Madagascar; Day 26 - travelling north & Antsohihy

  Another day committed to driving, unfortunately, trying to cover as much ground as we could. We set off at 07:00 after a lovely shower and settled down to sweat for the next several hours. We covered as much ground as we could and eventually arrived in the town of Antsohihy at around 15:00. Fortunately in the town we met with one of the staff from the reserve we would be visiting, which helped us confirm that everything we hoped would be in place. And so we settled down for the evening, our last chilled-out evening before heading deep into the remote field. We saw very little on the drive, most of the time was spent just willing it to be over.

Madagascar; Day 25 - Antananarivo & travelling north

 Unfortunately, today would be a long long day. We woke up at 04:00 to have a quick breakfast before boarding the boat to take us back to shore from the island of Nosy Mangabe. The boat landed us on the shore at around 05:00, at which point we were whisked away to the airport for our flight at 07:00. On the way we saw a few bits, nothing super special, but we did see our first Madagascar House Sparrows of the trip. Otherwise just commoner species from the last few days.

  Once our flight had landed back in Antananarivo, around 08:30, I retrieved my luggage that the airline had previously misplaced, and we met our next driver Alan, with his 4x4 in the car park. After a few errands, we got on the road at 10:00 and then drove all the way north to the town of Ambondromamy where we finally crashed, absolutely exhausted, at 19:30. It had been a long day in a hot and sweaty car, and the journey had taken much longer than we had anticipated, leaving us on edge to see if we would be able to manage this section of our itinerary. 

Species List:
Maroantsetra Harbour: Feral Pigeon, Malagasy Palm Swift, Eurasian Whimbrel, Common Greenshank, Black Heron, Striated Heron, Squacco Heron, Great Egret, Mascarene Martin, Common Myna, House Sparrow, 

Madagascar; Day 24 - Nosy Mangabe

  So for our last day staying at Ecolodge Chez Arrol in Masoala National Park, we arranged to spend the day and subsequent night on the nearby island of Nosy Mangabe, which is famous for its populations of lemurs, especially the Ayeaye. We took the hour-and-a-half boat across to the island early in the morning, leaving Masoala at around 07:00. On the way we were thrilled to find huge numbers of terns, including birds sitting on the water. Although at face value most appeared to be Common Tern, checking photos later found a nice adult Roseate Tern lurking among them. We did have a nice Bridled Tern flying close to the boat, only my second ever, and a Masked Booby sat on the sea was an unexpected bonus. 

  Once on the island, we started walking around with our guide. The plan was to find evidence of recent Ayeaye activity in the form of discarded fruits and then stake out the tree once the light faded in the evening. In the meantime, we saw a few nice Madagascar Pratincole, as well as the Climbing Mantella frog, our second Mantella species of the trip. There were also excellent views of the island's other two Lemur species, with Black-and-white Ruffed Lemur and White-fronted Brown Lemur, but both species were introduced to the island, making our experience with them feel a little artificial. Our guide also excellently picked out a couple of Peyrieras' Dwarf Leaf Chameleons on the forest floor, the smallest of all the Chameleons in Madagascar! 

  In the evening we spent a food three hours sitting under the tree we had chosen, optimistic about an Ayeaye encounter. Our guide was positive that the fruit discarded was fresh, and that the animal had visited the tree the previous night, so we had hope, but alas it was not rewarded. That is not to say we did not have a good time, as we got nice views of Mouse Lemur sp. and a spectacular Madagascar Tree Boa on the path which scared the life out of Max and was probably one of the highlights of the entire time in Masoala. 

-Roseate Tern

-Bridled Tern

-Common Tern

-Masked Booby

-Black-and-white Ruffed Lemur

-White-fronted Brown Lemur

-Mouse Lemur sp.

-Madagascar Tree Boa

-Night Brook Snake

-Peyrieras' Dwarf Leaf Chameleon

-Panther Chameleon

-Speckled Day Gecko

-Giant Leaf-tailed Gecko

-Climbing Mantella

-Madagascan Sunset Moth

Species List:
Masoala National Park: Malagasy Coucal, Western Cattle Egret, Common Newtonia, Crested Drongo, Malagasy Bulbul, Common Myna, Souimanga Sunbird,
Antongila Bay: Bridled Tern, Common Tern, Masked Booby,
Nosy Mangabe: Malagasy Turtle Dove, Madagascar Pratincole, Reed Cormorant, Black Heron, Malagasy Kingfisher, Malagasy White-eye, Madagascar Magpie-Robin, 

Madagascar; Day 23 - Masoala NP

  For our final day in Masoala we had just a short hike in the forest, before spending the rest of the day chilling out by the beach and enjoying the delights of relaxing before we set off again on the next phase of our mental adventure. The walk was pretty chilled out but with limited birdlife on offer. We had another Helmeted Vanga, possibly the same bird twice, in mixed flocks. There was another very confiding Brown Mesite just near the lodge which was the highlight. The only other encounter of real note was a very nice Rufous Vanga sitting on the nest.

  In the afternoon we spent some time around the lodge and watching the sea. The lodge gardens had a few more Madagascar Green Pigeon, and a nice White-headed Vanga but high up in the canopy. Watching the sea for a couple of hours produced absolutely no seabirds, just a Purple Heron and a Western Cattle Egret, but we did have brief views of a sea turtle species on two occasions which was nice, but never long enough for us to get photos that would allow us to identify it. 

  For our final night walk we saw very little different, although a Rainforest Scops Owl in the camp was the first owl of our trip not seen at a day roost, so that was something. Otherwise we had another Spotted Fish-scale Gecko and a Lowland Streaked Tenrec. Still, it was fun to try one final time to see the forest at night, always in anticipation of something crazy appearing. 

-Brown Mesite

-Rufous Vanga

-Helmet Vanga

-Rainforest Scops Owl

-Brown Leaf Chameleon

-Panther Chameleon

-Giant Leaf-tailed Gecko

-Spotted Fish-scale Gecko

Species List:
Masoala National Park: Madagascar Green Pigeon, Brown Mesite, Crested Coua, Malagasy Coucal, Madagascar Cuckoo, Western Cattle Egret, Purple Heron, Rainforest Scops Owl, Broad-billed Roller, Short-legged Ground Roller, Common Newtonia, Tylas Vanga, Rufous Vanga, Helmet Vanga, White-headed Vanga, Crested Drongo, White-throated Oxylabes, Long-billed Bernieria, Spectacled Tetraka, Malagasy Bulbul, Malagasy White-eye, Madagascar Magpie-Robin, Souimanga Sunbird, Malagasy Green Sunbird, Nelicourvi Weaver, 

Madagascar; Day 22 - Masoala NP

  Because of our success on the three preceding days at Masoala, we actually had no specific birds to target for the day, which meant that the pressure was very much off for the birding for the rest of the time we would be spending here at Masoala. Our guide suggested a loop trail through an area of primary forest, seeing what we would see, and for lack of any other option, we took him up on this suggestion. It had rained significantly during the night, and we were curious as to how that might affect the morning's birding.

  We actually had a brilliant morning. Although the forest was not rammed with birds, we were able to find several awesome species that showed fantastically well. First was a pair of Short-legged Ground-Cuckoo, which perched nicely in the low light but in the dull conditions were not easy to photograph. Next, we bumped into a pair of Red-breasted Coua in the process of building a nest. The pair kept returning with fresh material to stuff into a small open palm, before scuttling off to go collect more. 

  But the bird of the morning was undoubtedly a Scaly Ground Roller that we spotted in the understorey near to the trail. We waited and the bird soon ran out onto the path, upon where it began to feed in the open completely unconcerned. We followed, but the bird was always looking away. Frustrated by this, we tried a little bit of playback, and were treated to a fantastic show of the bird, returning to the path, perching obligingly before rushing off back into cover. We have seen all of the Ground Rollers phenomenally well, they have been fantastic. 

  The rest of the walk passed without much incident. We had excellent views of Spectacled Tetraka, which for a second we thought might be a much rarer species but eventually decided against it. A brief Helmet Vanga was nice, especially as we watched it disembowel a Chameleon. And we were finally treated to some excellent views of Red-ruffed Lemurs, with a few individuals encountered during the morning.

  In the afternoon we chilled out, and spent a bit of time in the sea. By the end of the afternoon, however, the dull clouds had rolled back in. In the evening we went for a short walk around the camp. We saw Greater Hedgehog Tenrec close to the path, but it scarpered far too quickly for a photo. There were a couple of other new geckos as well, including Spotted Fish-scale Gecko, which was a very nice surprise and bonus to our ever-growing collection of reptiles for the trip. Otherwise we saw a couple of Scott's Sportive Lemur and a Mouse Lemur sp.

-Scaly Ground Roller

-Short-legged Ground Roller

-Red-breasted Coua

-Spectacled Tetraka

-Madagascar Green Pigeon

-Broad-billed Roller

-Madagascar Ibis

-Red Ruffed Lemur

-Spotted Fish-scale Gecko

-Giant Leaf-tailed Gecko

-Antongil Velvet Gecko

Species List:
Masoala National Park: Madagascar Green Pigeon, Blue Coua, Red-breasted Coua, Madagascar Ibis, Madagascar Buzzard, Broad-billed Roller, Scaly Ground Roller, Short-legged Ground Roller, Common Newtonia, Red-tailed Vanga, Helmet Vanga, Crested Drongo, Malagasy Paradise Flycatcher, Long-billed Bernieria, Spectacled Tetraka, Malagasy Bulbul, Malagasy White-eye, Common Myna, Madagascar Magpie-Robin, Souimanga Sunbird,