliable and intuitive GPS that I’ve ever used. The touch screen and layout is user-friendly and easy to navigate. I chose this unit based on reviews that claimed it’s its high-sensitivity, WAAS- and GLONASS-enabled GPS receiver and HotFix® satellite prediction would allow for reliable accuracy, even in deep forest in remote locations. Sure enough, even under the most dense canopy cover, we were always able to quickly gain satellite reception and an accuracy of 30ft or better. In less demanding environments, satellite precision was 5ft or less. The ability to load Continue reading
The Great Golden Swallow Gear Review: Part 3
Seth displaying his catch. Photo by Justin Proctor.
Thermarest Prolite Plus sleeping pad:
Seth: Comfortable and light, these pads kept us insulated and padded even on cement floors, but the compression sack that is supposed to store the pad is far too small. I don’t recommend sleeping on these on a hot, humid day at around noon.
Justin: This is the first thermarest I’ve used in my life. I’ll probably never have to buy another. I slept comfortably on this thermarest every night, whether it was lying on concrete, a tiled floor, or a more forgiving forest floor. I threw out the ludicrously small sack that came with this otherwise good product on the second day.
John: Don’t ask me, I just sleep on an old yoga mat. I should also point out that it took Seth and Justin a few minutes to deflate and roll these up every morning.
ExOfficio Men’s Boxer, Curfew, medium: (worn by Seth – see photo)
Seth: These highly expensive pairs of underwear are fast drying, don’t retain bad odors, and are quite breathable. Their only downside is that there’s a bit too much fabric in the seat, so they can be wedgie-prone.
Justin: I think Seth just wanted to beat me on the pricing of luxury undies.
John: What’s underwear?
The Great Golden Swallow Gear Review: nākd edition
Given the photo above, perhaps this post would have been better suited to April Fools’ Day. However, since April 1st was the first day we had back in Ithaca, the precise editing required to keep the photo PG-rated would have been rushed and the result would have been, shall we say, sloppy. Although it may seem like a strange way of saying thanks, this post — and especially the header photo — are a token of our great appreciation for the folks at nākd (Nature Balance Foods), particularly for Traci in US operations, who coordinated everything with us! I should clarify that we created the photo above of our own volition and without any explicit sponsorship — it is not a nākd photo shoot, it’s just a naked photo shoot.
On the trail up to Blue Mountain Peak, the highest summit in Jamaica.
We had mentioned long ago that we were receiving lots of nākd bars to help us through our expeditions, and no amount of expressed gratitude can reflect the true value of these snacks to our diet during the past three months. The best part is that we could eat as many as we felt like it since they have no added sugar or artificial ingredients, and are basically just a combination of 1) dates and/or raisins, 2) almonds, cashews, or pecans, and 3) spices or natural flavoring like cocoa powder or coffee.
Revisiting a Year-old Thesis Experience
It’s been exactly — down to the same date, funnily enough — four months since I posted anything about Iceland in particular, seven months since I shared an excerpt from my honors thesis, and one year since I submitted that thesis to the history department at Cornell University. It’s interesting that as I write this I’m back in Ithaca, on campus, and during the last week have been involved in the proofreading process for two friends writing English theses to be turned in tomorrow. And then, coincidentally but not by chance, Hua Hsu writes a book review in the New Yorker that revolves around how to write a thesis.
Reading Hsu’s discussion of Eco’s book, as well as revisiting parts of my thesis to be able to give advice to my English-major friends, is a rewarding and somewhat nostalgic experience. There are several of Eco’s points that
particularly resonate with me, such as Continue reading
The Great Golden Swallow Gear Review: Part 2
MSR Whisperlite International Stove V2:
Justin: Referring to just the stove: The whisperlite international is a darn good stove. Lightweight, folds up nicely, and is relatively easy to set-up, maintain, and clean. I purchased this stove because it can burn almost any flammable gas or liquid. That’s imperative when you are traveling internationally. The only change I would make would be to upgrade the ‘teeth’ on the three stands that hold your cookware so as to create more friction and lessen the likelihood of a pot or pan slipping off the stove.
MSR Standard Fuel Pump:
Justin: This is an easy to use pump, but it requires more maintenance than one would desire. Though the pump syringe never broke, it always felt weak to the touch. The pump cup attached to the inner end of the syringe does not attach well to the syringe, while it also dries out over the course of several days. Without lubrication and vigilance, that pump cup will slip off and/or rip if you’re not careful. Once the cup has ripped, it will be impossible to build up pressure in the MSR bottle. Accessing the innards is also difficult, and requires at least four hands pushing and pulling at different pressure points at the same time. Be sure to purchase the Whisperlite International service kit because you will need the spare parts. After two solid months of use, I am thinking that I will now have to replace this unit entirely. Continue reading
The Great Golden Swallow Gear Review: Part 1
A sea cave on the northern coast of Jamaica, where Cave Swallows nest.
We’ve finally put our heads together and written all our thoughts on the various articles of gear we brought with us to Jamaica for two months! Overall we were pretty pleased with everything we used, and would recommend them to the average backpacker except where it’s clear that we weren’t very satisfied.
GSI Outdoors Pinnacle Dualist Cookware Set:
Justin: This cookware set has some big pro’s and some big con’s. The fact that everything fits nicely together, and the entire unit is lightweight is definitely a plus. However, a rogue surge of flame from our stove one night that came up high on the sides of the pot caused the pot to warp in shape (which is surprising because of its constant tolerance to high heat from below). Therefore the lid never fit correctly again. The bowls are solid and the two that come with a foam/elastic band around them are effective in keeping you from getting burned from hot contents within. The folding handle of the pot is hazardous – perhaps there is a locking mechanism that we are unaware of or did not receive. The two retracting sporks that come with the set are complete garbage. The minute you attempt to ‘pierce’ a piece of food, the spork will retract and become useless. Best to pawn these sporks off as a gift to a friend that you really don’t like much.
John: Hey, Seth, want a spoon?
Seth: Heck yeah! … … … hey, Justin, want a spoon?
Bird of the Day: Jamaican Tody
Corn Puss Gap, Blue Mountains National Park, Jamaica
Golden Swallow Expedition Back in Ithaca
A moon rises in the Blue Mountains
Photo by Justin Proctor
It’s been a while since you last heard from us, but not because we’re lost in the Jamaican wilderness!
We arrived back in Ithaca, NY a week ago, and have been hard at work processing our data, photos, videos, and thoughts from this past trip to the Blue Mountains. In addition, we’ve had to analyze our data from both trips combined, trying to seek out patterns in aerial insectivore sightings and making maps of all our point counts with different species seen in both Cockpit Country and the mountainous eastern portion of the island.
We’re also looking up references to all information on Cave Swallows, Antillean Palm Swifts, and White-collared Swifts in either Jamaica, the Caribbean, or the world, depending on what kind of journal articles have been published about them in the past. Other research we’ve been doing involves Barn Owls and Turkey Vultures, which will be the subject of spin-off Continue reading
Bird of the Day: American Pygmy Kingfisher
Carara National Park, Costa Rica
Bird of the Day: Roadside Hawk
Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica
Blue Mountain Peak
John walking down the mossy forest path
Last week, we hiked up to Blue Mountain Peak, the highest point in Jamaica. To reach the summit, you have to go through Portland Gap, a saddle between Mossman’s and Blue Mountain Peaks and a good point for camping out if you want to do the hike in the morning. Starting with all our camping gear on our backs at the trailhead around 4,185ft, we took a brisk hour’s hike to Portland Gap, gaining 1,356ft of elevation in the process. We set up our tents at Portland Gap, an area with the most Rufous-throated Solitaires we’ve seen so far – they’re very shy birds and are most often only heard, their haunting whistles echoing eerily over valleys and through the forest.
An elusive Rufous-throated Solitaire at Portland Gap
The Gap also ended up being a great spot to see Continue reading
Bird of the Day: Black-throated Blue Warbler
male – Corn Puss Gap, Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park, Jamaica
Bird of the Day: Piratic Flycatcher
Cinchona Botanical Gardens
a view of the valleys and Westphalia in the shadows of Portland Gap and some Blue Mountain peaks above
Since my last post, we’ve been several places and seen lots of things, but none of the areas we’ve visited have been so naturally “post-worthy” as the Cinchona Botanical Gardens above Westphalia, in the mountains of St. Andrew Parish. Somehow we had gathered from several people’s hearsay that we should practically expect ancient ruins, with perhaps some scattered floral gems growing feral among old dilapidated structures and a few exotic trees towering over the grounds. As you can see from the photo below, these vague rumors were partially true.
the old Garden Commissioner’s house/office, in need of some minor remodeling
Bird of the Day: Purple Gallinule
Carara National Park, Costa Rica
Bird of the Day: Black-throated Trogon
male – Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica
Organikos 