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.
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,
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