This would be our last full day in Madagascar, which is crazy to think about. It feels so long since we first arrived and went to Toliara, but now it's almost over, with just a few outstanding birds to attend to.
The previous day we had spoken to our guide, Andrema, and he had offered to arrange our boat visit through the Bombetoka Delta, a necessary activity to find Malagasy Sacred Ibis and Berniers Teal. His price however was absolutely astronomical, and it took us some time to negotiate it down to anything remotely resembling reasonable, which ultimately it still barely qualified as. However, he failed to confirm with us the time he had arranged, and this certainly led to complications in our morning. We called him to see what the deal was at around 07:45, at which point he decided to tell us it had been arranged for 06:30. Fantastic! Since the tide was already on its way up we had lost two hours, but Andrema told us that if we set off at 08:30, it would still be fine to see the birds.
When we finally arrived at the mangroves, it was clear that most of the mud was already gone, but there was a single island that still had plenty of habitat and was hosting good numbers of waders. Through the flocks, we picked out hundreds of Curlew Sandpipers, quite a few Terek Sandpipers and then larger species such as Whimbrel and Greenshank. A mass of just short of 100 Crab Plovers were also roosting here, which was quite the spectacle for a bird we only saw for the first time a few weeks ago.
In addition, there were also around 100 Lesser Flamingos feeding on the rising tide, as well as a single Greater Flamingo. A few Lesser Crested and Little Terns were also moving around and a Peregrine blasted through on one occasion scattering the waders far and wide. It looked like it may have taken something, but it was impossible to be sure.
Sadly we failed to find either target bird, which was extremely frustrating, especially given the price for the boat. In the end, since Andrema had screwed us over by not telling us the time, we only paid a part of the original price but it did leave a bitter taste as to what we could have seen had it actually been organised properly. Fortunately for the afternoon we spent it relaxing around the hotel, organising our photos and preparing for our long journey home after a hugely successful trip.
-Little Tern
-Lesser Flamingo
Bombetoka Bay: White-faced Whistling Duck, Greater Flamingo, Lesser Flamingo, Malagasy Palm Swift, Grey Plover, Greater Sand Plover, White-fronted Plover, Eurasian Whimbrel, Bar-tailed Godwit, Terek Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Common Greenshank, Curlew Sandpiper, Crab-plover, Little Tern, Lesser Crested Tern, Yellow-billed Stork, Black Heron, Dimorphic Egret, Great Egret, Grey Heron, Humblot's Heron, Yellow-billed Kite, Peregrine Falcon, Sickle-billed Vanga, Crested Drongo,
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