Schlegel’s Asity (Philepitta schlegeli)

Posted on March 24, 2015 by Tara

The Schlegel’s asity (Philepitta schlegeli) is a species of bird in the Philepittidae family. It is endemic to Madagascar. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.

I was lucky enough to see one in Ankarafantsika NP. This little guy just knew he was cooler than cool and sat there for several minutes showing off to a thrilled group of birders!

I am not 100% sure of the name of the circuit but all the guides know where to find this bird as it is very highly sought after! Don’t let the wide range fool you, every reference I could find online to sightings of Schelgel’s Asity are in Ankarafantsika.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE SCHELGEL’S ASITY

Wikipedia

Birdlife

Encyclopedia Britannica

Xeno-Canto

VIDEOS

Sadly there aren’t many videos of this little beauty. From what I hear, they are very hard to find and very few people get good photos even, never mind video! Makes me feel extra lucky! There are a few on IBC.

Sickle-billed Vanga (Falculea palliata)

Posted on March 23, 2015 by Tara

The sickle-billed vanga (Falculea palliata) is a species of bird in the vanga family Vangidae. It is monotypic within the genus Falculea. It is endemic to Madagascar. Its natural habitats are tropical dry forests and tropical dry shrubland.

I took these photos in the car park at Ankarafantsika NP.

Sickle-billed Vangas can be found in western Madagascar and if you want to get them easily, there is at least one nesting pair in the car park of Ankarafantsika. They are there throughout the day. They can also be seen in Ifaty and Andohahela NPs.

LEARN MORE ABOUT SICKLE-BILLED VANGAS

Wikipedia

Birdlife

Xeno-Canto

VIDEOS

The only embeddable clip I could find appears to be at a bird park but at least you can see the bird close up and hear his call. For wild Vangas, there are some clips on IBC.

The Ankoririka Circuit, Ankarafantsika

Posted on March 22, 2015 by Tara

I’m going to qualify this post with a caution that I think this is the circuit we did the 2nd morning. It could also have been the Retendrika Circuit as that one seems to be in the same area. I am going from the description of the birds we saw there and the one from the website. If you tell them you want to see the Schlegel’s Asity, they will take you to this place.

Duration : 3h
Distance : 9 km (Don’t panic, you won’t have to walk that far if you are only after the Schlegel’s Asity)!

Guidance :
Ar 25,000 for 1 to 5 persons/day
Ar 37,000 for more than 7 persons / day

Another birding group was also looking for the bird. That was a good thing as their guide found the Asity first and alerted our guide. It’s nice how they work together!

The nest of the Schlegel’s Asity

And there he is, in all his glory! This Schlegel’s Asity was super-cool and he knew it! He posed for the whole group, turning his profile both ways and just showing off!

The group moved off through the bush, the next target would be a White-breasted Mesite.

We did eventually find one in the bush but he scurried off before I could get a decent shot. You can’t win ’em all!

Malagasy Bulbul

Malagasy Coucal

Crested Drongo (Dicrurus forficatus)

Posted on March 21, 2015 by Tara

The crested drongo (Dicrurus forficatus) is a species of bird in the Dicruridae family. The nominated race is endemic to Madagascar, and found throughout the island, and some of the larger inshore islands including Nosy-Bé. The Dicrurus forficatus potior subspecies on only found on the Comoro Islands.

I took these photos in the car park of Ankarafantsika NP.

They have a very large range and can be seen anywhere in Madagascar. They are found easily in Ankarafantsika pretty much everywhere from the car park to the actual trails in the park. It’s nice to have such a cool looking bird easily found!

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CRESTED DRONGO

Wikipedia

Birdlife

Internet Bird Collection

VIDEOS

I can’t find anything embeddable but there are a couple brief clips on IBC.

The Lemurs Of Ankarafantsika

Posted on March 20, 2015 by Tara

Continuing on from yesterday’s post where we met the birds that hang out in Ankarafantsika’s car park, we will now meet the lemurs. Although you will also see them while hiking in the actual park, these photos were all taken in the car park. My husband was a bit surprised by how close they came.

Common Brown Lemurs

Coquerel’s Sifaka – my personal favourite!

In the evening we also saw a few of the shy nocturnal species. Unfortunately I couldn’t get any decent photos as it was dark and they were far away enough so that a flash wouldn’t have helped and would have frightened them off. We saw Dwarf Lemurs, Golden-brown Mouse Lemurs, and Grey Mouse Lemurs.

Greater Vasa Parrot (Coracopsis vasa)

Posted on March 19, 2015 by Tara

The Greater Vasa Parrot (Coracopsis vasa) is one of two species of vasa parrot, the other being the lesser vasa parrot C. nigra. The greater vasa parrot can be found throughout Madagascar and the Comoros. In Madagascar it is more common in portions of the Madagascar dry deciduous forests, compared with the lesser vasa parrot which is more common in the humid forests of the east coast.

I took these photos in Ankarafantsika NP.

This pair was clearly in a romantic mood!

They can be found in various places around Madagascar except in the interior. Their population is decreasing so if you want to be sure of seeing them, head to Ankarafantsika where there is a good sized flock.

LEARN MORE ABOUT GREATER VASA PARROTS

Wikipedia

World Parrot Trust

Birdlife

VIDEO

I can’t find many videos of them in the wild, at least not that I can embed here so head over to IBC for a brief clip.

And here’s a clip of a breeder describing the characteristics of a Greater Vasa Parrot.

The World’s Most Interesting Car Park – Ankarafantsika NP, Madagascar

Posted on March 16, 2015 by Tara

How many people come to an eco-tourism blog and expect to have a car park recommended as a birding hotspot? Now what if I told you that you could see not only several endemic species of birds but several species of lemur? Yes please, drive on in to the Ankarafantsika NP’s car park!

Let’s start with the birds. These photos were taken over two days, some in the morning, some around lunch time and some in the evening, just whenever we weren’t in the actual park.

White-headed Vanga

Sickle-billed Vanga

Broad-billed Rollers

Crested Drongo

Sickle-billed Vanga

Malagasy Paradise Flycatcher

Magpie-robin

Malagasy Coucal

Madagascar Turtle-dove

Grey-headed Lovebirds

A Madagascar Hoopoe checks out his appearance, maybe he has a hot date?

Satisfied he is looking his best, he’s off and running.

Broad-billed Rollers

Meanwhile, has the Hoopoe been stood up?

A Crested Drongo looks on

A Magpie-robin on a post

The Grey-headed Lovebirds are there throughout the day.

Helmeted Guineafowl

Across the street, an amorous and shameless pair of Vasa Parrots.

Another Crested Drongo

Finally the Hoopoe’s date shows up – fashionably late!

The Sickle-billed Vanga can’t help but be a sticky beak!

And the Hoopoe is alone again, but at least he looks great!

In tomorrow’s post, we meet the lemurs!

Lodge Review: Blue Vanga Lodge, Andranofasika – Ampijoroa Madagascar

Posted on March 15, 2015 by Tara

Blue Vanga Lodge is run by a friendly family in the village of Ampijoroa, about 5 km from Ankarafantsika NP. They accept online bookings which will be replied to by their Majunga office. You must pay cash Ariary or Euros, no credit cards accepted either online or in person.

We arrived with barely enough light to see the track from the main road which was well-signposted. It is a small lodge with 6 brick bungalows for tourists and a bunk room for drivers. There is no parkland nearby and the only birds we saw here were chickens belonging to local farmers. If you want to see Blue Vangas, you need to go to the park. We saw a couple other tourists who also had a private car/driver so I am not sure how people using public transport would get to the park. I did see some mini-buses (taxi-brousse) parked in the village you you could get one headed towards Majunga and just hop out at the park. To get back to the lodge, you could try for a mini-bus with empty seats or walk. A tasty breakfast is provided and they will have cold drinks if you ask after the generator has been running a couple hours. They can also do other meals. For lunch and dinner your choices are basically eat at the lodge, buy food at the market in the village or have lunch at the park.

Beds have mosquito nets and there is a fan but electricity only runs from around 6-10pm.

Nice large bathroom

There’s our jeep parked at the entrance.

Although there weren’t many mosquitoes, there were lots of moths that would get in and even get through the net. They are attracted to laptop or tablet screens, especially after the generator is switched off. The bungalows can get very hot once the fan turns off and I was dying to open a window, but then more moths came in. The next morning, the staff fixed fly screens on the windows (which just happened to be laying around) and the problem was solved! We had cross-ventilation and no moths!

The village is very small. You can see a mini-bus on the right of the red truck.

Basic food supplies – drinks, fruit, veggies and canned food can be bought at the market. We had to do this the 2nd night as I was running out of cash and no place to get any more and I needed to save enough for the petrol back to Tana. We survived!

Ankarafantsika – Boat Circuit

Posted on March 14, 2015 by Tara

After doing a 3 hour hike on the Coquereli Circuit in the morning, we decided to do a more relaxing tour of Lac Ravelobe in Ankarafantsika in the afternoon.

As you can see, the Circuit Bateau on Lac Ravelobe is 20,000 Ariary per person with a 2 person minimum. As it happened, my husband and I were the only ones on the boat besides the boat driver and the guide.

It’s a beautiful, relaxing trip during which we saw lots of water birds – herons, egrets and even a fish eagle! The trip lasts only an hour which was a bit disappointing, I would have preferred to stay out a couple hours. I was hoping for Kingfishers but struck out.

Humblot’s Heron

A crocodile gives us they eye!

Madagascar Purple Heron

Allen’s Gallinule

We had to get out and walk a bit to see the Fish Eagle. He remained far away so I couldn’t get a good shot.

Malagasy Pond Heron

Local fishing, apparently he isn’t afraid of the crocodile!

Local kids checking us out!

Another fisherman

Lesser Vasa Parrot AKA Black Parrot (Coracopsis nigra)

Posted on March 13, 2015 by Tara

The Lesser Vasa Parrot or Black Parrot (Coracopsis nigra) is a black coloured parrot native to Comoros, Madagascar, Mayotte, and Seychelles. The genus has recently been split into 3 similar species:

Black Parrot Coracopsis nigra is being split into C. nigra, C. barklyi and C.sibilans, following the application of criteria set out by Tobias et al. (2010), as well as consultation of genetic evidence and associated comments (Kundu et al. 2012, Joseph et al. 2012, N. Bunbury in litt. 2014).

I got several sightings of Black Parrots at Ankarafantsika but not very good photos as they were pretty high up. I also got a fleeting glimpse of one flying away at Andasibe and I didn’t get any photos at all. Both these parks as well as Ranomafana are good if you want to try your luck. Lesser Vasa Parrots have a wider range than Greater Vasa Parrots.

LEARN MORE ABOUT LESSER (BLACK) VASA PARROTS

Wikipedia

World Parrot Trust

Birdlife

VIDEO

I’m not having much luck finding videos of these birds in the wild. There are a couple brief clips on IBC.

Here’s a YT clip of a Black Parrot in an aviary.

And here is the recently split species – the Seychelles Parrot

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Tag Archives: Ankarafantsika

Schlegel’s Asity (Philepitta schlegeli)

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE SCHELGEL’S ASITY

VIDEOS

Sickle-billed Vanga (Falculea palliata)

LEARN MORE ABOUT SICKLE-BILLED VANGAS

VIDEOS

The Ankoririka Circuit, Ankarafantsika

Crested Drongo (Dicrurus forficatus)

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CRESTED DRONGO

VIDEOS

The Lemurs Of Ankarafantsika

Greater Vasa Parrot (Coracopsis vasa)

LEARN MORE ABOUT GREATER VASA PARROTS

VIDEO

The World’s Most Interesting Car Park – Ankarafantsika NP, Madagascar

Lodge Review: Blue Vanga Lodge, Andranofasika – Ampijoroa Madagascar

Ankarafantsika – Boat Circuit

Lesser Vasa Parrot AKA Black Parrot (Coracopsis nigra)

LEARN MORE ABOUT LESSER (BLACK) VASA PARROTS

VIDEO