Madagascar November 2012 - January 2013, Maromiza Forestry Reserve

Maromiza is the fourth and last of the Andasibe area parks we visited. Its elevation is the highest of all, which makes some species more common here than in other parks. It can be reached from the Andasibe main road, by going East, following the Antananarivo - Tamatave highway for four km. In the late afternoon this is quite a hot and tiring walk, but it is by far the cheapest way. Officially guides are mandatory and entree fee is apparently 35.000 Ariary but there is no entrance gate or office and me and Luc just bumped into a guy claiming to work for the reserve and demanding the pricey "entrance fee".

Luc and me had a fairly productive morning in the reserve with birds recorded including: Madagascar Flufftail, Rufous-headed Ground Roller (three different birds heard only), Velvet Asity, Forest Rock Thrush, Brown Emutail (terrific views!) and most notably two Pollen's Vangas in a mixed vanga flock. For this species Maromiza is a new site. This year a pair of Helmet Vangas was also discovered on the far end of the park (ten hour walk) and twitched by several birders. However I missed Cryptic Warbler, which strangely enough seemd completely absent from Maromiza and Mantadia, making it the only realistically possible malagasy rainforest I have missed on the entire trip apart from the heard only Brown Mesite and Scaly Ground Roller. Mammals recorded included Indri, Eastern Grey Bamboo Lemur and Diademed Sifaka. Other highlights included Brookesia superciliaris and the otherworldly Giraffe-necked Weevil (a genuine one, for there are many more common look-a-likes).

Male Madagascar Cuckooshrike (Coracina cinerea). This species often joins mixed Vanga flocks

I think, just as Mitsinjo Reserve, Maromiza forestry reserve deserves much more attention, especially considering the rare birds that have recently been found here. Luc even claimed to have seen a Madagascar Serpent Eagle here three years ago...

Madagascar November 2012 - January 2013, Mitsinjo Reserve

Mitsinjo reserve is a forest reserve managed by the community the town of Andasibe and is located just opposite of Andasibe national park. It has no special interest for birders, unless you were really, really unlucky with Madagascar Long-eared Owl, but for mammal fanatics it sure has for it is the best place in the world to spot Hairy-eared Dwarf Lemur. It is a monospecific genus and actually very interesting. Therefore we joined a night walk in the reserve, which provided us with first class sights of Hairy-eared Dwarf Lemur, foraging just a few meters away. We also observed an Eastern Avahi, several Goodman's Mouse Lemur (can be easily observed along the main road) and a presumed Furry-eared Dwarf Lemur. The reptilian highlight of the nightwalk was a Uroplatus sikorea amongst several common chameleon species. Mitsinjo reserve is a very nice evening destination which, in my opinion, deserves much more attention, even with birders.

Madagascar November 2012 - January 2013, Mantadia National Park

With Luc (see previous post) we organised a day trip to Mantadia national park, which encompromises better forests than Andasibe national park, for it is primairy rainforest instead of decent quality secondary forest. This means that several species are present here, that are absent or very difficult in Andasibe national park. A day trip to the Mantadia national park can be organised at the Andasibe national park office or the Mitsinjo special reserve office (see next post) and costs 90.000 Ariary, but we found a driver for 80.000 Ariary through Luc. Another option would be walking the more than 15 km, but for birders this is barely an option for the first hours of daylight would be missed.

We enjoyed fairly good birding at different sites in the national parks with different altitudes (another advantage over walking) and species observed included: Madagascar Crested Ibis, Henst's Goshawk, Frances' Sparrowhawk, Red-fronted Coua, Madagascar Long-eared Owl (finally!), Collared Nightjar, Rufous-headed Ground Roller, Pitta-like Ground Roller, Velvet Asity, Crossley's Babbler, Forest Rock Thrush, Wedge-tailed Jery, Tylas and Nuthatch Vanga. Frustratingly we did not see the much sought after Scaly Ground Roller, but we had to be content with just two calls responding to the tape. More frustratingly even because this is very unusual ground roller behaviour and we searched for the damned bird for two days in Marojejy and for four days in Masoala... Mammals recorded in Mantadia included: Indri, Diademed Sifaka (wild ones, not like the translocated ones in Andasibe National Park), Red-bellied Lemur and White-tailed Tree Rat.

Madagascar Wood Rail (Canirallus kioloides)

Rufous-headed Ground Roller (Atelornis crossleyi)

Madagascar Long-eared Owl (Asio madagascariensis)

Overall Mantadia is an addition worth considering to Andasibe national park, for the forest is amazing, but if all key birds were seen in Masoala, it is not necessary to do so. Unfortunately we were not that lucky with every species...

Madagascar November 2012 - January 2013, Andasibe National Park

After a four day taxi-brousse ride we finally arrived in Madagascar's most visited national park: Andasibe. We stayed in the Andasibe area for five days and visited four different parks and for each I will write a separate post. We started with Andasibe national park, which is due to its number of visitors, the most expensive national park of the country. The most well-known and maybe the best guide of Madagascar is Patrice. We did not made use of him, but of his brother Luc, which we found very, very skillful and very amiable. He normally costs 120.000 Ariary, but we paid 90.000 for three full days. We stayed during the five days in hotel Feon'y'Ala, which is situated on an amazing hillside with beautiful views over the forests. Luc is very easy to locate from this hotel, as he lives on the other side of the street. He also offers accomodation.

The one day we spend with Luc inside the Andasibe national park and our occasional strolls along the main road produced a decent number of interesting birds: Grey-crowned Tetraka, Rand's Warbler, Tylas, Nuthatch Vanga, Madagascar Crested Ibis, Madagascar Sparrowhawk, Collared Nightjar, Ward's Flycatcher, Wedge-tailed Jery and Forest Fody. Spectacular mammals were observed as well including the absolutely breathtaking Indri, Diademed Sifaka, Common Brown Lemur and a presumed Furry-eared Dwarf Lemur. A herp highlight were two Madagascar Ground Boas.

Madagascar Sparrowhawk (Accipiter madagascariensis) juvenile (picture made by Anna van der Kaaden)

The breathtaking Collared Nightjar (Gactornis enarratus)

Diademed Sifakas (Propithecus diadema)

Indri (Indri indri)

The park has that many visitors for a reason and this has positive and negative effects. The area offers (very) good accommodation, good trails, knowledgeable guides, but it can be a bit crowded. However the sound of the Indri and the sight of two cryptically colored Collared Nightjars makes you forget the 50 school children kicking a Madagscar Ground Boa, how horrible it may be...

Madagascar November 2012 - January 2013 - Masoala National Park

Masoala is the place in The place in the world for several much sought after species in Madagascar, most note worthy : Bernier´s Vanga, Helmet Vanga, Scaly and Short-legged Ground Roller and Red-breasted Coua. The traditional way to reach this site and to stay here is very costly, but we took some measures to avoid spending to much: we took the plane from Sambava to Maroantsetra, which is the cheapest flight in the country (90 euro, instead of the 180 euro you pay for an one way flight from Tana), we travelled from Maroantsetra to Tamatave by taxi-brousse and we cooked our food ourselves on charcoal on the peninsula. The four nights we stayed here costed us still 300 euro without the plane ticket, so still rather costly.

As a guide we used Armand, which I can highly recommend, especially for finding Bernier´s Vanga. However we had to wait three days untill he was available. Other good and knowledgeable guides are Joseph and Nico, but both were not available during our stay. Our entire stay on the peninsula as well as the boat to get there was arranged by Olivier from Chez Arrol Ecolodge, whom I can also highly recommend for he is very flexible and highly familiar with the area. He can even arrange visits to the seldom visited and pristine Makira Forest! After a lot of organising (park entry permits, guide fees, boat, petrol, charcoal, food for four days, lodging in Chez Arrol etc.) we were finally able to start birding in Masoala.

During the four days a lot of good species including: Madagascar Wood Rail, White-throated Oxylabes, Short-legged Ground Roller, Velvet Asity, Helmet Vanga, Madagascar Pratincole, Bernier´s Vanga, White-browed Owl, Henst´s Goshawk, Madagascar Sparrowhawk, and Madagascar Pygmy Kingfisher. Even though we saw so many good species, we were very unlucky with several other species. For instance four days of searching for Scaly Ground Roller, Brown Mesite and Crossley´s Babbler resulted in heard only records of the Mesite and the Babbler... However I am very still very content with the result.

Helmet Vanga (Euryceros prevostii), up to know my bird of the trip

Female Velvet Asity (Philepitta castanea)

Short-legged Ground Roller (Brachypteracias leptosomus)

Male Bernier´s Vanga (Oriolia bernieri)

Female Bernier´s Vanga (Oriolia bernieri)

White-browed Owl (Ninox superciliaris)

Madagascar Sparrowhawk (Accipiter madagascariensis)

Besides the awesome birds, we also enjoyed several good lemurs in the form of Red Ruffed Lemur, White-fronted Brown Lemur, Eastern Grey Bamboo Lemur, Scott´s Sportive Lemur (recently described species) and Moore´s Avahi (recently described species). Besides the lemurs we also observed Tanala Tuft-tailed Rat and Lowland Streaked Tenrec. Reptiles recorded included Furcifer pardelis, Phelsuma lineata and Amphiglossus melanurus.

Red Ruffed Lemur (Varecia rubra)

Scott´s Sportive Lemur (Lepilemur scottorum)

Moore´s Avahi (Avahi mooreorum)

Tanala Tuft-tailed Rat (Eliurus tanala)

After four days our time was up and unfortunately we had to leave this magical place. The boat ride back was however utterly horrible, for the sea was so rough that for four times  our boat almost capsized... So if the sea is rough, I would refuse to go... Once back in Maroantsetra we took the taxi-brousse to Tamatave. This is rather cheap, but one of the roughest roads I have ever travelled. You pay 80.000 Ariary for a seat in the bucket of an old beat-up Toyota Hilux and 100.000 Ariary for a seat in the cabin, but you have to reserve these a week in advance. The trip takes two days at best, but it took us nearly four days... Masoala is really an awesome destination, but to visit this place in certain luxury you pay a lot. There are some ways to get around this, but those are far from comfortable.

Madagascar November 2012 – January 2013, Farankaraina

Due to some delay in Maroantsetra because of unavailable bird guides for Masoala National Park we opted for a small detour to the forest of Farankaraina. This s not a prime birding spot, but it is known as a good site for Aye-aye. We organized the trip through a small local NGO. To get to the forest a three to four hour pirogue ride is necessary.  The boat trip proved good for at least 20 Madagascar Pratincoles, Chabert´s and White-headed Vangas as well as two Allen´s Gallinules.

The forest produced Henst´s Goshawk, Madagascar Green Pigeon, Red-breasted Coua and Madagascar Crested Ibis. Helmet Vanga is apparently also possible here. We also observed Eastern Grey Bamboo Lemurs and a Lowland Streaked Tenrec. The night walk resulted in large numbers of Brown Mouse Lemurs, a single Greater Dwarf Lemur and best of all an Aye-aye. However, we only heard the Aye-aye tapping on a dead log, for our overenthusiastic young guide sprinted into the forest as soon as he found out why we stopped and demanded silence… We heard the animal leaping away through the canopy shortly afterwards…

Lowland Streaked Tenrec (Hemicentetes semispinosus)

The ever present Phelsuma lineatus

Farankaraina was a nice place to relax, bird without a lot of pressure and of course to search for Aye-aye. The NGO is lovely, but a bit inexperienced and the guides might need to learn a thing or two, but don´t be put off by our infortune! We definitely had a lovely time here.