Our target for the morning was Helmet Vanga, the last bird we would need to find here at Masoala that could not be found anywhere else. As such, we took the boat around to another area of forest down the coast, not that far but with a fairly sizeable river in the way. From here we walked through some lush mangrove forests and along the coast to reach the spot our guide had in mind.
Along the way we had a fantastic chance encounter, when Max
spotted a Ring-tailed Vontsira, jump out from the vegetation and across the
path. We tried to follow but lost it. However, we did figure that the patch of
forest it was in, being flanked on two sides by the footpath and on the others by
beach, the animal must be still in there. I retraced our steps back down
the path and on the forest edge found myself face to face with this superb
small predator. From there, we were able to watch it as it moved along the edge
of the woods, before crossing the open area next to the beach and into a deeper
thicket. Absolutely phenomenal encounter, and a real bonus mammal for our trip
list!
Although our guide had told us about a Helmet Vanga nest, he
had also told us that he would keep this as his trump card, as he would rather
try to find the bird in the forest. Somewhere in the two days since he told us
that he had clearly abandoned the idea, as he took us straight to the nest of
the bird. When we arrived an adult was already sitting, and in the 90 minutes
we spent there we were able to watch two changovers, which allowed us to get excellent views of the bird out of the nest, especially on
the second occasion.
For the rest of the morning, we birded in the same area of
forest. We spotted another Bernier's Vanga, this time a female, which showed
much better than yesterday's bird, although always staying in the canopy above
us. There were also nice views of other common forest species. Once we returned
to the beach, there was a pair of Pratincoles perched on the rocks just
offshore. Although by now we had got used to seeing the birds in flight, this
was our first time seeing them perched, and they were fantastic to look at, as
well as very approachable.
The afternoon and evening were humid and overcast, so we did
not see much new. However, as darkness fell a pair of Sambirano Lesser Bamboo Lemur entered the camp and we had fantastic views of them just behind the kitchen.
Sadly a little high up for any good photos, but it was good to see them scuttle
up and down the tall bamboo stems.
Masoala National Park: Madagascar Blue Pigeon, Blue Coua, Malagasy Coucal, Madagascar Pratincole, Malagasy Kingfisher, Olive Bee-eater, Broad-billed Roller, Lesser Vasa Parrot, Common Newtonia, Tylas Vanga, Red-tailed Vanga, Helmet Vanga, Bernier's Vanga, Malagasy Paradise Flycatcher, Long-billed Bernieria, Spectacled Tetraka, Mascarene Martin, Malagasy Bulbul, Malagasy White-eye, Madagascar Magpie-Robin, Souimanga Sunbird, Nelicourvi Weaver,
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