Today would be our first day in Ranomafana National Park, and it would be an intense day as we tried to track down as many of the rare forest species found here as we could. Thanks to Anya, our driver, once again we were able to arrange Samantha, a guide who was a specialist in the birds of the park, and with her help, we were able to make good progress through our species list.
We started by birding the Vohipara trail, the trail furthest from our lodging. We arrived just after first light and immediately began searching along the road. Of course, it being our first visit to the eastern rainforests, many of the common species were new for us, such as Malagasy Sunbird, Forest Fody and Malagasy White-Eye. Once we entered the forest itself the birding became more difficult, with the activity obscured by the vegetation. That said, we still had a brilliant pair of Madagascar Wood Rail walking on the path in front of us. As we ascended we started to pick up a few other bits and pieces, such as Nelicouri Weaver, Red-tailed Vanga and Madagascar Blue Vanga.
We had to reach the furthest and highest part of the trail here to find some of the more difficult species on offer in the park. Thanks to Samantha, we managed to notch off our first target with the very elusive Madagascar Yellowbrow. We also had brief views of Madagascar Flufftail as it scurried across the path in front of us in response to playback. A stunning Red-fronted Coua was one of the morning's highlights. Perched up motionless in the understorey, we were able to get fantastic views as it sat there calling away.
After lunch at the park headquarters, we explored the trail around the headquarters of the park. This trail was less lively until later in the afternoon, but again, we made steady progress on our targets with a very showy but nondescript Rand’s Warbler. We did however have absolutely fantastic views of Madagascar Flufftail here, with an individual singing almost in the open, before running across an area of open path and into thick cover.
Of course there were only two birds that could really qualify themselves as highlights, and those were the two species of Ground Roller that we managed to see here. The first was Pitta-like Ground Roller, and in the morning we managed to find a pair that generally stuck deep in the cover, but on one occasion burst out into the open to call, offering unbelievable views of what was my most wanted species before the trip began. However, in the afternoon things really kicked off, with no less than four individuals seen and one individual that ran out into the middle of the path and sat there for a good thirty seconds before diving back into cover. The views were got were better than anything I could have hoped for with this truly stunning bird. Absolutely incredible.
The other Ground Roller is the Rufous-headed Ground Roller. This one is much rarer and was a key species to target here in the park. We eventually found one right at the end of the trail, and boy did it show well. It would sit out in the open for extended periods and call away, before diving back into cover and scurrying through the vegetation. Even after we had taken our walk-away views and left the bird in peace, it kept following us and on two other occasions, as we tried to find other birds, we spotted it walking along the ground. It was a very special encounter of an absolutely fabulous bird.
And it was not just the birds here at the park. During the morning, once the birding had died down, we had time to check out the other bits and pieces on offer. In total today we managed to see an incredible five different species of Lemur. It started with a Milne-Edwards' Sifaka on the road, distant in the forest, and we saw another of these higher up in the forest, although this individual was carrying a radio-collar, so was less exciting. Next we had a family of Red-bellied Lemur, the same as we had seen the previous afternoon. Perhaps the most exciting was a Small-toothed Sportive Lemur which was peeking out of its hole whilst it waited for darkness to come out and feed. Then in the afternoon, we had fantastic views of Golden Bamboo Lemur and brief views of Red-fronted Brown Lemur. Absolutely incredible.
And then, it has to be said, it wasn’t just the mammals. The guides also showed us a very range-restricted and incredibly beautiful Baron's Mantella frog, which was truly superb to look at. There were a few other species of frogs as well, and more views of the Peacock Day Gecko that we had seen the previous day. Rounding off our daytime activities, we got to see multiple individuals of the crazy looking Giraffe Weevil, with a few males and a female.
But then there was the night activity. We went out with local legend Emile, the husband of Samantha who had guided us during the day. We managed to find all sorts of bits in the hour that we were out, the best of which were the insanely cute Rufous Mouse Lemur and Dwarf Lemur sp. This brought our lemur total for the national park up to an absolutely insane seven different species. Then there were the chameleons, with every other tree seeming to have one sleeping. In total we were able to identify four different species, but we could well have overlooked others. It was truly a fantastic venture and well worth the additional hour in the field.
Ranomafana National Park: Malagasy Turtle Dove, Blue Coua, Red-fronted Coua, Malagasy Coucal, Madagascar Cuckoo, Alpine Swift, Madagascar Forest Rail, Madagascar Flufftail, Common Sandpiper, Madagascar Buttonquail, Madagascar Buzzard, Cuckoo-roller, Pitta-like Ground Roller, Rufous-headed Ground Roller, Malagasy Kestrel, Velvet Asity, Common Sunbird-Asity, Madagascar Cuckooshrike, Common Newtonia, Tylas Vanga, Red-tailed Vanga, Chabert Vanga, Madagascar Blue Vanga, Crested Drongo, Malagasy Paradise Flycatcher, Green Jery, Stripe-throated Jery, Malagasy Brush Warbler, Long-billed Bernieria, Madagascar Yellowbrow, Spectacled Tetraka, Rand's Warbler, Malagasy Bulbul, Malagasy White-eye, Madagascar Magpie-Robin, Souimanga Sunbird, Malagasy Green Sunbird, Nelicourvi Weaver, Forest Fody, Madagascar Wagtail,
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