From our base in Ansirabe we set off at six in the morning to try and reach the Andasibe National Park sometime around lunchtime, giving us time to have some birding and prepare ourselves for the following days. Sadly the drive took much longer than anticipated and we eventually arrived in the park at around three in the afternoon, exhausted from long hours in the car. We only managed a short stop to try and see the Madagascar Pratincole, but we failed to find it in the half an hour we spent looking.
Once we arrived at the park, we arranged lodging at Chez Luc, before hiring Luc himself to be our guide. We then headed to the park office to buy our tickets for the next day. With all that wrapped up and with a couple of hours left, we decided to try to find the Madagascar Rail, since it could be found outside the park in small wetland areas along the entrance road.
We tried a few different marshes but only got a few distant heard-only birds. Fortunately, we eventually arrived at the location that seemed to have the highest concentration of eBird pins, and here we scored almost immediately with a pair of birds showing unbelievably well right in front of us. They were walking about right in the open in a small waterway, with at least one bird even calling in the open, fanning the white flashes on his tail as he did so. Absolutely brilliant to watch, and a nice end to a day spent mostly driving.
Vakona Marsh: Malagasy Coucal, Madagascar Spinetail, Malagasy Palm Swift, Madagascar Rail, Madagascar Buzzard, Chabert Vanga, Mascarene Martin, Malagasy White-eye, Souimanga Sunbird,
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