We began our second day full of excitement and ready to once again get into the forest and wrap up our remaining targets. This time we were not with a bird guide, but one of the park's regular guides and it showed. Sadly the kid was just a bit slow! What this did mean though, was that we ended up doing a lot of the searching and finding ourselves, at least with some species. With others, we searched the areas where we had searched and failed the previous day.
We had a fantastic morning, which seemed much more lively
than it had the previous day. We found almost all of our remaining targets
fairly easily, starting with a very nice Pollen’s Vanga, followed by the
nondescript Cryptic Warbler, and finally the very elusive Brown Emutail. Many of
the species we recorded the previous day also made a reappearance, including
Madagascar Flufftail and a few of the other Vanga species. One non-target that also
made an appearance was the White-throated Oxybales, a species we would likely
encounter later, but were pleased to see now.
The absolute highlight of the morning, and one of the
highlights of the trip so far, was the Crossley’s Vanga. We heard the high-pitched whistle of a bird nearby, so played a tape to try and lure him
out. Next thing we knew he appeared in the thick vegetation right at our feet, before walking
across the path where he continued to sing and show incredibly well at close
quarters. This would have been more than enough, but then, on our way back, we
found another pair, where the male was equally confiding. It was absolutely
phenomenal, and it’s a fantastic-looking bird as well, almost reminiscent of a miniature
Rail-Babbler.
Because our guide was a little useless, we decided to let
him go at lunchtime at half rate, before we would walk the road in the
afternoon. But we met Emilie again who took offered to guide us for a night
walk again. And this night walk produced one of the best mammal encounters I
have ever had with absolutely insane views of Fanaloka, or Malagasy Striped Civet, coming
extremely close to feed around us. This secretive animal is extremely hard to see,
and we were unbelievably lucky to get the views that we did.
Ranomafana National Park: Malagasy Turtle Dove, Madagascar Blue Pigeon, Blue Coua, Red-fronted Coua, Malagasy Coucal, Madagascar Cuckoo, Malagasy Palm Swift, Madagascar Forest Rail, Madagascar Flufftail, Common Sandpiper, Yellow-billed Kite, Madagascar Buzzard, Cuckoo-roller, Pitta-like Ground Roller, Rufous-headed Ground Roller, Madagascar Cuckooshrike, Common Newtonia, Tylas Vanga, Red-tailed Vanga, Crossley's Vanga, Madagascar Blue Vanga, Hook-billed Vanga, Ward's Flycatcher, Rufous Vanga, White-headed Vanga, Pollen's Vanga, Crested Drongo, Malagasy Paradise Flycatcher, Common Jery, Green Jery, Malagasy Brush Warbler, Brown Emutail, White-throated Oxylabes, Long-billed Bernieria, Cryptic Warbler, Madagascar Yellowbrow, Spectacled Tetraka, Rand's Warbler, Mascarene Martin, Malagasy Bulbul, Malagasy White-eye, Madagascar Magpie-Robin, Souimanga Sunbird, Malagasy Green Sunbird, Nelicourvi Weaver, Madagascar Wagtail,
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