Madagascar, Mauritius & Reunion 20 August to 14 September 2004

Justin JFJ Jansen, Blitterswijckseweg 3, 5871 CD Broekhuizenvorst

Below is an intinary about a trip made by Peter Maaskant, Rold de By, Bert Pieterson, Peter Nijhuis, Wim Nap and I.

Itinerary

20/21 august When arriving at Amsterdam Airport we immediately found our other travelling mates except for Peter Maaskant who was in the midst of a train delay. So a rebooking of our plane tickets was done to depart 2 hours later by Rolf de By, as Peter held the tickets for a large part and both mine and Wim’s passports. Finally he dropped in, we checked in and went into the airport. After a short flight from Amsterdam towards London Heathrow (where we logged Pied Wagtail and several other gems for our British List), we departed for the long haul towards Mauritius. After a 2 hour wait and after a flight of 12 hours we finally arrived at 8:00 o’clock at the airport of Mauritius. After filling in a large amount of papers (the first time of 3 times more that followed) we were soon in the row for passport control. After getting through we directly sorted out our luggage and stored it at the rental company. We headed a for a 45 minutes drive towards Black River Gorge NP, after adding the Madagascar (introduced). As we came closer to this place the clouds were getting darker and darker and once we drove into the NP we experienced a steady downpour! While heading towards BRG NP we saw our first real endemic, the Mascarene Swiftlet and Mascarene Martin. Also other introduced were logged like Spotted dove, Zebra dove, Ring-necked Parakeet, Red- whiskered Bulbul, House Sparrow and . The track into several parts of the forest along the new bitumen road south of the headquarters Le Petrin Information centre produced only one true endemic, a Mauritius Grey White-eye, this was very common and could well be observed, while everything went wetter and wetter due the rain! After few hours we were that bored of the rain and on the edge of starvation we drove south towards the town of Chemin Grenier and did some shopping in the local supermarket for some dry clothes (in my case) and some coffee and other beverages! Just before entering the town I localized some flying White-tailed tropicbirds, which displayed nicely! On our way up again (still raining in the mountains) we decided to head for an other point, where we had a view into the mountains and we could increase our chances of seeing Echo Parakeet, Pink Pigeon and . Only few Madagascar Fruit Bats Pteropus niger and dozens of Ring- necked Parakeets could be found as well as the introduced Crab-eating Macaque. The most stunning experience here were dozens of White-tailed Tropic-birds that gave away a stunning show while floating over the green canopy and along large waterfalls! After a nice session here we decided to head to the western part of Black River Gorge NP to give Mauritius Kestrel a try. There is a new (2002) Visitor Centre in the Black River Valley at the north- west end of the National Park, which has effectively replaced the Le Petrin Information Centre. A new (tarmac ked) road leads to the Centre from Grande Rivière Noire on the west coast, 25 km south of Port Louis on the A3. After a long way towards the spot we stopped at a spot where a steep cliff is coming close to the road, and on both sides fencing can be found. Here we logged a nice first year male Mauritius Kestrel. Despite the name kestrel it is rather more similar to a sparrowhawk in behaviour than our European Kestrel. The bird is a forest dweller, and has short wings and a long tail, and its main food includes tiny green geckos caught on the leaves of Traveller’s Palm and other trees. After some observation time of the kestrel we headed back towards Le Petrin Information Centre to try for an other attempt in locating endemic . The most shocking aspect of Mauritius is the destruction of the natural habitat on the island, no less than 98,1 % is already destroyed. The island is a large sugar reed plantation, and 6 of the 7 endemic bird species have dwindled almost to the point of extinction, mostly due to habitat loss but also due to the introduction of mammals and birds (like mongoose, monkeys, rat and cat (all seen in the habitat at Black River Gorge NP). This is the most striking feature you see while driving around. We gave the area around the Le Petrin Information Centre a try to walk to some good spots, well down the road, but time was too short for this, so we decided to head back for the airport. At the airport we soon logged our bags into the plane and departed for Antananarivo at 20:00 hours. When arriving there we had to fill in some papers and we passed through the passport control, where they immediately asked for the yellow passport and the needed vaccinations. Of course we had everything but some not, and they got the shots over there…… After getting outside the airport we met a bloke who sorted out transportation for the next few days with a mini-bus. We were brought to the hotel by two taxi’s close by the airport (approximate 5 kms) and we could get our first beers and a well earned sleep.

22 august After a rather short night we woke up in early morning in our hotel (forgot the name) and soon when getting outside the first new species were logged. A Madagascar Wagtail was feeding on the field in front our hotel, and few Madagascar Bea-eaters were circling overhead, some Common Stonechats displayed nicely, and showed some differences with their well know European relatives. For example song and parts of the plumage like the darker upperparts. Also some African Black Swifts were circling overhead, and gave away a show! The breakfast was good and the last contracts and points had to be arranged with the man of the rental company. Also some real wild Madagascar Fody’s could be found, instead of the introduced ones on Mauritius and the ever boring Common Myna gave away the same show they make in all the countries I almost visit. The breakfast was good, and the last negotiations where made about the van rental. We then packed our gear into the van en went on our way towards Ranamofana. A quick stop at some remnants of wetland just outside Antananarivo produced not the wanted Mellers Duck but many other species like: Squacco Heron, Greater Painted Snipe, Dimorphic Heron, Cattle Egret, Great Egret, Black Kite, Madagascar Cisticola, Glossy Ibis, Red-billed Teal and Striated Heron. The Greater painted Snipe was a surprise for us, to see it well and open in view! After this well appreciated stop with 3 new species for me, we went on our way towards the south again. After the long drive through Antananarivo we stopped few kilometres south of the city near a lake where we saw some ducks, again in vain for Mellers Duck. But no avail only Red-billed Teals and few cisticolas and a newy in the form of a Madagascar Swamp Warbler. Just before we left the lake a calling Madagascar Coucal kept hidden for us. The drive was through extensive destroyed habitat, with paddies of rice fields and deforested parts. Birds like Madagascar Bushlark, Pied Crow, Black Heron, Hamerkop, Mascarene Martin, Brown-throated Sand Martin, Madagascar Kestrel and few Madagascar Buzzard. Also the more common birds like Madagascar Wagtail, African Black Swift, Common Stonechat, Black Kite, the various herons could well be seen during the drive. We had several short stops to stretch the legs and in between we noted Madagascar White Eye, Madagascar Bulbul, , and Souimanga Sunbird. The whole stretch between Ramonafana and the turn- off (southerly turn-off as the supposed northern short cut is impassable with a vehicle) was not too bad, some potholes made it uncomfortable. The last stretch was not bitumen and only a very slow and shaky drive was possible here.

During dinner we logged our first Rainforest Scops Owl and Madagascar Long-eared Owl. We soon felt a sleep after few good beers, and stories about Oehoeboeroe the owl of Paulus de Boskabouter!

23 August We went up in early morning and went with Fidi towards the entrance of Vohipara. Soon a stunning Madagascar Fluftail was located. We located a huge list of birds in few hours of birding, gems like Frances’ Sparrowhawk, Velvet Asity, Lesser Vasa Parrot, Blue Coua, Crested Coua?, Madagascar Cuckoo-roller, Common Sunbird-asity, Yellow-bellied Sunbird Asity, Crested Drongo, Madagascar Starling, Madagascar Cuckoo Shrike, Pollen’s Vanga, Tylas Vanga, Red-tailed Vanga White-headed Vanga, Madagascar Blue Vanga, Chabert’s Vanga, Rand’s Warbler, Madagascar Brush warbler, Forest Rock Thrush, Dark Newtonia, Common Newtonia, Madagascar paradise Flycatcher, Wardt’s Flycatcher, Yellow-browed Oxylabes, Madagascar Magpie Robin, Spectacled Greenbul, Brown Emutail, Long-billed Greenbul and Grey-crowned Greenbul were added in a long haul! On the river opposite Vohipara Wim located our only Madagascar Little Grebe, and we were very happy with this sighting, as we know it is getting more difficult every year! We moved on a bit further to located in few minutes both Madagascar Manikin and Grey Emutail. We then returned towards Domain Nature and enjoyed an easy afternoon!

24 August Today with first light we were up again and went again up to Vohipara. The morning stroll brought us a good amount of species including several not seen well or not seen the day before! Like Rufous-headed Ground Roller, we heard Pitta-like Ground Roller, several Pollen’s Vanga, Wedge-tailed Jery, Green Jery, Stripe-throated Jery, Common Jery and a very showy Cryptic Warbler. A Brown Lemur gave away a nice show, just after seeing a Brown Emu-tail extremely close and nice! We then went back for some lunch, and entered the Ramanofana park. The White-throated Oxylabes was highly appreciated, and Madagascar Wood Rail proved easy when taping the bird out. And after some trouble we also managed to find the much wanted Brown Mesite! We saw two sole birds, and observed them from close quarters! And Eastern Forest Rat was a well appreciated addition to the mammal list! We then returned to Domain Nature. After some arrangements made by Fidi we hired at 4-wheel drive car to head towards some rice paddies on the short cut towards Antananarivo, and soon when on this road, we know why we took the southerly road, this road is hardly to take in the dry, and in the wet it is impassable. After a 45 minutes drive we came to a large patch of rice fields and some still original parts of a wetland. Here our main aim were Meller’s Duck, Reunion Harrier and Madagascar Snipe. We headed through the fields, to a large part of still original wetland part, while kicking around to flush some snipe (not succeed) I scared away a Reunion Harrier. This bird was seen well in both flight as on the ground! After some walking around through the rice field with some stunning Madagascar Mannakin’s I finally succeeded in seeing some Madagascar Snipe! Also many Madagascar Fluftails could be heard around. More Madagascar Snipe were recorded while walking around the paddies. On the way back we recorded also a nice Madagascar Turtle Dove, it was my first that I was aware of. After returning to the park we walked into the forest to give Pitta-like Ground Roller an extra try! After entering a stake-out, soon we located a stunning Pitta-like Ground Roller, and after some trouble everyone saw this bird extremely well! What a little stunner this bird is! Then we headed towards the feeding spot for mammals and soon we were watching both Brown Mouse Lemur and Fanaloka (Striped Civet). The road down was tricky but we managed to get down! And soon we were enjoying a long wait for our food at the restaurant in Ramanofana village. We were disappointed about this restaurant, we advise everyone to enjoy the good food at Domain Nature!

25 August After breakfast we headed again inside the forest to search for some mammals and some birds. Soon we were watching a Eastern Wooly Lemur in its roosting tree. After some minutes spent here we were soon watching a flock of Greater Bamboo Lemur, but after seen and heard a Crossley’s Babbler excellent! This babbler was a real stunner, and have us a lot of cheers! Then we went on for a long trek into the park. And after a difficult water crossing and some uphill wandering Wim and I decided to call it a day. And we stopped and gently went back towards the camp. On the spot were we heard on the way up a Henst Goshawk and some people had poor views, I saw two displaying birds, and saw them very well. An Alpine Swift was wheeling around the rugged hills, when Wim and I sat down for a little while! We gently and slowly our returned to our Hotel and heard a calling Short-legged Ground Roller when we sat down A sighting of Madagascar Green Sunbird and several other species were added! After walking in a wrong direction we met a guide and he guided us back to the hotel. After few hours the rest returned and the added nothing odd, on the visit! After few hours we departed towards Fianaratsoa and when driving away we saw a stunning Forest Rock Thrush at the road! After giving a British girl a short lift, nothing exciting happened during driving. Only few herons like Black Herons and other commoner species stole the headlights!

26 August Waking up at first light we drove away from our hotel at Fianaratsoa towards north to a lake a little up the junction just north of Fianarantsoa on the road towards Manakara. We stopped at Lake Baringo as Fidi told it is a reliable spot for Meller’s Duck. But despite a lot of searching we could only find Little Grebe and Red-billed Teal. A Madagascar Hoopoe that flew by was highly celebrated. We then had our breakfast at a restaurant/hotel adjacent to the lake. Afterwards the good breakfast we headed towards Fianarantsoa to collect our stuff. After collecting everything we headed on our way towards Rohohira on the edge of Isalo National Park for some birding over here. After a few hours drive we arrived at Ranohira. We booked in at Orchidée de l'Isalo Hotel at Ranohira village and after throwing everything on the beds we decided to head out for a hunt for partridges and quail few kilometres up the road. We spread arriving on the spot (the kilometre poles don’t correspond any longer with the kilometres in the report by Brian Gee as there was a renumbering) on both sides of the road. While walking through the field I had stunning views of the spectacular rock formation in the last evening sun. But despite the wonderful landscape the quails and partridges didn’t cooperated on my walk. The only things I found were some large grasshoppers, a snakeskin and dozens of Pied Crows and Madagascar Bush-Larks. Also a lonely Purple Heron flew past as few Cattle Egrets where present on the wetter parts around. Arriving back and relocating Peter and Bert we heard a shout from Peter Nijhuis who just found a small creature that looked like a quail. A run through the fields and a wait for everybody produced poor but countable views of our first Madagascar Button-quails. Few birds were present and seen in the last light flying before our feet. We decided to head for the Hotel Le Relais de la Reine de l'Isalo for finding a claimed heard White- browed Owl which we read in a report. Arriving here at the extremely beautiful location it was not dark, so we decided to get inside and have our diner here. Dinner and drinks were superb, and with a full stomach we headed to the back of the Relais where soon we were treated with stunning views of Madagascar Nightjar. At least two birds here gave away a great show, while flying and sitting around the swimming pool. Things got even better once we played the tape of White-browed Owl and we had a direct response from two birds sitting in a tree! We could approach the pair closely and we had stunning views! We then packed our things up, and disappeared towards Ranohira for our hotel, and our bed!

27 August After a good night in the comfortable beds of the Orchidée de l'Isalo Hotel we had our breakfast at first light and drove from here to the entrance road to Le Relais de la Reine de l'Isalo from the main highway. We searched the scrub here for quails and partridges. Soon few Madagascar Partridges were located on the left hand side, in a sort of dip. Not great views but reasonable we searched on and soon located few Harlequin Quails (although also poor views), on both sides of the road, just away from the main road! In the same area on a still burning field a large gathering of Black Kites was a wonderful sight, and the more common species like Madagascar Bush-lark, Pied Crow and Madagascar Kestrel could also be sighted. After a while we gathered together and walked to the back of the Relais de la Reine hotel. Soon I located a nice male Bensons Rock Thrush. Then a shoot came of a raptor in the bush along the stream. We soon located the raptor and after a long puzzle it was identified as a Frances’ Sparrowhawk. A stroll in the back of the garden produced my first Grey-headed Lovebirds and a female Bensons Rock Thrush. We decided to head for a clean up at Zombitse State Forest after this highly successful morning here. A drive of approximate 120+ kilometres was made in 2, 5 hours time or so. When driving into this very small forest with the well known population of Appert’s Greenbull we had a lot of trouble in locating the spots mentioned in Brian Gee’s report. We couldn’t find them and we took the hiking trails opposite the headquarters on the south side of the main road (headquarters side). Here at the parking I located my first Namaqua Dove finally after dips in Israel! Also dozens of Grey-headed Lovebirds everywhere. Soon a man joined us unwanted, and it proved that he was a sort of guide, as it seems to be prohibited to walk into the reserve without a guide. Also it seems that you have to pay a fee to get into Zombitse, all these cases we were unaware of, until a large gathering from the headquarters were coming after us. After some explanation we were free to stay on the round walk and paying afterwards at the headquarters. And then the birds, they were very poor but Appert’s Greenbul was easily found, in few small groups. Also my first sighting was done here (only heard before) of the stunning Madagascar Cuckoo-roller. Also few Giant Coua’s where heard but not seen, only a Green-capped Coua could be found. A large surprise was a stunning Torotoroka Scops Owl that was roosting in palm tree and that gave away a stunning show. And we observed a large Chameleon in a tree, and saw a small snake. When we completed the circle we came back at the parking spot were we had besides Spine-tailed Swift and African Black Swift a nice Sub-desert Bush Warbler. We decided to try the overgrown woodcutters track located near the 'football pitch' (about 14 km from Sakahara at the edge of the forest) after getting some food at Sakahara. We parked the car along the main road and made the stroll along the edge of the forest. I was not very fit at the moment and even when I saw an aberrant falcon I asked Rolf if he want to take a look at the particular bird, it turned out that it was one of two Banded Kestrels present at the spot. Amazingly we had that luck because at all the other spots it has been murdered or was absent; we didn’t have any hopes to find it! The stroll at the overgrown woodcutters track was rather disappointing with no extra species for me, others located a calling White-browed Owl (during daylight!). We had few small flocks of Appert’s Greenbulls here and Sakalava Weavers. When walking back to the car once more the crew of the national park was running behind us, and said we had a problem to walk around without a guide. We didn’t understand, as it was outside the park boundaries, but later it became clear that they wanted us to pay the guide who was walking with us earlier that day 25.000. As this was not the largest sum we paid him off course, and he told us he could show us the Giant Coua if we want to see it. So in minutes we were walking the track just opposite the turn-off to the head quarters on the north side of the road. As I was feeling back by then I decided to head back to the car, were still the crew was of the headquarters, I ignored them and fell down on the bench. After a while Rolf came back running, and said I had to drop down everything and follow him, so I did and close by the road there was indeed a fine roosting Giant Coua in a tree. So lucky us we birded the park in a single afternoon completely empty. So after this last good twitch we stepped in the car and took the whole drive towards Toliara. We passed the spot where Phoebe Snetsinger died in a car crash back on 25 November 1999, but we didn’t know the exact spot, otherwise we would have stopped at the place to pay our respects. We arrived at Toliara few hours later and went directly to a hotel at the sea (forgot the name again), and from here we went on towards an Italian Restaurant. After some good food we drove back and had a sleep in a room full of mosquitoes.

28 August We drove in the morning to Ifaty for our adventures here. The hotel were we spent the night was bad, and it was far from clean with poor beds! We soon found our Guide Mr Mosa, and soon hit the forest! In few hours time we found Subdesert Mesite, Subdesert Bush Warbler, Kittlitz Plover, Madagascar Plover, Madagascar Harrier-hawk, Black-winged Stilt, Common Greenshank and African Palm Swift. We were back around noon, and I started to feel miserable myself, and an evening trip I couldn’t attend due to sickness. Food poisoning kept me more on the toilet then in bed, at the Dunes Hotel where we stayed, and the morning breakfast here was probably the origin of my sickness. At night I heard dozens of Madagascar Nightjars calling.

29 August After a very bad night, were my food poisoning became really bad, and I felt really sick, I stayed in bed and the rest went out! The whole day I stayed in bed, sometimes hearing the stories of the rest off my travelling mates, in what they saw! The recorded with yesterday evening about everything here included my most wanted species Long-tailed Ground-roller. Feeling very bad still, I decided to head out on my own, and hoping to find Long-tailed Ground-roller in the late afternoon. Despite a lot off trouble from Mosa sons , we sadly couldn’t find the Ground-roller, although we seemed to be very close. The diarrhoea was very bad with me while birding here, and it was not a real party to get out. Despite that we recorded some nice gems like Archbolds Newtonia, Green- capped Coua, Running Coua and Madagascar Spine-tailed Swift. Also other birds like Madagascar Harrier Hawk, Chabert’s Vanga were recorded by me. While walking back in the dark I saw dozens and heard Madagascar Nightjars! After dinner we removed to an other house, in the night Peter Nijhuis went sick of food poisoning and Rolf suffered big time from an allergic reaction on something!

30 August Today Mosa came in the early morning towards us to find some specialties around Toliara. So we headed quickly on our way towards Toliara. We had a stop in Toliara to buy some beverages. Then we soon headed back on the main road towards Zombitse. After an approximate 19 kilometres from Toliara when we were well uphill there was a large unpaved road to the south. We parked the car along the main road and walked in this road, after less than a kilometre Mosa whistled out a Red-shouldered Vanga, and after a bit of a search we found this stunning bird. We recorded the song on video, and it didn’t completely match with the song we had on tape, so probably another species of vanga is on the tape. After an hour of an extremely good observations we saw on our way back towards the main track an other wanted bird in the form of a nice Verreaux’ Coua perched in a tree. A Lafranayes Vanga was singing in the distance and only a glimpse of the bird could be added, for this new species for me, as the others saw this bird before while I was sick at Ifaty. The walk back was comfortable and became even better when Rolf showed me an extremely confiding Thamnornis Warbler. We then went towards a spot where Mosa regularly saw Madagascar Sandgrouse; this was a few kilometres up road towards Sint Augustin. On the seaside there is a spot with some small drinking pools (also many people do their laundry here), here we soon located a nice Three-banded Plover and 2 great Madagascar Sandgrouse. This bird gave away a nice show and could be well studied in both flight as on the ground. We then headed back towards Toliara, as Rolf needed medicine for his allergic problems, and we needed time to rebook our Air Madagascar flight (we want to depart a day earlier than our scheduled booking). Well one advice: take plenty of time, as they rewrite all the tickets, and it will cost you an extra fee on every ticket! Few hours later we headed back into town, to find a hotel, and we found one, few kilometres from our hotel we slept few days before. This hotel was superb and Peter Nijhuis stayed there, as he felt real sick by now! After a while we were on our way towards Sint Augustin to get a boat to go for the Littoral Rock Thrush. I was told that there was a ferry running but later it turned out it was not, and it was a boat ride on a small wooden ship for 2 hours to get there! The road towards Sint Augustin was good but the last part was a rather steep and difficult one way road! Before entering the steep part we saw some Caspian terns flying above the sea, and a large pod of herons, where a possible Humblodts was in between! But ID was not easy to make on the distance. At Sint Augustin soon two boats where arranged and all headed on their way after seen a nice Humblodts Heron which I located. I decided not to go with them as my health was still not ok. They went on their way and 5 hours later they returned with the locals and Mosa and they got crippling views of a few Littoral Rock Thrushes. I only located a few Ruddy Turnstone and surprisingly a Barn Swallow at Sint Augustin. No Madagascar Sand Grouse were located here, as other seems to get this species here. I heard also a Madagascar Long-eared Owl here! The road towards Toliara went smoothly, and after waking Peter Nijhuis up we went to a restaurant for some dinner. We paid Mosa and our driver Razana Mparany Jacquot and soon we were in our beds, for a good night full of sleep

31 August The day of travel for us. After a excellent breakfast we chartered 3 small Citroen taxis. We then headed for the airport just outside the town of Toliara. The flight from Toliara to Fort Dauphin was dead easy, and soon we headed towards Antananarivo. While arriving there, we collected our bags and labelled them thru to Mahajanga, and stopped in the airport hall for a diner! An excellent take away dinner was here, and we soon had stuffed stomachs. We then headed outside the airport to arrange two taxi’s to bring us to Lac Alarobia. This is a small privately-owned lake in the outskirts of the city. And it’s well known for their breeding Malagasy Pond-herons (but now wrong time of the year) and the occurrence of Meller’s Duck every once in a while. It took a while and some money to get into this garden, but once in a huge amount of birds were seen. We recorded many species like Dimorphic Heron, Common Squacco Heron, Night Heron, Cattle Egret, Great Egret, Black Heron, Red-billed Teal, White-faced Duck and Knob-billed Duck. But through the large gathering of ducks, again no Meller’s Duck! After a few hours we decided to leave the spot. We decided to head for the zoo to have a walk over here. It was a fairly long way to get to the zoo, and time was limited when we arrived to have a long walk over here. Considering the prices and time lack we were in doubt whether we should go in, and after some negotiation we decided to head back to the airport, while negotiating about the taxi price, I saw a strange raptor flying in what proved to be the most discussed bird of our holiday. The bird a fine Madagascar Cuckoo-hawk was battling with a Madagascar Harrier-hawk and clearly the differences in build and size could be seen. The bird looked like an hybrid between a cuckoo and a sparrowhawk from my perspective. Sadly we were just departing the place, so we headed a little too quickly towards the airport to build up the list of identification marks. But after some studies in the next days of other raptor species we were initially as on the moment of the observation convinced that it was indeed a Madagascar Cuckoo-hawk. Peter Maaskant and Rolf headed for the Hotel France to catch up with a ice cream and we headed towards the airport as we wouldn’t take the risk in missing the plane due to traffic problems. Of course we both were right on time at the airport, Peter Nijhuis still wasn’t very ok due the food poisoning. We then took of for the short flight into Mahajanga. Things went smoothly and soon we were on our way in a taxi towards a selected hotel (Hotel de la Plage) found in the Lonely Planet guide. After a short negotiation we soon had our rooms. Then after a short shower it was time for beer and diner (I still had not a completely recovered stomach so I did not eat or drink too much). After and excellent diner (the owner was French, so a terrific kitchen) we had a chat about our plans for the next days. I had a chat with the owner of the hotel about the possibly of finding Bernier’s Teal, and she told me her son was doing the guiding for many bird tours in locating this rare duck. He possessed a speedboat and he knew where they should be! I told the other boys, but they were not very enthusiastic in the beginning, and they more over decided to have a look around the next day in finding a boat and the guide. Her son was away anyway so it was a fair chance to get to the Betsiboka delta earlier! We drank few beers (Bert was sick by now) and went to bed. As the rooms were near the sea and kind of open, many mosquitoes were harassing us through the night!

1 September Waking up besides Wim under the mosquito net that was badly needed, and even the mosquitoes were under this net in the night (and I killed 4 under it while standing in bed) kept me pushing outside to check the beach. Scoping produced few distant Lesser Crested Terns and a lonely shorebird. Hmmm what should it be, damn it was on wishlist for the world, a fine Crab Plover was lazily standing on the beach! We then headed towards Ampijora (Ankaranfansika reserve). The road towards Ampijora was fabulous and the drive did not take too long, before we reached the edges of the shores from Lake Amboromalandy. The wetland just north of the large lake, is almost drained and filled with rice paddies, so a real fear is that it is in few months not good enough is to tick the jacana here! But as we saw only one Madagascar Jacana few weeks later a Dutch team ticked about 5 here, so they are more around as we supposed. We also recorded Hottentot Teal, White-faced Duck, Marsh Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper and Common Sandpiper here. After this well spent stop-over we went towards Ampijoroa Forest Station or Ankarafantsika. Here we checked in at the park Head-quarters. After a well appreciated lunch we headed with Jacky our guide into the forest on the south side of the Head-quarters to have a search for some goodies! But during a long stroll we came no further then a heard White-breasted Mesite and we saw a couple of Madagascar Button Quails. We came across several nice mammals like Coquerel’s Sifaka, Milne-Edward’s Sportive Lemur, Brown Lemur and Wooly Lemur. Perhaps tomorrow things would work out better, we enjoyed dinner a few miles up the road!

2 September Despite the not to high hopes because of yesterday we were still excited what was going to happen today in the reserve! At least I had an excellent night and in the first light again we were up and ready for action. We met up with Jacky in front of the headquarters and soon we found our selfs on our way to the west shore of Lake Ravalobe. On the main road our first birds soon came in view. My first Sickle-billed Vanga, Madagascar Lesser Cuckoo, Madagascar Green Pigeon and an alleged Madagascar Pond Heron were sighted. A very likely Madagascar Sparrowhawk gripped Rolf and me for a little while, we were pretty convinced it was one, but still some doubts remain. The bird was feeding on a small prey and was seen for a short time well, but differences with Francis Sparrowhawk are minimal. At the lake we saw some nice African Darter a new species for me again. In the top of some trees we could see some Coquerel’s Sifakas. Then we entered the forest on the west shore of the lake, soon we were playing the tape for Schlegels Asity, and not soon after we had crippling views of a nice female Schlegels Asity high up in the canopy! We further logged a stunning Hook-billed Vanga and had superb observations of a small flock of White-breasted Mesite! On the edge of Lake Ravalobe we had a nice view of a young Madagascar Fish Eagle on the nest and an adult was on the shores of the lake a bit closer. After breakfast we headed in the forest on the back of headquarters where we were highly unsuccessful yesterday. Soon after entering we had stunning views of two Coquerel Sifakas, and we could get very close for photographs and video footage! The walk was extreme productive as we soon were watching a stunning Coquerel’s Coua at close distance, and a playing the tape directly brought in a much wanted Van Dam’s Vanga, few bids were seen and soon we were watching a yet missed species on our Madagascar list, the Rufous Vanga. Together with some White-headed Vanga, Chabert’s Vanga and Tylers Vanga, we logged 6 species of vanga here today! Also Red- capped Coua was seen on occasions, and some Madagascar Blue Pigeon and Madagascar Cuckoo- roller. However the best species and most beautiful from my perspective where some Madagascar Crested Ibis leaping through the dense undergrowth. It seems that White-breasted Mesite is relatively common, as we had several flocks in the forest! Attempts to find Pygmy Kingfisher failed completely. Around the headquarters nice numbers of Greater Vasa Parrot and Sickle-billed Vanga’s could be found. A evening look across the lake from our new cabin, produced few Madagascar Squacco Heron, Common Squacco Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Purple Gallinule and Common Moorhen. The dinner was spent again a few miles up the road!

3 September Today we had a slow start as we already saw the species were we came for at Ampijora. We recorded a fine Madagascar Cuckoo-roller during a morning stroll and again after a long search a female Schlegel’s Asity high up in the canopy. Also we recorded the now more common species for us like Sickle-billed Vanga, African Darter, White-breasted Mesite, Madagascar Lesser Cuckoo, Madagascar Green Pigeon and few more species. After some food we decided to make the stroll towards Toliara again. So we left our accommodation at Ampijoroa Forest Station and departed for Hotel de la Plage at Mahajanga again. After few hours we returned, and everything was quickly arranged for the boat next day into the Betsiboka Delta! We had a few beers and went back to bed!

4 September After waking up, we headed for breakfast and due to tide we could sleep a bit longer than usual. Rolf had a bad night due to food poisoning and was not extremely fit in the morning. The breakfast was good and while eating the Madagascar Bea-eaters were hunting overhead and some Lesser Crested Terns were seen flying overseas. We then took the boat out from our hotel Hotel de la Plage towards the Betsiboka delta. After an hour and a half we arrived at the first island inside the Betsiboka delta, and we floated along the edge of the island. Not soon after we stopped we found our first pair of Bernier’s Teals. And soon after viewing this couple on a branch another pair was located. This duck is just stunning and much nicer than depicted in the field guides. Soon afterwards we located some groups of Curlew Sandpipers sitting in the trees, Whimbrels and soon about 10+ Madagascar Sacred Ibis. In total on this island we recorded no less than 35+ Berniers Teals (a substantial part of the world population) and many dark morph Dimorphic Egrets. The time in all doing this was just 45 minutes and we saw both wanted species! We then cruised back and just around 11 we docked the boat again. In total it cost us 160 euro’s! We then packed our stuff and took off for the long drive towards Antananarivo around 12 o’ clock. Temperatures were still high and we had a stop at the bridge past the Betsiboka river few kilometres north from Maevatanana to search for Madagascar Pratincole. It only brought our first Madagascar Wagtail in a long time but that’s it! We then had a stop at dusk at Antsiafabositra in a good restaurant with excellent food. Rolf took a small hike outside, and then we heard him scream Bat Hawk! What then happened was complete chaos with running people falling things and so on, and soon we were watching a splendid African Bat Hawk hunting in dusk above the city! After the excellent dinner and the repair of the tire, as it was a bit shaky how we were driving as we decided to head towards Antananarivo. At the small town of Andriba we had another stop, for the chauffeur to rest, but despite that the tire was totally flat. And it took a lot of trouble to repair the tire, as the tools were not ok! It was extremely cold by then, and we all had our jackets in our bags on the roof! Few windows in the bus were not ok, and it became extremely cold. The road was very bad all the way in the mountains and finally after lot of hours we arrived at 2:30 hours at Antananarivo!

5 September After a short but good night, we departed from Antananarivo towards Perinet/Mantadia NP after breakfast. Our chauffeur was already present in front of the hotel, after some hassle with a police officer (corruption) we headed on our way! The drive took about 3 hours to reach the spot, and we booked in at the Feon'ny Ala near the entrance of the Perinet reserve. During the drive we recorded several Hamerkop and herons all the way! After arriving at Perinet, we asked the owner to book either Maurice or Patrice for guiding us around. Soon Patrice showed up, and we went on our way to try for Mellers Duck nearby. We drove a bit uproad and went into a marshy area with some large crossing past some streams. We heard many species like Madagascar Rail and Madagascar Fluftail. And saw a few Madagascar Cuckoo-rollers and Grey Emutails. But despite some hazardous actions by us in order to find some recently sighted Mellers Ducks we failed completely. Late at night we enjoyed some beers and a good meal. And had a good night of sleep.

6 September A splendid night we enjoyed with a calling Rainforest Scops Owl just before the bungalow. We slipped out of our bungalow towards the restaurant to enjoy a short but excellent meal. Then we stepped in our van with Jonsson (our driver) and drove to the headquarters at Perinet, to buy our tickets. After picking up Maurice we headed towards Mantadia. When we stopped we started walking along the main track, a few kilometres before the circuit on the right hand side. As soon as we started Rolf found a nice male , our first one, which was greeted with a lot of cheers. Many normal forest bird were found once again, but star of the show was a stunning Henst Goshawk that circled above the forest! Too make the day’s account short, nothing was seen despite a lot of trouble and loops in the forest for the next few hours, and the highlight was a lunch at the Vakona Lodge. After lunch were we took our time we headed towards Perinet to increase our chances to find a few new species. First was a stop a little up the road towards Mantadia from the Vakona Lodge for Madagascar Rail, we succeeded after little time with playing the tape. The bird came as close as two meters! A lot better than the deception we had yesterday! When entering Perinet we went straight ahead alongside the headquarters into the reserve. When almost the river we heard several White-throated Rails calling. And after some trouble we saw few birds very nicely! Also many Madagascar Fluftails were calling here! We tried several spots for some birds, but all failed. Despite that we had a wonderful show from some Indri’s calling above our head! We recorded a nice variation on other birds most familiar to us, outstanding was a Madagascar Starling that we didn’t see after leaving Perinet.

7 September Today Patrice was in the very early morning as was his appointment with us. We directly went to Mantadia. We walked a large part of the large track. And soon found a nice Pygmy Kingfisher, later followed by more. We finally found a pair of Nuthatch Vanga, a species eluded by us the whole trip! It even got better when we located a fine perched Short-legged Ground Roller that gave good opportunities for video and photo. But the highlight was a wonderful Scaly-ground Roller seen by all. We also had good views of Madagascar Cuckoo-roller and White-headed Vanga and many more species. We had lunch at the stunning Vakona Lodge again. And again we recorded the stunning Madagascar Kingfisher, at close distance under the window!

Later in the day the whole group except for Wim and me tried another stake-out for Mellers Duck. Despite a walk one way from 3 kilometres over a railroad, they sadly didn’t succeed in finding the wanted bird. Wim and I stayed at the bungalow, and I arranged and succeeded to reschedule the ticket for Mauritius to a day earlier!

8 September Today Patrice was in the very early morning as was his appointment with us. We directly went into Perinet Special reserve. After seeing a nice chameleon, we went into the forest. We heard the Indri’s calling already and we saw a good scattering of good species including a stunning pair of Collared Nightjars. I guess almost every-one agreed this had to be the species of the holiday together with Scaly-ground Roller. We recorded Madagascar Wood Rail, White-throated Rail and Madagascar Fluftail as skulkers! But finally a Madagascar Sparrowhawk showed well for some and badly for the rest. Attempts in seeing a Red-breasted Coua stopped at hearing and getting close! We also had a stunning show from the wannabe raptor Madagascar Cuckoo-roller!

Flight to Mauritius

We found two taxis and went towards Mahebourg, were we checked in at Coco Villa. After checking in we walked the streets to find a restaurant, but we failed, and soon went to bed.

9 September When waking up we saw the landscape from our window, and as luck would have it we were just opposite Île aux Aigrettes Nature Reserve and we could easily see the Pink Pigeons flying on the island. Also large groups of shearwaters were passing at large distance, and they flew safely out of identification zone. We then stepped into the cars to head for the sea-watching spot Gris Gris. Arrival there and the first look on sea were promising, with large groups of shearwaters on the horizon. A sea-watch of 2 hours produced one of the stars of our holiday: a fine adult Salvin’s Albatross lingering around for a full 5 minutes between the other sea-birds. Wedge-tailed Shearwater was the most common sea-bird, Audubon’s (or Mascarene depending on the species’ status) Shearwater, Common Noddy, Lesser Noddy and Bridled Tern were passing by in various numbers. According to Sinclair & Lagrand the albatross would be a new species for Mauritius? We then drove into Black River Gorge National Park and walked in at the track along the information centre. We soon met a guy I met last year in Southern Thailand at the Gurney’s Pitta quest: Mr George Wagner (who just flew into Mauritius). He decided to hook up with us, and we walked the trail for a few kilometres in order to find some wanted endemics. After taking a road to the right we again had brilliant views of the stunners of Mauritius: the White-tailed Tropic-birds flying between the hills through the rainforest. Not soon after hearing a weird sound several times George located a fine pair of Echo Parakeets. This was to bethe most difficult species according to our information as many Ring-necked Parakeets fly around all over Mauritius. All over the place were Mauritius Grey White-eyes. A better find was a nice female Mauritius Cuckoo Shrike, at the junction of the main road and the turn-off to the right. Many Madagascar Fodys on the way back to the headquarters proved the difficulties with Mauritius Fody! At Bassin Blanc we recorded a fine pair of Mauritius Bulbuls, and a walk in various parts around gave some sights of 2 or 3 Pink Pigeons and a confiding pair of Mauritius Fody. A long search between the large groups of Mauritius Grey White-eye’s finally gave away the long sought after Mauritius Olive White-eye. We also saw various Mauritius Fruit-bats and Mascarene Swifts at Bassin Blanc. This place proved harder to find than we thought. So today without Mauritius Kestrel we ticked away all the endemics. (later it turned out that the following morning George saw a pair of Mellers Ducks at the lake). We went back towards Mahebourg, and went to a town a bit south-east of Mahebourg and had an excellent diner (at the place Pointe de Esny). The night’s sleep was very good!

10 September We started the day with a sighting of some Pink Pigeons above Île aux Aigrettes Nature Reserve, and soon we found ourself on our way to the north part of the island for some sea- watching. After a long drive we arrived at Cap Malheureux and started a sea-watch. We recorded few Red-billed Tropicbirds between the more common White-tailed Tropicbirds. Also several petrels, noddies and shearwaters (Wedge-tailed and few Mascarene type) were passing , but distances were too great! Some bird watching around brought also Grey Plover, Greater Sandplover and Whimbrel for the daily log. We did some sea-watching later at Poste La Fayette, but everything was distant and numbers were not very shocking. A single unidentified booby was picked up! We then went to search for Mascarene Paradise Flycatcher at Bras d’Eau a forest reserve between Roches Noire and Poste de Flacq. We tried a sort of plantation but we failed here. Then we drove around a bit and finally we found some suitable habitat, and here we located a fine Mascarene Paradise Flycatcher. The driving and birding in the north brought us various introduced bird species like: Cape Canary, Yellow-eyed Canary, , Spice Finch, Common Waxbill and Grey Francolin. Only one wild bird could be recorded amidst them, namely House Crow. We then returned via the east towards the airport to buy a ticket here. And we slept again at Coco Villa. We had dinner a bit up in the street at an excellent place. 11 September While stepping out of the Air Austral plane, and passed through the very flexible passport control (as least we were in France so no tons of paperwork) we directly saw the dramatic mountain rising where we should go to, to tick off the island endemics. The site we had to head called La Roche Écrite is a site situated about 15 kms from the capital of St. Denis, in the mountains surrounding the city. The site can be reached via Le Brûlé (D42). This road is a very steep road and it will take one hour before you reach the start of the hiking trail. We guess about 250 curves are in the road! We stopped just before the end of the road, and soon located Reunion Stonechat and Reunion Grey-white-eye. We then drove up to the end of the road. And started the trail up. Soon we again found both Reunion Stonechat and Reunion Grey-white-eye. But we also added Mascarene Paradise Flycatcher and Reunion Olive White-eye. As time was too short we soon stepped into our car and drove the 90 kilometres towards St. Pierre. After consulting Mc Donald’s in St Denis we had a drive of 75 kilometres to go from the capital of St. Denis, to the southwest coast of Réunion at the mouth of the St. Etienne River, a few kms west of St. Pierre. We followed the coastal road from St. Denis to St. Pierre. The St. Etienne River mouth is crossed by a large bridge, and just before this bridge you come off the main road to a roundabout and head towards Bel Air. This leads down to an industrial estate and to the coast. Park here and look out to the sea. We parked near a Temple, and had our sea-watch over here. At large distance we saw some passing sea-birds including some Barau’s petrel, Mascarene (or Audubon’s) shearwater, Wedge-tailed shearwater and some Brown and Black Noddie’s. After an hour or so we saw the first Barau’s Petrels passing over head to their breeding grounds inland. With Nick Cave in the cd player we worked our way towards Sint Denis again, and a bit of Tom Waits and other songs we were soon enough back into Sint Denis (a 82 kilometre drive or so, and the largest part is not a freeway so take 1,5 hours or more for it). We then headed up Plaine de Chicots again to check out a claim of an owl, after a hazardous drive up, we found the owl, a picture on a signpost. So good joke, not………. We then had some good dinner in town (at a Moroccan Restaurant) and then crashed on our hotel beds for a good night of sleep.

12 September After a night in Saint Pierre we drove north to the Plaine de Chicots above Saint Denis. The path into the reserve is signposted and easily found. Many hikers come here - normally for two-day trips further into the mountains. We covered elevations from 1,150 to 1,650 meters. Below the reserve are pine and other introduced trees, but inside you soon enter indigenous forest with open views over the slopes, gnarled montane trees covered with lichens, and many tree ferns. During the morning we saw all the Réunion woodland endemics. Although both Reunion Bulbul and Reunion Cuckoo Shrike proved to be the most difficult to find. Birds such as Reunion Olive White- eye, Reunion Grey-white-eye, Reunion Stonechat and Mascarene Paradise Flycatcher are common. The trouble the whole morning was the constant rain, and the lack of Reunion Harrier (a potential split). We then went to the airport and we had a smooth flight to Mauritius again. We took the cab, and checked in the hotel alongside of Coco Villa at Mahebourg, because of the lack of available rooms we had to share . Food was excellent.

13 September We woke up again, and scanned the island Île aux Aigrettes for Pink Pigeon and directly succeeded. Then we took the cab towards the airport. A long wait was to be ahead of us, the plane was grounded due a technical problem, and after lot of hassle we were brought to Le Suffren at Port Louis. We had a good dinner here and a short sleep as around 12 we had to get up again, and departed towards the airport. We finally left Mauritius at 2 o’clock after a long wait.

14 September arrival in The Netherlands!