Madagascar 2010 – an island apart (2 Viewers)

[edenwatcher]

Thanks.
Here's a bit more (internet connection a bit dodgy). Pictures later.

There were further sapphire towns to come before we reached more agricultural areas. We stopped for lunch on the outskirts of a small town about 65km from Toliara. Whilst we ate a greater vasa parrot flew languidly overhead. Suitably replete after another omelette sandwich we continued towards Toliara until in an area of scrub I thought I spotted a perched up Verreaux’s coua. We piled out of the vehicle, but it had either gone or I had miscalled a Namaqua dove! We wandered the scrub for a while seeing a range of species including Madagascar buttonquail, Sakalava weaver and red fody. We then crossed the road and followed a dusty track frequented by bullock carts through the so-called coral rag scrub. It was still fairly early in the afternoon and very hot with the sun bouncing off the white sandy soil – not ideal birding conditions. We were getting a little fed up until Tiana confirmed that this was the site of La Table (named after the distinctive flat-topped hill which dominates the area), home to red-shouldered vanga and Verreaux’s coua. Thus reassured we pressed on, to no avail, though an olive bee-eater posed nicely. Back at the road a Madagascar green pigeon flew over but at 15:45 we admitted defeat and headed on down to Tulear, or Toliara as it is now known. The town is a port, as well as being a holiday destination, and had a rather different feel from other places we had visited, with several wide boulevards. After a visit to the Air Madagascar office for Tiana to confirm our internal flights, during which we were descended on by sellers of vanilla and various knick-knacks, we left the town heading north along the coast towards Ifaty.
For the first time we were not on a surfaced road but a bumpy sandy track which slowed progress down considerably. On the way out of Toliara we past fields full of plastic rubbish – a depressing sight. Startlingly bright red fodies in the road were rather more welcome. Further on we came to a series of pools frequented by waders such as black-winged stilt, Kittlitz’s plover, greenshank and curlew sandpiper though we were unable to find the endemic Madagascar plover. Further on the road overlooked the sea and we stopped to scan an area of mudflats and mangroves. More waders were added to the list including greater sandplover and whimbrel, whilst 3 white-faced whistling ducks wandering through the sand looked rather out of place. In a relatively short space of time the trip list had jumped sharply, albeit at the expense of the “tick percentage”! On the outskirts of a fishing village we spotted 2 herons at the water’s edge – the first was a grey heron, whilst the other was the endangered endemic Humblot’s heron. We were surrounded by interested locals, including a lad with unusually frizzy hair prompting the remark “did your mother not tell you – never play with electricity!” Not that he would have had access to any in what looked a grindingly poor area. By now the sun was setting and we had just one more stop – another unsuccessful look for Madagascar plover - as we turned off the road towards the Hotel Nautilus.
This very nice hotel is popular with groups, mostly French as it is French-owned. There was some initial confusion as we were shown to separate rooms when one of them was actually for Tiana and Sisi! Having ordered dinner we set off to track down the Madagascar nightjars which are common around the hotel. With some nifty Maglite work from Iain we soon had very nice views of our second Madagascar night bird. Our remarkable nautilus-shaped room (I kid you not) was right above the beach and you could hear the waves breaking over the distant reef. After a shower and doing some laundry we had a pleasant dinner (good food here!) before retiring as we had a particularly early start next morning.

Rob

 

[edenwatcher]

A couple of pics from La Table.

Rob

 

[edenwatcher]

Saturday 2nd October. Part 1.

The nautilus shape clearly did nothing to keep the room cool – it was stifling! The power only stayed on until 11 pm, after which the stopping of the ceiling fan sent the temperature up. Neither of us slept at all well, Iain resorting to trying outside, without finding anywhere comfortable. Ifaty features on most birding itineraries as it holds a prime area of spiny forest. This unique habitat is confined to the south and west of Madagascar with very little of it in protected areas. Reniala reserve is a remarkable piece of private enterprise, being run by the legendary Mosa as his own fiefdom, with his relatives as bird guides. They have their own unique guiding style, of which more later. In order to avoid the heat of the day we had a light breakfast of coffee and toast at 4:45 before departing for the reserve a few km to the north. At the entrance two of Mosa’s relatives climbed aboard and we drove the short distance to the car park. It was light but rather before sunrise when we set off on the well laid out trails – neatly marked with stones in the red earth. Some of the trees were labelled with common and scientific names. The vegetation is most remarkable with numerous baobabs of varying girths, the fearsome Alluaudia (Didiereaceae) and a variety of other abrasive shrubs! First new bird of the morning was a singing Archbold’s newtonia, followed by a thamnornis warbler – both specialities of the spiny forest. A pair of Lafresnaye’s vangas was very responsive to playback, in common with many of the vangas we encountered. This species is a close relative of the Pollen’s vanga we had seen at Ranomafana and is confined to the spiny forest. It can be quite tricky to get to grips with, as shown by the paucity of good photos to be found online. We were clearly rather lucky as this pair showed extremely well.

One of the guides pointed out a very slender snake before the call from his colleague – he had clearly found us something good. We hot-footed it through the scrub – plenty of scope for off-piste stuff here – and discovered that the prize was a superb female subdesert mesite perched up in a small tree. This species is essentially terrestrial but if pursued by a guide will fly up into a tree and essentially freeze for 15 minutes or so, all of which makes it ideal for showing to punters! Not exactly ethical, but they do things differently here! One the big targets secured we moved on to the territory of another – long-tailed ground-roller. Tiana pointed out the birds’ nest burrow, but the owners could not be located. We did have some excellent views of the normally terrestrial running coua perched up nicely in bare trees. On went the guides while we busied ourselves photographing the coua and a Madagascar magpie robin perched in one of the Alluaudias. Once again we were summoned, this time with rather easier going through a cleared area which was heaving with Namaqua doves plus several Malagasy coucals. A second territory of long-tailed ground-rollers had come up trumps with a pair being herded gently in our direction. This species is very much the odd one out among the ground-rollers, with the others all being found in the eastern rain forests. With its long legs and very long tail it has a lot in common with roadrunners (although perhaps not as much as some of the terrestrial couas). Superb views were obtained although they tended to remain partially obscured in the vegetation. A pair of Archbold’s newtonias paraded in front of us, without managing to distract us much from the superb ground-rollers.

We then began to head back though somewhat degraded habitat, in an unsuccessful search for banded kestrel, though we did see a flock of grey-headed lovebirds. By now the day had warmed up a lot so, once we were back at the car, we set off back to the Nautilus. My trousers, veterans of 17 years of foreign trips, had felt the strain of the spiny forest with a tear at the knee! Just after we left the main “road” I spotted a plover chest on to us showing a black breastband – a Madagascar plover. It took some calling out before I managed to get Sisi to come to a halt, but I suppose it meant we stopped extremely close to this very smart Charadrius plover! It was entirely unconcerned as it pottered about feeding on the track close to the car.

Rob

 

[chowchilla]

That Mesite's a weird looking thing. Are they still classed as Gruids? Looks more like a mutant Fieldfare....

 

[Hamhed]

On the other hand, I love the smile on the Vanga...

Steve

 

[edenwatcher]

Some more spiny forest pics:

Rob

 

[edenwatcher]

Saturday 2nd October. Part 2.

Back at the Nautilus we had a second breakfast and spent some time photographing Sakalava weavers which had a nest colony in a tree in the car park. We also located our first subdesert brush warblers (a species which replaces Madagascar brush warbler in the dry southwest). At 10 o’clock we set off in the vehicle to drive south along the coast, looking out for the charismatic crab plover. This species is best looked for on mudflats at low tide and unfortunately the tide was rather high. We saw a similar selection of waders to those we had found the previous evening and, instead of 3 white-faced whistling ducks, now there were about 40. After about an hour we admitted defeat and headed back to the Nautilus for a siesta, punctuated by lunch. Quite a number of pirogues were inside the reef, the smaller ones rowing boats, whilst the larger ones had sails. All had outriggers. We were due to go out again at 3:30 and before departure spent a little time photographing birds around the hotel, which included Madagascar turtle dove and Chabert’s vanga.

We were heading back to Reniala with just a few species remaining as targets. These included banded kestrel, green-capped coua and day time views of Madagascar nightjar. We hadn’t even arrived at Reniala when Tiana spotted a raptor perched on top of an Alluaudia. We piled out of the vehicle and set up the scope – to find that it was indeed a banded kestrel! At Reniala we picked up our guides once more and set off into the forest. We hadn’t gone far when one of the guides located a roosting Madagascar nightjar. It proved rather flighty, so after grabbing a few photos we left it to finish its roost in peace. Walking the trails produced a number of running couas but no sign of the hoped-for green-capped coua. Late in the afternoon a possible sickle-billed vanga flew through but could not be relocated – this species would have to wait for Ampijoroa. Finally, as the sun was setting, a green-capped coua called from close by. The guides attempted to round it up but could not track it down so we gave up and returned to the Nautilus. After another good meal (the zebu steak in green pepper sauce was excellent here) we settled our bill – again no errors – and retired to bed armed with a cable to plug-in the air conditioning!

Rob

 

[chowchilla]

If this trip report doesn't inspire me to go to Madagascar, nothing will!

 

[edenwatcher]

Sunday 3rd October. Part 1.

Of course the air-conditioning only worked until 11 but I slept rather better, although Iain still struggled. We had another early start, enabling us to watch Madagascar nightjars around the pool as we ate breakfast. We were heading back to Toliara and the birds seen were generally ones we had encountered two days previously. However a roadside little stint was nice, and a little bittern perched in a mangrove just north of Toliara was pick of the bunch. Driving through the town we then took an unsurfaced road towards La Mangrove (much less bumpy than the road between Toliara and Ifaty). After a few kilometres we stopped at grassy area with a few small pools (invisible from the road) and settled down to wait. Whilst the water was used by the local populace for washing themselves and their clothes it is also a favoured drinking area for Madagascar sandgrouse. The area was not without bird interest as we waited, with several Kittlitz’s plovers scurrying about, numerous Madagascar cisticolas and a few grey-headed lovebirds. Somewhat surprisingly given the amount of human traffic, the plovers were rather wary. Whilst endeavouring to photograph them Tiana and Iain called out and I looked up to see a male Madagascar sandgrouse fly over. Unfortunately it showed no interest in stopping, and we watched carry on until it was out of sight. By now it was 8:00 and warming up and Tiana suggested staying until 8:30. However by 8:15 we decided that we were happy with good flight views and it was time to move on, not without trepidation, to La Table.
We began by having a look in the roadside scrub, where we encountered a running coua, rather than Verreaux’s or green-capped. Next we drove along a dusty track leading into the scrub – which we had walked on our previous visit. We then began to look around at an area beyond our previous furthest point. A green-capped coua called back from dense cover, but this was our only contact with our target species. A Madagascar buzzard flew over, and a pair of Madagascar kestrels was rather conspicuous and vocal. We gradually worked back along the track towards the main road and apart from a brief hint of a calling red-shouldered vanga there was little excitement. Indeed Sisi helping a guy to mend his bike was perhaps the highpoint! It was now very hot in the fierce sun and we abandoned the search – did this mean a third visit to what was fast becoming our least favourite place in Madagascar?

Rob

 

[edenwatcher]

Sunday 3rd October. Part 2.

We returned to Toliara with the aim of scanning the mud flats around the town for crab plover, but when we reached the shore it was clear that the tide was too high once again – not very surprising really. However we did see a lesser crested tern fishing offshore which was new for the trip. From here it was a short drive to our hotel for the night, the Victory. We had been seeing hoardings advertising the hotel all around the town, which conjured up the thought that they might be desperate! However it turned out to be a very pleasant place to stay with clean rooms and functioning air-conditioning, which we turned up to maximum as soon as we arrived. We each had a very enjoyable seafood pizza for lunch. By now we were sufficiently dissolute to consume THB at lunchtime (important for rehydration!). The hotel was clearly popular with groups, including an Exodus group we had encountered on arrival at Tana airport.
We then had a siesta until our departure at 3:15 – as we thought for La Table. Looking very incongruous in the hotel grounds among domestic guineafowl and turkeys was a white-faced whistling duck. Was it a wild bird or, more likely, part of the hotel’s menagerie? We certainly did not see it again. Leaving Toliara on our old friend the RN7, we were a bit surprised when we turned off on the road to La Mangrove instead of heading up to La Table. We drove past the sandgrouse drinking area as far as the hotel/restaurant La Mangrove, where Tiana got out to request permission to bird in the roadside scrub. Here the road ran beside the sea overlooking a narrow band of mangroves whilst on the opposite side of the road the land climbed steadily and was covered in some excellent “coral rag” scrub. We made several forays up into the scrub and before too long a Verreaux’s coua appeared in response to playback. It showed extremely well, calling back indignantly, but getting close involved ploughing through the wiry vegetation. With one of our main targets secured we pressed on, gradually trying sites further down the road. Eventually we followed the road inland as the coast became rockier and tried a couple more places. However, it was all to no avail – no red-shouldered vanga for us. This was the first time Tiana had ever missed this recently described species. Looking on the bright side at least we would be spared the fate of Phoebe Snetsinger who was killed in a car crash after seeing red-shouldered vanga.
We arrived back at the hotel at dusk to find that the car park was clearly the main local roost site for common myna. We ordered dinner (yep, zebu again) and went for a very necessary shower. We were glad to have pre-ordered as, with all the groups, the restaurant was very busy. A couple of geckos in the restaurant appeared to be the introduced common house gecko. We had now come to the end of our time in the southwest – our first internal flights beckoned! We had opted not to visit Anakao for littoral rock thrush or the island of Nosy Ve with its breeding tropicbirds in order to accommodate the next leg of our journey into the schedule…

Rob

 

[Jos Stratford]

Excellent report so far, just wish Madagasgar was more open to independent birders...

 

[edenwatcher]

It's not impossible Jos, although your usual levels of independence could be hard to match!
Not too many birds in the next installment, but then you're all on the Twitchers thread anyway . Noticed a split second of Iain at the Sandhill crane ...

Monday 4th October. Part 1.

Another early start, but after a decent night’s sleep thanks to air-conditioned luxury! From the numbers of people taking an early breakfast it was clear that Toliara’s only flight of the day was going to have plenty of tourists on it. The Hotel Victory is on the same side of Toliara as the airport, thus it was only a few minutes’ drive away. We were descended on by porters, despite the short distance from car park to check-in desk – a tip was not forthcoming. Sadly we were also descended on by a beggar, as far as I recall the only one we were to see in the country, despite the widespread poverty. We said farewell to Sisi for the time being, he was driving back to Tana. This would take him 2 days, leaving him a day and a half free until he would take us to Périnet…
We checked-in very efficiently for the flight to Tana via the west coast town of Morondava. From Tana we had another flight to Mahajanga (Majunga) in the northwest and our bags were fitted with transfer tags as the connection was relatively short. We discovered that, for the flights to Tana, we were flying Air Madagascar club class – what would this mean? We were entitled to free coffee and croissant in the café, which we duly consumed before going outside to the car park to wait the arrival of the inbound aircraft. Sandgrouse can occasionally be seen from here but we managed nothing more exciting than Madagascar kestrel and grey-headed lovebird. The Exodus group was also taking this flight but only as far as Morondava. One of their number had birding pretensions, but did not seem to have seen much. Around 7:10 (scheduled departure was 7:25) a siren sounded heralding the imminent arrival of the aircraft, so we headed indoors and through to the departure lounge. One advantage of club class was that we got to board the aircraft (an ATR 42-300 for those who are sadder than birders) first. Unusually, the club class seats were at the rear and featured an impressive amount of leg room. We took off for Morondava around 30 minutes late and, unlike many European airlines, we were given free food (not exclusive to club class).
On arrival at Morondava, a rather less arid and more humid place than Toliara, we had to disembark for around 20 minutes or so. As we waited to depart for Tana we were informed of a delay due to a “technical issue”, not really what you want to hear when sat on an aircraft in a “developing country”! It only delayed us by about 5 minutes, but there was a frisson of apprehension on take-off! Having said that, Air Mad (as it is inevitably known) possesses an excellent safety record. The flight to Tana was uneventful but gave depressing views of the country’s erosion problems, although the approach to Tana was rather turbulent. We touched down in the pleasantly cool and fresh capital with little more than half an hour before our flight to Majunga was due to depart. Fortunately domestic arrivals and departures are immediately adjacent to each other, so were able to walk straight to the check-in desk. The woman at check-in scoffed at the thought of our bags being transferred between the two flights, but Tiana insisted that it would happen… Fortunately the baggage carousel was visible from the departure lounge and having a fairly bright green bag I was able to spot it as it appeared! Tiana duly went and picked the bags up and checked them in!

Rob

 

[edenwatcher]

Monday 4th October. Part 2.

The 40 minute flight to Majunga departed on time and around noon we arrived at the the largest city in northwest Madagascar. The temperature had cranked up another notch (32 degrees on arrival and more humid than Toliara) and was destined to rise further. We were met by our new driver, Maurice, with a Hyundai 4x4 – rather more modern than the landcruiser and equipped with a thermometer so we knew just how uncomfortably hot it was! We were taken to our hotel in the middle of town – the Coco Lodge. The poster at the airport made it look rather plush, but the reality was rather more down to earth. It was perfectly pleasant however and had working air-conditioning, which we turned up to full power, once I got to grips with the vagaries of the remote control. A television enabled us to catch up with world events (in a very limited fashion given that we were talking CNN here!). This was the first place that we had much problem communicating with the staff, most of whom spoke little or no English. My French is OK, albeit rather rusty, but ordering lunch was quite a slow process.
We had a siesta before setting out at 3:00 for some birding at a pool a few kilometres to the north of the airport. Beyond the airport this was along a dusty track, having a 4x4 was probably not a bad thing. The lake near the village of Ampitilova (sounds like a 1980s Czech tennis player!) is often referred to in trip reports as the airport pools. This small lake, surrounded by fields, proved quite a challenging place to bird as it was almost entirely covered in huge water lilies. It was possible to make a scan and see nothing, repeat it and see a few birds, repeat again and see some different birds and so on… Inevitably it was also possible to lose something immediately after finding it. The lake was divided into 2 sections separated by a tree covered promontory. Olive bee-eaters were conspicuous and active hawking for insects and a Madagascar kingfisher gave a brief photographic opportunity. Several heron species were seen, including the conspicuous cattle egrets and Madagascar pond heron and rather less obvious squacco and striated herons. A single scope view contained our first Madagascar little grebe (in non-breeding plumage), African pygmy geese and moorhen (which proved to be quite common). We then walked through the fields to view the further part of the lake, attracting modest interest from the villagers. We kept on seeing painted snipe, and there must have been quite large numbers of this attractive wader. White-backed duck and Allen’s gallinule were also new for the holiday. As I was scanning with the scope I picked up a Madagascar jacana, but managed to knock the tripod and lose it! We spent some time trying to relocate this key species and Iain managed a brief flight view but better views were clearly desirable! We left around 5:00 and tried another site for jacana on the outskirts of town. The habitat did not look terribly promising and so it proved, with striated heron the only bird of note.
Back at the Coco Lodge the air-conditioning was kicking in nicely and after a shower we had dinner – encountering more communication problems. This was apparently a result of our package, which had dinner included – in this case a set menu. Iain did not want the squid we were offered and eventually managed to order something else (zebu!). We retired to bed with the luxury of a late start (7:00 breakfast!) for what was going to be an important day.

Rob

 

[edenwatcher]

Tuesday 5th October. Part 1.

By the end of the night I almost felt chilly! As we went down to breakfast, carnage was evident on the lower balcony! Several large cockroaches lay on their backs with their legs in the air, one or two twitching feebly. Clearly they put down some strong stuff at the Coco Lodge! Breakfast produced more haggling – our package entitled to us to a continental breakfast whereas Iain wanted an omelette (cheaper!). Somewhat reluctantly our wants were satisfied and we set off across town to a bar/restaurant on the shore, passing a largish oil terminal on the way – Mahajanga is Madagascar’s second largest port. Here we were to board a small boat to take us into the Betsiboka delta. With no pier, we had to wade out and board via the stern whilst the boat was held steady for us. We then sat around for a few minutes gazing out to sea, whilst the boatman failed to get the outboard motor to start! He called for assistance from his mates on shore and in due course one came back with the requisite tool and we were on our way. We were given ponchos to protect our gear (and us) from spray and, though the trip across the bay was quite bumpy going quite fast at an angle to the waves, we only had one significant splash. Being tropical sea there were no birds to be seen(!) until we entered the mouth of the Betsiboka. As I saw what was the second bird of the trip I raised my bins and dislodged my cap which blew off into the wake. A swift about turn and Tiana fished it out of the water with a boat hook. At least it was cooling when I put it back on my head! As we reached the exposed mud at the mouth of one of the channels and the boat slowed down, the cooling breeze vanished.
We had 3 or so main targets for the boat trip and two of them were immediately in view! Bernier’s teals were arranged in pairs along the shore and isolated Malagasy sacred ibises with their distinctive pale irises probed in the soft mud. Other species present included dimorphic egret, striated heron and waders such as curlew sandpiper, whimbrel and a little stint energetically chasing invertebrates across the surface of the mud. Crossing to the neighbouring channel, a pair of Madagascar harrier hawks displayed over the mangroves. On the far side of this channel two herons were standing on the mud – one was a dark phase dimorphic egret (much more prevalent than white phase at coastal sites) the other a superb Humblot’s heron. Obtaining better views of this rare species was another of the prime objectives, and this bird allowed very close approach. Waders here included at least 2, probably 3 green sandpipers, conveniently stood beside a common sandpiper. This species is a vagrant to Madagascar. On the far side of the delta another Madagascar harrier hawk showed extremely well and we saw further Malagasy sacred ibises and Bernier’s teals. Additional wader species were seen including greater sand plover and white-fronted plover but there was no sign of any crab plovers. Common tern was also new for the trip, but other terns were too distant to identify. We had now exhausted the possibilities and so headed back to Mahajanga, initially very cautiously to avoid sandbars. The return journey was less bumpy going with the waves and we got back to our starting point around 10:45. Wading ashore was excruciating as bare feet hit burning sand – ouch! It had been a very successful trip and it was a pleasant surprise how readily we found Bernier’s teal. Apparently later in the season it becomes much trickier, either through disturbance by hunters or the birds disappearing to breed.

Rob

 

[edenwatcher]

More boat trip pics.

Rob

 

[edenwatcher]

Tuesday 5th October. Part 2.

After Tiana had paid and Maurice reappeared, we returned to the hotel to check out. At 11:30 we loaded up and set out for our whirlwind trip to Ampijoroa forestry station in Ankarafantsika national park, where we had about 24 hours to see all the specialities! The journey took a little over two hours along the well-maintained RN4. At the first the road traversed a low grassy plateau overlooking the Betsiboka delta before descending to farmland. Around Lac Amboromalandy were numerous rice paddies, several of which were crammed with herons, including black egrets employing their distinctive canopy feeding technique. Ankarafantsika national park protects a large area of dry deciduous forest, a highly threatened habitat in Madagascar, and Ampijoroa is the most accessible part of the park. In the past visitors had to camp, but there are now comfortable bungalows. The RN4 bisects Ampijoroa with Lac Ravelobe and the bungalows on one side and the camp ground, restaurant, administrative buildings along with Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust compound on the other.
On arrival, after dropping our stuff in the bungalow, we should perhaps have got some lunch – instead we did some birding! Crested drongos were particularly tame and showy, perching on the rail of our balcony. A few yards from the bungalow a sign warned of the threat of crocodiles from the lake, though we never saw one. There was an observation tower giving a slightly distant view of the lake around 50m from the bungalow, so we climbed up to take a look. Olive bee-eaters were regularly perching in a bare tree immediately next to the tower. Lac Ravelobe held a number of heron species including our first purple heron of the trip, along with a Madagascar jacana which gave further poor views, whilst a grassy area played host to numerous white-faced whistling ducks and a few glossy ibis. Iain picked out a Madagascar swamp warbler in the reeds and examination of a perched raptor revealed it to be Madagascar cuckoo-hawk with its large eyes and exaggerated hooked beak. This buzzard mimic can be hard to track down so we were well-pleased to have found one. A female Madagascar paradise flycatcher posed nicely outside the bungalow (Ampijoroa was a great place for good views of this species) and a spiny-tailed iguana (Oplurus cuvieri) was most impressive.

Rob

 

[edenwatcher]

Tuesday 5th October. Part 3.

At 3:00 we crossed the road to meet Tiana and our local guide, Jacky, to begin our afternoon’s birding on the trails of Ampijoroa. Unusually at Ampijoroa the guides are equipped with Swarovski binoculars, presumably the result of some generous benefactor. Another name I had seen in trip reports, Jacky proved to be an excellent guide. Although the temperature was perhaps beginning to drop, it was still around 34 °C. The trees in the compound contained our first Coquerel’s sifaka – a stunningly beautiful lemur and a real Ampijoroa speciality. That afternoon was spent on the trails of the Jardin Botanique A, where we quickly encountered a Coquerel’s coua crossing the trail. Not surprisingly the forest was still quiet, but Jacky proved his worth by picking up quiet noises from a white-breasted mesite. It responded well to playback, but seeing it was quite a challenge in dense undergrowth. However with a bit of effort we had pretty good views of this Ampijoroa speciality and our mesite set was complete. Tiana was very anxious that we should see the endangered Van Dam’s vanga, the last of the Xenopirostris vangas we needed – known from only 2 sites including Ampijoroa and often hard to find. As we searched, Coquerel’s sifakas peered down at us and exhibited their prodigious jumping ability. When rufous vanga called (one of the most attractive of Madagascar bird sounds) we pointed out that we had yet to see one! A bit of playback and this was soon remedied, with a pair of this smart species performing nicely.
Further on we had a moment of mad activity (if you’ll excuse the pun): a movement on the forest floor turned out to be a Madagascar hoopoe rather than anything more interesting, at the same time Iain called out just as a Madagascar ibis took off from the trail ahead, its startling white wings contrasting with the chocolate brown body. However at that moment Tiana and Jacky heard a distant calling Van Dam’s vanga back down the trail and we were off in pursuit! It all went quiet for a while and then suddenly this chunky monochrome vanga flew into the treetops above us giving excellent views. By now it was time to start heading back. As we neared the camp area a banded kestrel showed well in a tall tree, giving much closer views than the bird at Ifaty. A pool behind the restaurant was covered in white-faced whistling ducks, more interesting was the single Madagascar pond heron (our 10th heron species of the day!) and Madagascar kingfisher. We had been making murmurings about not having seen sickle-billed vanga, and, whilst we were stood by the pool, some flew by. We need not have worried as large numbers (40+) of this amazing bird roost in the trees around the compound and gave fantastic close views – superb! Also on the move were Coquerel’s sifakas, bounding over the entrance archway. Unlike the better known Verreaux’s sifaka, with which it was considered conspecific until recently, which bounds with a sideways movement (the famous “dancing lemurs”), Coquerel’s sifakas jump facing forwards.
We were asked if we wanted to do a night walk – silly question (despite the fact that my stomach was beginning to think my throat had been cut!)! We ordered dinner for 7:30 and arranged to meet at 5:45. However at that time Tiana and Jacky decided that it wasn’t dark enough, though we did see some common brown lemurs pass through trees above the restaurant. At 6:30 our guides called for us at the bungalow and we did a walk into the neighbouring forest and then back along the road. First thing of note was a Madagascar nightjar, we then encountered the recently described golden-brown mouse lemur which only known from this site and takes its specific name, ravelobensis, from the lake. A near relative, the grey mouse lemur, which has a shorter, thicker tail, was seen next. Most mouse lemurs can store fat in their tails and the golden-brown is the only exception. Chameleons are often conspicuous at night and we saw no fewer than three of the huge Oustalet’s! We finished off with a delightful pair of Milne-Edwards’ sportive lemurs in a tall tree on the edge of the camp area, concluding a short but very productive excursion. Dinner was extremely welcome at the end of what had been a highly successful day.

Rob

PS Now try and tell me that sickle-billed vanga looks like a broadbill!

 

[Jacana]

PS Now try and tell me that sickle-billed vanga looks like a broadbill!

strange looking bird nonetheless!

 

[Birdingcraft]

Stunning shot of that Sickle-billed Vanga! What a fantastic looking bird.

 

[viator]

That bill is amazing!