birdboybowley
Well-known member.....apparently so ;)
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A mad month in Madagascar Oct/Nov 2012 (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter birdboybowley
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birdboybowley
Well-known member.....apparently so ;)
14th October:
Everyone had obviously had a lovely night’s sleep....well, apart from Kev who was given a sleeping bag!!! Well, he is a big girl
Gaby looked as though he’d crawled out of a freezer and made a beeline for the fire where we had breakfast and waited for Luc to turn up......which he did about 45mins late. Hmmmmm.....Around the campsite we had a pair of very confiding Mad Stonechats, several Mad Brush-Warblers and Forest Fodys, a little group of Mad Munias and a pair of Mad Magpie-Robins. In the streamside bushed a male Mad Kingfisher was watched as he passed a frog to his mate whilst a Mad Wag hopped over the rocks better than we did! The White-throated Rail was seen again and we had Mad White-eyes and a White-headed Vanga in the trees around the camp. We were soon squashed into the car and drove the short distance to the lake seeing a pair of perched Mad Blue-Pigeons, Mad Starlings and a Greater Vasa Parrot on the way. The vantage point looks down across an impressive vista with the lake glistening in the early morning sun, the marsh the other side and pristine forest stretching to the horizon. What Madagascar must’ve looked like in ages past.....
We set up the ‘scope and got our first distant looks at probably the world’s rarest duck: the Madagascar Pochard. To be quite honest though, it looked just like a Fudge Duck....sacrilege I know but other than its rarity, it did nothing else for me I’m afraid. Sharing the lake were a number of Meller’s Ducks, Red-billed Teal and Mad Grebes. Over the marsh the other side of the ridge a pair of Mad Harriers was flying - the male looking very nice indeed (there are Mad Snipe out here also). Overhead we had a quite a few Malagasy Spinetails, several Alpine Swifts and an adult Mad Gymnogene. We set off along the main path and then dropped down into the forest and began the search for the owl. The radio telemetry worked well and we slipped down a very steep slope to the edge of another lake, taking care not to lean upon the trees as most were pretty rotten. The fine Mad Red Owl was found and a few record shots were obtained – not great due to the light conditions. This bird is apparently a year old now and thought to be a male and is a seriously cool bird.
We then, for some reason, began to walk around the lake’s edge (which had quite a few Mad Grebes on it along with Meller’s Ducks, Red-billed Teal and 10 White-faced Whistlers). This involved lots of slipping and sliding, climbing over trees, tripping over vines and leaning against prickly trees and not a lot of birding as you have to look where you’re going all the time. After an hour and a half, this began to wear thin and came to a head when Kev lost his footing and tumbled backwards – actually looping! – down the slope and narrowly missed getting a dunking. It was now we decided that we may as well leave the site today instead and get back to Antsohihy. So, we headed out the forest, seeing a bonus Grey-crowned Tetraka, an Eastern Tylas, a pair of Red-tailed Vangas, a single Hook-billed Vanga, another Gymnogene and a smart female Forest Rock-Thrush on the way. Reaching the lake again we scanned the distant pochards again and this is where we had our fist group tiff. Luc informed us that we could go out on the boats for a closer look at the ducks and Chris was up for going doing this (there’s also a Mad Long-eared Owl nest near the dock) but the rest of us were more intent in getting away from the site as it meant staying another freezing night in the tents and either seeing birds we’d seen already or were going to see at other sites. I was torn, but we’d seen the specialities that were possible (excluding the Serpent-Eagle of course) and if we didn’t get back to Gaby by 11am then there was no way he’d leave as at his speed we’d never reach the town by nightfall. So we frog-marched back to camp with no-one really talking. Saw another Mad Buttonquail as we walked through the grass and Gabs looked a bit surprised to see us back to say the least. To his credit, he didn’t look particularly enthralled about leaving but agreed and we were soon all packed up and ready to go. A nice male Frances’ Sprawk flew into the tree above the car and gave great views.
We gave Luc a lift back to the village where we signed the Peregrine Fund visitor’s book and gave a donation and then we were off again. The journey back didn’t seem to take as long which was good and we made it back to the digs in Antsohihy not long after dark. Gabs does drive a bit crazy as the light fails so that certainly livened things up a bit, especially hitting potholes at speed! The best bird of the return journey was probably the Mad Hoopoe that landed in a roadside tree opposite us. Later, back at the restaurant, Chris cheered up at seeing Lala again! So, we’d seen the duck but it was the only bit of the trip I kinda regretted: had I known about the boats, I would have done this and seen the owl straight off and then we could’ve re-assessed what we were to do. Also the nightwalk would’ve been good had it happened the previous night.....
Everyone had obviously had a lovely night’s sleep....well, apart from Kev who was given a sleeping bag!!! Well, he is a big girl
Gaby looked as though he’d crawled out of a freezer and made a beeline for the fire where we had breakfast and waited for Luc to turn up......which he did about 45mins late. Hmmmmm.....Around the campsite we had a pair of very confiding Mad Stonechats, several Mad Brush-Warblers and Forest Fodys, a little group of Mad Munias and a pair of Mad Magpie-Robins. In the streamside bushed a male Mad Kingfisher was watched as he passed a frog to his mate whilst a Mad Wag hopped over the rocks better than we did! The White-throated Rail was seen again and we had Mad White-eyes and a White-headed Vanga in the trees around the camp. We were soon squashed into the car and drove the short distance to the lake seeing a pair of perched Mad Blue-Pigeons, Mad Starlings and a Greater Vasa Parrot on the way. The vantage point looks down across an impressive vista with the lake glistening in the early morning sun, the marsh the other side and pristine forest stretching to the horizon. What Madagascar must’ve looked like in ages past.....We set up the ‘scope and got our first distant looks at probably the world’s rarest duck: the Madagascar Pochard. To be quite honest though, it looked just like a Fudge Duck....sacrilege I know but other than its rarity, it did nothing else for me I’m afraid. Sharing the lake were a number of Meller’s Ducks, Red-billed Teal and Mad Grebes. Over the marsh the other side of the ridge a pair of Mad Harriers was flying - the male looking very nice indeed (there are Mad Snipe out here also). Overhead we had a quite a few Malagasy Spinetails, several Alpine Swifts and an adult Mad Gymnogene. We set off along the main path and then dropped down into the forest and began the search for the owl. The radio telemetry worked well and we slipped down a very steep slope to the edge of another lake, taking care not to lean upon the trees as most were pretty rotten. The fine Mad Red Owl was found and a few record shots were obtained – not great due to the light conditions. This bird is apparently a year old now and thought to be a male and is a seriously cool bird.
We then, for some reason, began to walk around the lake’s edge (which had quite a few Mad Grebes on it along with Meller’s Ducks, Red-billed Teal and 10 White-faced Whistlers). This involved lots of slipping and sliding, climbing over trees, tripping over vines and leaning against prickly trees and not a lot of birding as you have to look where you’re going all the time. After an hour and a half, this began to wear thin and came to a head when Kev lost his footing and tumbled backwards – actually looping! – down the slope and narrowly missed getting a dunking. It was now we decided that we may as well leave the site today instead and get back to Antsohihy. So, we headed out the forest, seeing a bonus Grey-crowned Tetraka, an Eastern Tylas, a pair of Red-tailed Vangas, a single Hook-billed Vanga, another Gymnogene and a smart female Forest Rock-Thrush on the way. Reaching the lake again we scanned the distant pochards again and this is where we had our fist group tiff. Luc informed us that we could go out on the boats for a closer look at the ducks and Chris was up for going doing this (there’s also a Mad Long-eared Owl nest near the dock) but the rest of us were more intent in getting away from the site as it meant staying another freezing night in the tents and either seeing birds we’d seen already or were going to see at other sites. I was torn, but we’d seen the specialities that were possible (excluding the Serpent-Eagle of course) and if we didn’t get back to Gaby by 11am then there was no way he’d leave as at his speed we’d never reach the town by nightfall. So we frog-marched back to camp with no-one really talking. Saw another Mad Buttonquail as we walked through the grass and Gabs looked a bit surprised to see us back to say the least. To his credit, he didn’t look particularly enthralled about leaving but agreed and we were soon all packed up and ready to go. A nice male Frances’ Sprawk flew into the tree above the car and gave great views.
We gave Luc a lift back to the village where we signed the Peregrine Fund visitor’s book and gave a donation and then we were off again. The journey back didn’t seem to take as long which was good and we made it back to the digs in Antsohihy not long after dark. Gabs does drive a bit crazy as the light fails so that certainly livened things up a bit, especially hitting potholes at speed!
The best bird of the return journey was probably the Mad Hoopoe that landed in a roadside tree opposite us. Later, back at the restaurant, Chris cheered up at seeing Lala again! So, we’d seen the duck but it was the only bit of the trip I kinda regretted: had I known about the boats, I would have done this and seen the owl straight off and then we could’ve re-assessed what we were to do. Also the nightwalk would’ve been good had it happened the previous night.....
birdboybowley
Well-known member.....apparently so ;)
birdboybowley
Well-known member.....apparently so ;)
birdboybowley
Well-known member.....apparently so ;)
birdboybowley
Well-known member.....apparently so ;)
kittykat23uk
Well-known member
Nice, so I guess the "Birds of the Indian Ocean islands" needs updating as it states that the pochard has not been seen since the 1990s....??
birdboybowley
Well-known member.....apparently so ;)
Yep!
birdboybowley
Well-known member.....apparently so ;)
15th October:
Awoke fairly refreshed....once the electric came back on last night and the fan began to work again it was quite pleasant! We wandered up to Lala’s restaurant again for breakfast that Gabs had set aside for us as he needed to get something fixed on the car again. We wandered back to the hostel and had to kick our feet waiting for Gabs to turn up. Eventually he did and we set off again, hitting the wetland area soon after. This time, due to the fact there was hardly anyone using the lake at this time of day, we found 4 cool-looking Mad Jacanas out amongst the vast lily-pads growths. Excellent stuff. The usual suspects were still present here: Black-winged Stilts, African Pygmy-Geese, the common herons including Purple, 3 Black Egrets and a fly-over Mad Gymnogene. A Mad Bee-eater was particularly confiding perched in a tree next to the road.
6 hours later and we were turning into the campsite at Ankarafantsika National Park. I’d suggest camping here as the tents are pitched on permanent standings under roofs and the facilities are very good and of course, the open-air restaurant serves some lovely food. Unfortunately the wusses wanted to stay in the nearby village. That place was ok, but a bit run-down...although once they’d seen the campsite’s facilities they agreed that camping would’ve been preferable. As Gabs parked up the van, we jumped out and almost immediately found ourselves looking up at a family group of awesome Coquerel's Sifakas! Now these were seriously cool to watch and totally unafraid of the humans that are always around here.
Sickle-billed Vangas, with their bizarre laugh-like calls, were easily seen here, again really very approachable. We found a couple on nests here too and this was probably one of my favourite Madagascan birds. Also here were many Broad-billed Rollers, Crested Drongos (one on a nest), Mad Bulbuls, Mad Green Sunbirds and a Mad Turtle Dove whilst a pair of Chabert’s Vangas was also found attending a nest. Across the road is Lake Ravelobe easily accessed by one of the many – unfortunately rubbish-strewn – pathways opposite the lines of roadside stalls just up from the campsite. This was probably the most ‘birdy’ bit of water we found in Madagascar. We met up with another tour group who pointed out the fabulous pair of Mad Fish-Eagles atop the trees just behind us on the lake shore. Wow! Their calls echoed round the lake sounding not dissimilar to their African counterparts. On the shore below a nice Mad Kingfisher perched up on the fallen trees there. Out on the lake proper we had c150 White-faced Whistlers and hundreds of Squacco Herons and Cattle Egrets and a constant stream of both were flying by. Also out there on the exposed area were 6 large Nile Crocs – the only ones we saw all trip and perhaps a future split from the mainland species...which itself has been split into two recently. The local kids take great risks in goading each other to get water from the edge of the lake and kudos go to he who ventures out furthest it seems. Hmmmmm, rather them than me!
Our first Kittlitz’s Plover of the trip was found running around with a chick, c20 Three-banded Plovers and 10 Common Sands added to the wader count. Herons included many Purples and a fine Humblot’s, Black and Great White Egrets and a single adult Black-crowned Night-Heron, but the best were the two Madagascar Pond-Herons, especially the adult in its gleaming white breeding plumage with a bright blue bill amongst the vegetation. Scanning the far bank we soon found 2 adult Allen’s Gallinules feeding near some Moorhens, their bill shields glistening in the afternoon sun – made for missing that one on Fuerteventura last year!!
We set off back to the campsite, seeing some more Coquerel’s Sifakas in the lakeside trees and made our way back to the village to dump our gear. We had quick showers and piled back in the car and headed for the restaurant again. As we approached a fine Barn Owl drifted over the road and luckily perched up! Torches on, I managed a couple of record shots of this endemic subspecies. As we approached the busy restaurant we heard noises from the trees to the right and again pointed our torches treeward, illuminating 2 Milne-Edwards Sportive-Lemurs in the beams – cool! After a scrummy dinner, we drove back the 5kms to the village spotlighting from the car as we went. We picked quite a few eyeshines and got brief views of the animals themselves that I have since been told would 99% be Fat-tailed Dwarf-Lemurs. I also got a good view of a Grey Mouse-Lemur low down in a tree that unfortunately scuttled away as soon as we stopped the car.
Awoke fairly refreshed....once the electric came back on last night and the fan began to work again it was quite pleasant! We wandered up to Lala’s restaurant again for breakfast that Gabs had set aside for us as he needed to get something fixed on the car again. We wandered back to the hostel and had to kick our feet waiting for Gabs to turn up. Eventually he did and we set off again, hitting the wetland area soon after. This time, due to the fact there was hardly anyone using the lake at this time of day, we found 4 cool-looking Mad Jacanas out amongst the vast lily-pads growths. Excellent stuff. The usual suspects were still present here: Black-winged Stilts, African Pygmy-Geese, the common herons including Purple, 3 Black Egrets and a fly-over Mad Gymnogene. A Mad Bee-eater was particularly confiding perched in a tree next to the road.
6 hours later and we were turning into the campsite at Ankarafantsika National Park. I’d suggest camping here as the tents are pitched on permanent standings under roofs and the facilities are very good and of course, the open-air restaurant serves some lovely food. Unfortunately the wusses wanted to stay in the nearby village. That place was ok, but a bit run-down...although once they’d seen the campsite’s facilities they agreed that camping would’ve been preferable. As Gabs parked up the van, we jumped out and almost immediately found ourselves looking up at a family group of awesome Coquerel's Sifakas! Now these were seriously cool to watch and totally unafraid of the humans that are always around here.
Sickle-billed Vangas, with their bizarre laugh-like calls, were easily seen here, again really very approachable. We found a couple on nests here too and this was probably one of my favourite Madagascan birds. Also here were many Broad-billed Rollers, Crested Drongos (one on a nest), Mad Bulbuls, Mad Green Sunbirds and a Mad Turtle Dove whilst a pair of Chabert’s Vangas was also found attending a nest. Across the road is Lake Ravelobe easily accessed by one of the many – unfortunately rubbish-strewn – pathways opposite the lines of roadside stalls just up from the campsite. This was probably the most ‘birdy’ bit of water we found in Madagascar. We met up with another tour group who pointed out the fabulous pair of Mad Fish-Eagles atop the trees just behind us on the lake shore. Wow! Their calls echoed round the lake sounding not dissimilar to their African counterparts. On the shore below a nice Mad Kingfisher perched up on the fallen trees there. Out on the lake proper we had c150 White-faced Whistlers and hundreds of Squacco Herons and Cattle Egrets and a constant stream of both were flying by. Also out there on the exposed area were 6 large Nile Crocs – the only ones we saw all trip and perhaps a future split from the mainland species...which itself has been split into two recently. The local kids take great risks in goading each other to get water from the edge of the lake and kudos go to he who ventures out furthest it seems. Hmmmmm, rather them than me!
Our first Kittlitz’s Plover of the trip was found running around with a chick, c20 Three-banded Plovers and 10 Common Sands added to the wader count. Herons included many Purples and a fine Humblot’s, Black and Great White Egrets and a single adult Black-crowned Night-Heron, but the best were the two Madagascar Pond-Herons, especially the adult in its gleaming white breeding plumage with a bright blue bill amongst the vegetation. Scanning the far bank we soon found 2 adult Allen’s Gallinules feeding near some Moorhens, their bill shields glistening in the afternoon sun – made for missing that one on Fuerteventura last year!!
We set off back to the campsite, seeing some more Coquerel’s Sifakas in the lakeside trees and made our way back to the village to dump our gear. We had quick showers and piled back in the car and headed for the restaurant again. As we approached a fine Barn Owl drifted over the road and luckily perched up! Torches on, I managed a couple of record shots of this endemic subspecies. As we approached the busy restaurant we heard noises from the trees to the right and again pointed our torches treeward, illuminating 2 Milne-Edwards Sportive-Lemurs in the beams – cool! After a scrummy dinner, we drove back the 5kms to the village spotlighting from the car as we went. We picked quite a few eyeshines and got brief views of the animals themselves that I have since been told would 99% be Fat-tailed Dwarf-Lemurs. I also got a good view of a Grey Mouse-Lemur low down in a tree that unfortunately scuttled away as soon as we stopped the car.
birdboybowley
Well-known member.....apparently so ;)
birdboybowley
Well-known member.....apparently so ;)
birdboybowley
Well-known member.....apparently so ;)
Also saw the gecko at the restaurant.....un-id'd as yet
birdboybowley
Well-known member.....apparently so ;)
Another cool mammal......
birdboybowley
Well-known member.....apparently so ;)
birdboybowley
Well-known member.....apparently so ;)
16th October:
Up early to meet a guide Gabs had sorted for us...called Gaby too (or 2) He was nice enough, spoke and understood English very well but didn’t know the whereabouts of the asity nest but assured us he knew other territories. We drove to the Ampijoroa side of the park which is on the west side of Lake Ravelobe, got dropped off and began wandering the trails through the forest. We soon had a nice Mad Cuckoo perched above us calling, several Mad Turtle Doves flew up from the path whilst a small party of Mad Green-Pigeons fed on fruiting trees overhead – that stopped the group moaning about my ‘stringing! We soon heard the tell-tale calls of one of the targets and after much ducking, peering and squinting, a fine pair of White-breasted Mesites strutted into view! Fab-looking birds and man, they can move quick!! Another pair was seen later on here too. Other goodies included our first Crested Couas and perched Cuckoo-Roller, a Mad Buttonquail, a single White-headed and a pair of Blue Vangas and on the path we encountered a Common Big-eyed Snake (Mimophis mahfalensis). Crested Drongos, Mad Bulbuls and Souimanga Sunbirds were very numerous with Common Newtonias being the other ‘common’ small bird. We frustratingly heard a Schlegel’s Asity calling but just couldn’t find the damn thing....this species DOES NOT respond to the tape at all!
We wandered back out along the road towards the campsite which is about a 10min walk. We scanned the lake as we passed the western end of it seeing 2ad Mad Pond-Herons and all the usual species but in lower numbers than the previous evening - Chris also had a Little Bittern here (stringy...at least everyone else saw my birds eventually). A Mascarene Martin perched nicely by the dam and a few Mad Bee-eaters were hawking over the marsh. A lorry had been driven off the road and was balanced precariously on the roadside but it had been pulled out by the evening – how not to park! Also a single Common Myna was seen, which Gaby 2 said had only reached here in the past couple of years....whether that’s a bad thing remains to be seen I guess. Back at the campsite we had a Mad Hoopoe feeding on the ground amongst the huge fallen leaves and had good views of the Sickle-billed Vangas and Broad-billed Rollers – and the resident Coquerel’s Sifakas of course! We grabbed breakfast in the restaurant and then set off with Gaby 2 again through the trails beyond.
We had great views of an eye-level pair of Rufous Vangas, several Long-billed Bernieras, Ashy Cuckooshrikes and Mad Paradise-Flys, another pair of mesites, but best of all, a cracking Red-capped Coua making its way through the undergrowth – a very smart bird indeed. We were also shown a couple of cool Milne-Edward’s Sportive-Lemurs poking their gremlin-like heads out of their nests – excellent! – but no sign of the owl in its usual roost. As the temperature soared we made our way back to the restaurant to basically bum around until later that afternoon when Gaby 2 would come back for more. Reptiles now grabbed our attention with good numbers of Collared Iguanids, several Broad-tailed Girdled-Lizards, a Modest Day-Gecko (Phelsuma modesta) and 2 big Oustalet’s Chameleons being seen. It was now we bumped into the group from yesterday and their leader suggested we use their guide as they were off. So we were introduced to the oh-too-smooth Tina who in turn put us with Lanto as he had to motor off to Mahajanga, telling us that if we could get there by 8am tomorrow we could go on a boat trip up the river.
Not wanting to sit around doing nowt, we went off with him back onto the trails at Ankarafantsika at about 1pm – when Gaby 2 had said there’d be nothing to see. As we rounded one of the first corners we came face to face with an absolutely stunning Mad Pygmy-Kingfisher sitting head height right next to the path, no more than 4ft in front of us. It sat and watched us watching it, slowly pumping its tail as it kept an eye on what we were doing. We walked away after about 10mins with the bird still perched there - wow! A little further on an accipiter flashed across the path in front of us and amazingly perched up – Mad Sprawk, result! We wandered the trails and picked up another couple of Red-capped Couas, one of which stood on the path and raised its back feathers to take in the sun, and we also found our other quarry – the less-colourful but equally cool Coquerel’s Coua. 2 birds were seen very well indeed and on the way back, just when things were looking bleak, Lanto pointed excitedly into the trees and we had a brilliant pair of Van Dam’s Vangas in our sights!! Excellent stuff! The birds were a nightmare to photograph as they just kept moving through the tangle of trees but great birds nonetheless and another male was heard as we walked away. So, 4 targets down, 1 to go....and we had a nest-site for that one, so that’s a given....right?
We met back with Gaby 2 as we felt a bit bad in ‘dropping’ him so thought bugger it, he may as well come with us and find out where the nest-site is as that will help him too. As we wandered out of the campsite a couple of Common Brown Lemurs splayed languorously in the tall trees were good to see. We trudged back up to the trails through Ampijoroa and made a brisk walk to the asity nest and waited. And waited. And waited. And waited.......and then.....nothing! An annoying swarm of sweat bees decided to join the fun and made a miserable time even worse. After 3hrs and only a male Blue Vanga to show for it, it was clear that the birds weren’t anywhere in the area so we walked back out dejectedly with the knowledge that we might have missed the stupid bloody thing – it all now depended if Tina’s price was right for the boat as to whether we’d be coming back in the morning.
As dusk fell, a White-throated Rail was seen as we exited the forest by the lake and 5 Mad Nightjars were flying over the area too. As a bonus we had 2 excellent Mongoose Lemurs in the roadside trees here.....a little bit of recompense. Dinner was a fairly sombre affair – I take dipping seriously, probably way too seriously! – and then Tina called Gaby with a ridiculous price of 800,000MGA so that sorted it. Back in the forest tomorrow morning!! Now for some unknown reason, we never did a nightwalk through the forest....don’t even know why not as Western Avahi and the rare Golden Mouse-Lemur are both usually seen.....b*llox is the only word I can think of!
Up early to meet a guide Gabs had sorted for us...called Gaby too (or 2)
He was nice enough, spoke and understood English very well but didn’t know the whereabouts of the asity nest but assured us he knew other territories. We drove to the Ampijoroa side of the park which is on the west side of Lake Ravelobe, got dropped off and began wandering the trails through the forest. We soon had a nice Mad Cuckoo perched above us calling, several Mad Turtle Doves flew up from the path whilst a small party of Mad Green-Pigeons fed on fruiting trees overhead – that stopped the group moaning about my ‘stringing! We soon heard the tell-tale calls of one of the targets and after much ducking, peering and squinting, a fine pair of White-breasted Mesites strutted into view! Fab-looking birds and man, they can move quick!! Another pair was seen later on here too. Other goodies included our first Crested Couas and perched Cuckoo-Roller, a Mad Buttonquail, a single White-headed and a pair of Blue Vangas and on the path we encountered a Common Big-eyed Snake (Mimophis mahfalensis). Crested Drongos, Mad Bulbuls and Souimanga Sunbirds were very numerous with Common Newtonias being the other ‘common’ small bird. We frustratingly heard a Schlegel’s Asity calling but just couldn’t find the damn thing....this species DOES NOT respond to the tape at all! We wandered back out along the road towards the campsite which is about a 10min walk. We scanned the lake as we passed the western end of it seeing 2ad Mad Pond-Herons and all the usual species but in lower numbers than the previous evening - Chris also had a Little Bittern here (stringy...at least everyone else saw my birds eventually
). A Mascarene Martin perched nicely by the dam and a few Mad Bee-eaters were hawking over the marsh. A lorry had been driven off the road and was balanced precariously on the roadside but it had been pulled out by the evening – how not to park! Also a single Common Myna was seen, which Gaby 2 said had only reached here in the past couple of years....whether that’s a bad thing remains to be seen I guess. Back at the campsite we had a Mad Hoopoe feeding on the ground amongst the huge fallen leaves and had good views of the Sickle-billed Vangas and Broad-billed Rollers – and the resident Coquerel’s Sifakas of course! We grabbed breakfast in the restaurant and then set off with Gaby 2 again through the trails beyond.We had great views of an eye-level pair of Rufous Vangas, several Long-billed Bernieras, Ashy Cuckooshrikes and Mad Paradise-Flys, another pair of mesites, but best of all, a cracking Red-capped Coua making its way through the undergrowth – a very smart bird indeed. We were also shown a couple of cool Milne-Edward’s Sportive-Lemurs poking their gremlin-like heads out of their nests – excellent! – but no sign of the owl in its usual roost. As the temperature soared we made our way back to the restaurant to basically bum around until later that afternoon when Gaby 2 would come back for more. Reptiles now grabbed our attention with good numbers of Collared Iguanids, several Broad-tailed Girdled-Lizards, a Modest Day-Gecko (Phelsuma modesta) and 2 big Oustalet’s Chameleons being seen. It was now we bumped into the group from yesterday and their leader suggested we use their guide as they were off. So we were introduced to the oh-too-smooth Tina who in turn put us with Lanto as he had to motor off to Mahajanga, telling us that if we could get there by 8am tomorrow we could go on a boat trip up the river.
Not wanting to sit around doing nowt, we went off with him back onto the trails at Ankarafantsika at about 1pm – when Gaby 2 had said there’d be nothing to see. As we rounded one of the first corners we came face to face with an absolutely stunning Mad Pygmy-Kingfisher sitting head height right next to the path, no more than 4ft in front of us. It sat and watched us watching it, slowly pumping its tail as it kept an eye on what we were doing. We walked away after about 10mins with the bird still perched there - wow! A little further on an accipiter flashed across the path in front of us and amazingly perched up – Mad Sprawk, result! We wandered the trails and picked up another couple of Red-capped Couas, one of which stood on the path and raised its back feathers to take in the sun, and we also found our other quarry – the less-colourful but equally cool Coquerel’s Coua. 2 birds were seen very well indeed and on the way back, just when things were looking bleak, Lanto pointed excitedly into the trees and we had a brilliant pair of Van Dam’s Vangas in our sights!! Excellent stuff! The birds were a nightmare to photograph as they just kept moving through the tangle of trees but great birds nonetheless and another male was heard as we walked away. So, 4 targets down, 1 to go....and we had a nest-site for that one, so that’s a given....right?
We met back with Gaby 2 as we felt a bit bad in ‘dropping’ him so thought bugger it, he may as well come with us and find out where the nest-site is as that will help him too. As we wandered out of the campsite a couple of Common Brown Lemurs splayed languorously in the tall trees were good to see. We trudged back up to the trails through Ampijoroa and made a brisk walk to the asity nest and waited. And waited. And waited. And waited.......and then.....nothing! An annoying swarm of sweat bees decided to join the fun and made a miserable time even worse. After 3hrs and only a male Blue Vanga to show for it, it was clear that the birds weren’t anywhere in the area so we walked back out dejectedly with the knowledge that we might have missed the stupid bloody thing – it all now depended if Tina’s price was right for the boat as to whether we’d be coming back in the morning.
As dusk fell, a White-throated Rail was seen as we exited the forest by the lake and 5 Mad Nightjars were flying over the area too. As a bonus we had 2 excellent Mongoose Lemurs in the roadside trees here.....a little bit of recompense. Dinner was a fairly sombre affair – I take dipping seriously, probably way too seriously! – and then Tina called Gaby with a ridiculous price of 800,000MGA so that sorted it. Back in the forest tomorrow morning!! Now for some unknown reason, we never did a nightwalk through the forest....don’t even know why not as Western Avahi and the rare Golden Mouse-Lemur are both usually seen.....b*llox is the only word I can think of!
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birdboybowley
Well-known member.....apparently so ;)
birdboybowley
Well-known member.....apparently so ;)
kittykat23uk
Well-known member
Did you actually enjoy your trip Ads???
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