30th September
Following on from our meeting up with each other, as well as our local fixer (Fanela... I called her Flannel as she was a bit of a damp squib), we set off eastwards early on the 30th September, bound for Andasibe. This area comprises a few large swathes of primary and secondary forest, still housing many species of lemurs and endemic birds and we were ready to start our journey through the forest as early as 10am, as we made excellent time from Tana.
We had three nights at Hotel Feon Ny Ala, but before checking in, we headed straight for the forest at Andasibe itself and met our professional guide for our duration here, Teddy. Teddy was nothing short of exceptional and we equally enjoyed his company. He was also very adaptable which was important to us as he quickly realised we hated other tourists who were here to see lemurs, not that we didn't want to see lemurs, but in a more quiet area than the typical tourist.
So, we set off for our first walk within the Analamazaotra reserve and soon the 'dream come true' moment of hearing Indri happened. Birds also came thick and fast with Mad Starling, Long-billed Bernieria, Spectacled Tetraka, Red-tailed Vanga, Red-tailed Newtonia and a few other expected species. What wasn't expected however was the quite incredible viewing of two Collared Nightjars, proving to be one of the trip highlights. Flannel had quickly proved her un-worth as she latched onto us and constantly chatted, much to our annoyance and I think even Teddy was also annoyed as he kept his distance from the monotony behind.
As we entered a cleared area, a Common Brown Lemur emerged tempted by our side-pocketed bananas. Our next Lemur soon followed with a family of Indri - absolutely incredible! Any tourist soon departed meaning we had them to ourselves; a true delight and another firm highlight of the trip. We had lunch here watching a Malagasy Kingfisher and a Ward's Flycatcher (plus the Indri) but was quickly interrupted by our first Giraffe-necked Weevil. Afterwards we crossed the road, quickly finding Mad Forest Rail, a confiding group of Spectacled Tetraka, Mad Harrier-Hawk, more Common Brown Lemurs and Indri, and just as we exited, a pair of superb Rainforest Scops Owls.
It had been an exceptional start to our time in the forest and a final look at the forest centre produced a Forest Fody and Nelicouvri Weaver.
Our day wasn't over however, as a short nocturnal walk had us back out again, proving productive with a ridiculous-looking Mossy Leaf-tailed Gecko, Eastern Wooly Lemur, a roosting Hook-billed Vanga and a few chameleons.
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| Collared Nightjars |
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| Blue Coua |
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| Common Brown Lemur |
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| Indri |
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| Nelicouvri Weaver |
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| Rainforest Scops Owl |
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| Mossy Leaf-tailed Gecko |
1st October
Today we ventured to Mantadia NP to try for a number of sought-after species. This forest, although large, is separated from other fragments by widespread eucalyptus plantations and takes approximately 90-minutes to get to. Once within though, the forest is superb and we had a quite amazing day, and if it wasn't for dipping Mad Crested Ibis and Short-legged Ground Roller, it would've been exceptional!
Our first major sighting were a family of Diademed Sifaka, a quite beautiful lemur. Teddy knew our hoped for targets and whilst we stood within the forest observing an impressive bird flock, comprising Nuthatch Vanga, Blue Vanga, Tylas Vanga, Mad Cuckooshrike and Lesser Vasa Parrots overhead, he went off searching for ground-rollers. Teddy emerged with no success and we continued through the forest, temporarily getting annoyed by loud tourists observing Red-bellied Lemurs, but the lemurs were brilliant. Onwards, the birding became less interesting, but we soon went off the main trail to a presumed location for Scaly Ground-Roller, my main target! Teddy knew this was a territory and my new thermal camera came into its own here, soon picking out a motionless bird in a ditch... it was a Scaly Ground-Roller! It vanished but again the thermal picked it out on a log, only for it to vanish again. A frustrating and cautious circuit failed to produce, until we returned to its original position... and there it was, stood still in full view at 10m range!! Two birds were here and after some walkaway views, we did just that and later found White-throated Rail and Mad Pygmy Kingfisher nearby, but no Ibis.
A little later things got even better when Teddy and I simultaneously heard a Crossley's Vanga... a true mega! We dived into the forest and a bit of playback resulted in a bird crashing into the leaves almost at our feet. No binoculars required, Em and I had a Crossley's right in front of us affording excellent views, before it scuttled off. Our final bird here before retracing our steps was thankfully a Rand's Warbler, after hearing so many!
We had one more location to stop at before leaving Mantadia and another top target for us. As soon as we stopped, our target called and again we dived into the forest and soon clapped eyes onto a Pitta-like Ground Roller. Two birds were again present and despite the amount of cover, we obtained excellent views. A Mad Pygmy Kingfisher was even good enough to come and land near to us as well topping off another excellent day!
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| Diademed Sifaka |
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| Madagascar Pygmy Kingfisher |
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| Pitta-like Ground-Roller |
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| Scaly Ground-Roller |
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| entrance road into Mantadia |
2nd OctoberUnfortunately I woke up feeling rather fragile and I had clearly eaten some dodgy stuff the night before, becoming violently sick a bit later in the morning. Em wasn't feeling too great either and we therefore had a frustrating, albeit, successful morning trying to stay upright at another section of the park, mainly for two more ground-rollers and Black-and-white Ruffed Lemurs. At the car park, a Forest Rock Thrush performed superbly and Blue Coua and Mad Black Swift were also around.
A single trail led us through the higher elevations and our park guide kept on stopping for stuff we had already seen. With my illness, I quite sharply explained I wanted to only search for new stuff and to ignore what we had already seen, incase I became too unwell to continue - not ideal. Thankfully he took this well and we continued straight for a Rufous-headed Ground-Roller location, stopped in our tracks by a male Velvet Asity! Heading towards the ground-roller, some Eastern Bamboo Lemurs graced us with their cuteness. Out of nowhere, the deep grunt call of a Rufous-headed Ground-Roller and we rushed towards it, stopping at a small clearing where we waited (mostly laying down) for it to appear, which it duly did, although it was very shy and we maybe saw it four or five times as it crossed the clearing, but still a brilliant bird! On the return two Pollens Vanga appeared but were difficult to locate in the canopy.
We continued on but we had a long walk to get to a Short-legged Ground-Roller territory and no one had seen any Black-and-white Ruffed Lemurs, so regrettably, we thought it best to return back to the car and head back to base, in order to rest up and hopefully feel better. I'm so glad we did as with no food and some sleep, I miraculously felt as good as new a mere four hours later, as did Em. We still had an hour of light left before our nocturnal walk so we walked along the road adjacent to the forest. I was randomly playing Mad Flufftail on my phone when one replied almost at my feet, although we just couldn't see it, even with the thermal. We had a free period pre-breakfast so we would return then. On our walk back, a Grey Mouse Lemur was located and it showed really well at head height.
We commenced our nocturnal walk with Teddy and had a quite amazing session, mostly by ourselves. It started with two Mad Nightjars, then a short way up the track two Grey Mouse Lemurs started feeding on tree sap right next to us giving incredible views. A little later a Mad Tree Boa was spotted and then little else until two Furry-eared Dwarf Lemurs ploughed through. A large group of Germans couldn't dive into the forest as their group was too large, so we abandoned them and went after the lemurs, getting further views. Then Teddy went and found a Stump-tailed Chameleon, one of the world's smallest!
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| Forest Rock Thrush |
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| Eastern Bamboo Lemur |
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| Madagascar Cuckoo |
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| Parson's Chameleon |
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| Stump-tailed Chameleon |
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| a male Giraffe-necked Weevil |
3rd October
This morning we had a few hours close to our accommodation, walking some forest we had yet to visit. Before breakfast, however, Em and I walked the road and saw a host of good species, including our first Mad Flufftail! Other bits included Mad Cuckoo, Malagasy Coucal, a flyover Henst's Goshawk and finally my first Mad Turtle Dove! The flufftail initially afforded poor views, but a bit of coaxing and it ran along the verge in view before hurtling across the road in front of us.
We then met Teddy and Flannel and walked the forest, spending any quiet moments playing Short-legged Ground-Roller, but to no avail. However, our walk did coincide with some very low-lying Diademed Sifakas and it was amazing to watch them fling tree to tree right over our heads! The birding remained rather quiet, but we were again pleased to see our final Indri of the trip.
We bid farewell to Teddy who had been excellent and went on our way back to Antananarivo, arriving maybe six hours later. We grabbed some supplies from the supermarket for our time at the more remote Marojejy NP where supplies would be limited. We had a poor nights sleep ready for our flight to Sambava.
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| Madagascar Paradise Kingfisher |
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| Indri |
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| Emily in the forest |
