Adam and I saw Little Spotted Kiwis at Zealandia near Wellington on a night tour on Friday November 29, 2025. Having seen a species of Kiwi cleared the way for me to not go on the Brown Kiwi night tour on Stewart Island on December 7. On December 7, therefore, I went on the day tour to Ulva Island conducted by Ulva’s Guided Tours after which at a little after noon, I left Stewart Island and flew to Auckland. I spent the night at the Ibis Hotel near the airport, left Auckland on the flight to Whangarei the morning of December 8, met my driver at the Whangarei Airport, drove to Tutukaka, spent the night at Quality Hotel Oceans adjacent to the Marina, and walked to the Marina at sunup on December 9 in time to join the Petrel Station pelagic tour.
Petrel Station Seabird Tours has a very good website. Anyone considering birding in New Zealand should check it out. Scott Brooks is the guide, and more, as he is a fine communicator who was immensely helpful to me in arranging details at Tutukaka. Up to the last minute he kept me informed of weather conditions, which were not ideal, and threatened to cause cancellation of the tour, but did not. Luke, the skipper, demonstrated skill with our small craft to allow the 7 birders, plus Scott and Luke, to see an immense number of seabirds well.
The boat trip itself is worth the money, not to mention the great numbers of seabirds we saw. Having been forewarned, I had supplied myself with a big package of ginger chewies to prevent seasickness, and they worked despite the choppy conditions, but they could not prevent a few scrapes and bruises when waves jolted the boat.
I am not good at using my cell phone but I managed to get a poor video of the great masses of pelagic birds at the Poor Knights Islands. The Poor Knights Islands themselves are spectacular. They are within a marine reserve famed as a scuba diving and snorkeling destination. The Marine Reserve produces lots of small fish for birds to eat. The Fairy Prions were unbelievably numerous, followed by the Buller’s Shearwaters.
Buller’s is a North American Shearwater, but they all (2,500,000 of them) nest only at the Poor Knights Islands. Following are pictures of the scene at the Poor Knights Marine Reserve:
Here is the list of the birds we saw as prepared by Scott and sent to the 7 of us at 7:46 P.M. December 9, the day of the tour (which lasted 10 hours, from 6:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.)
4 X White-capped Albatross (2 were previously seen by all 6 of us earlier off the north coast of Stewart Island). 48,000 X Fairy Prions (New species for me) 97 Cook’s Petrels (New for me) 1 Pycroft’s Petrel (New for me) 5 Grey-faced Petrels (New for me) 12 Black (formerly Parkinson’s) Petrels (New for me) 1,150 Fluttering Shearwaters (New for me). 6 Little Shearwaters (New) (New for me). 1 Wedge-tailed Shearwater 9 Short-tailed Shearwaters1 Sooty Shearwater 61 Flesh-footed Shearwaters 23,500 Buller’s Shearwaters (I saw 1 off California years ago, but they all nest at Poor Knights). 45 White-faced Storm Petrels (New for me) 7 New Zealand Storm Petrels (New for me) 40 Common Diving Petrels 2 Little Blue Penguins 6 Grey Ternlets (Gray Noddies) (New for me) (for a total of 10 new species for me). 2,050 Australasisn Gannets 1,190 Red-billed Gulls 2 Black-backed (Kelp) Gulls 76 Pied Shags (Cormorants) 1 Little Black Shag (Cormorant)
After the tour I was met at the marina by my driver (a retired New Zealand Government crop geneticist who spent time in Des Moines, Iowa working on the application by Pioneer Hi Bred Seed to sell seed corn in New Zealand). He drove me back to the Oceans hotel to pick up my bags, and then to Auckland, sometimes through heavy rain, to the Auckland Airport where I stayed the night at the Ibis Hotel, took the early Yellow Bus to the International Terminal, and flew to Sydney to rejoin my family on December 10.
The next New Zealand segment (No. 3) will feature Rotorua, the first stop on our itinerary.
My last series of posts in emptynestbirder.com covered 10 days of birding in Ghana in January 2024. In late November, 2024 I went to New Zealand with five family members. I spent time primarily in areas where endemic bird families of New Zealand could be found. I wanted to see one species in each of the 6 bird families endemic to (i.e., found only in) New Zealand.
A bit of history is helpful to understanding New Zealand and its birds. There have been 2 main theories about the origins of New Zealand as a landmass. Until recently, the predominant theory was that New Zealand separated from Gondwana, the super-continent, when it broke up many millions of years ago. Recent evidence has tilted toward a different theory: that New Zealand was created as a result of eruptions of volcanos under the ocean over many millions of years. Either way, New Zealand has been isolated from other land masses for many millions of years. During those millions of years birds populated the islands but not mammals (other than 2 species of bats). In the course of millions of years some of the birds evolved to become unable to fly, and many others lost their ability to cope with mammalian predators.
Until man arrived. The Maori people from Polynesia arrived in New Zealand around 800 AD, just a minute of time ago, if I may indulge a bit of possible hyperbole. They brought with them animals that found easy pickings of creatures that could not fly, as well as flying birds that had lost their defenses against predators. They hunted to extinction the largest flightless bird known to history, the Moa. Then about 600 years later, just a minute in time, European navigators discovered New Zealand and soon people came by the hundreds of thousands from the British Isles seeking a better life. With them, or earlier with the Maori, came rats, mice, pigs, and ultimately, Australian Possums, stoats, cats, and other mammalian predators. The endemic bird families suffered a sharp decline. In the past 100 years or so, New Zealanders of both heritages recognized that saving these endemic families was an important challenge. And so, off-shore islands and other obstacles to predators have been created and maintained and there is reason to hope that the endangered families can be saved.
I refer to bird families. Typically and historically, birders have sought out species. There are about 250 bird families and over 11,000 bird species. As my twilight years have grown numerous, I have lost my desire to see more than 4,000 species (now about 3,960) but I still hope to maximize the number of bird families that I have seen. Ghana provided 6 new families for me. New Zealand had promise of 6 more: Kiwis (4 species), New Zealand Parrots (3 species), New Zealand Wrens (2 species), New Zealand Wattlebirds (3 species) , Whiteheads (3 species) and Stitchbirds (only 1 specie). No other place in the world could come close to 6 new families for me.
My first new family was a Kiwi at Zealandia in Wellington where Adam and I saw several during a night walk. A Little Spotted Kiwi to be exact. Shortly thereafter I bailed out of a night walk for Brown Kiwis on Stewart Island, where the other 5 of my family saw and got really good pictures of 2 or 3 Brown Kiwis on video, which follows. Since Kiwis are nocturnal, the time to see them outside their burrows is at night with only a small red light. The red light allows humans to view the Kiwi without disturbing them because Kiwis’ eyes do not have the receptors to see red light. Be sure to have your volume ready for the eerie sound:
Kiwi calling in the night. Note the red light is so humans could observe without disrupting the Kiwi
Meanwhile, I left Stewart Island, flew to Auckland, and from Auckland to Whangarei and Tutukaka, where I had arranged to join a pelagic tour sponsored by the Petrel Station Seabird Tours. The oceans around New Zealand are famous for their seabirds and I did not want to miss the chance to see them. That will be covered in my next installment.
Capetown: Day 9 we left Ankasa and drove to Capetown. I had mentioned to Ibrahim that we would like to see the old “castle”, remembered more today as a slave prison rather than as a castle. The more privileged whites lived on the upper floors in what was luxury in the slave trading days. The Castle was the main site of the British controlled slave trade out of Africa for almost 150 years, from 1664, when Britain gained control of Capetown to 1807 (over 50 years before our Civil War) when Britain enacted the Slave Trade Act which discouraged the slave trade. In preparation for my birding trips, I often read a book about the country to which I am going. In the case of Ghana, I read the book, “Homegoing” by Yaa Gyasi. Her book is characterized in the reviews as “historical fiction”. It has the feel of a book which tells the truth, but with fictionally imagined characters. A very interesting book. I unhesitatingly recommend it for anyone having an interest in Ghana.
When we arrived at Cape Castle we were assigned a guide who spoke with us before conducting the official tour. I told him I had read Homegoing by Yaa “Geeasi” (I pronounced it with a hard g as in “George”). Our guide stopped me to correct my pronunciation of her last name, which begins with a soft g as in “girl”. He seemed familiar with the book so I asked him if it was an accurate portrayal of the history of the Castle. He had read the book and he said it was an accurate portrayal. I had taken a quick look at the lower levels of the Castle where Africans were held as prisoners before being shipped to the Americas and the Caribbean to be sold as slaves. It was very depressing to see and imagine their suffering. After a short time, I left the tour and sat on the ramparts of the castle overlooking the more beautiful Atlantic Ocean. Here are some of the pictures taken at Cape Castle:
Because of the Irish connection…
[Clarissa and Adam’s note] The following photo is of the prison below the castle. This is where many people were imprisoned before crossing the Atlantic in the process of being sold as slaves. The center gutters were for human waste that was piled high in the prison at its time of use. The smoother floors aside the gutters throughout the rooms show the waste, now hardened into rock, where humans were crammed in these extremely over-crowded and under-cleaned areas. The sight and thought of this area was heartbreaking.
The following photos are views from the upper floor of the castle.
The Picathartes (or Rockfowl)
From Cape Coast we undertook the seemingly interminable drive to the small village of Bonkro, which is somewhere between Kumasi and Accra. This is the site to which Ashanti takes its guests who wish to see the iconic and rare White-necked Picathartes, or, in strictly English, White-necked Rockfowl. Bonkro is not on a major highway. The Rockfowl was the bird I most wanted to see in Ghana. It is one of the two species in the Picathartes family of birds. It was the 6th new family I hoped to see in Ghana, having seen the other 5 families before on the trip. In searching the internet for some way of explaining exactly where Bonkro is I came across a wonderful description of one birder’s experience which so closely reflects the experience Adam and I had, and is so well written, that I cannot resist quoting at length.
This is from a blog entitled “Redgannet – a Photographic diary of a Birdwatcher Travelling the World so You don’t have to.” This was posted on April 2, 2014, almost 10 years ago.
“This afternoon’s visit to the West African forests was one of the most hotly anticipated trips that I have done in a long time. [To which the empty nest birder adds a fervent “ditto”}. I was going in search of a White-necked Picathartes and had asked a local guide [name omitted from this quotation] to help me. To my mind, Picathartes are birds of legend, seen only by the luckiest, most dedicated bird-spotters. They are endangered and shy but there is a knack to finding them. They return to their nests each evening and can reliably be seen by waiting quietly for dusk within sight of the nest. It has been shown that whist they are secretive during the day as they forage deep in the forest, they are bolder around the nest and one such place exists near Bonkro Village. . . .
“If you can picture the Millenium Falcon, having nose-dived into a jungle, you pretty much have the scene as I saw it. A large slab of rock jutted from the ground at about the same angle that an out of control spaceship would have come to rest and an earthen nestsimilar to a swallow’s but bigger, hanging from the underside. The approved method of White-necked Picathartes watching is simply to sit quietly and wait for the birds to return to their night roost, so I picked a comfortable looking spot and sat. [in the empty nest birder’s case, 3 in a row with about 10 feet between each, Ibrahim on the left, the empty nest birder in the middle and Adam on the right] It became clear that the spot was not as comfortable as it first appeared, but the birds did not show as promised. . . .The guide tapped my toe and pointed in the opposite direction from which I was expecting the bird to come.
The Millenial Falcon (Nesting Rock of the Picathartes) as we saw it, had 2 nests hanging on the underside of the Millenial Rock, or Nesting Rock:
Diverging from RedGannet’s experience, in our case first one, then two, then three Picathartes came to the site on foot. Their feet were at the end of long, powerful, spring-loaded legs that allowed them to move like kangaroos, which they each did for several minutes. Notwithstanding the dim light of dusk, Adam was able to get decent pictures of the White-necked Picathartes that bounced from rock to rock in front of us:
Wings Birding Tours in its on-line ad for its Ghana trips describes the anticipated experience as follows:
“Rockfowl site: Our ground agents [that is, Ashanti African Tours, which Adam and the empty nest birder employed] have a community project here and even built a school for the local community. Locals are employed as guides, and we shall meet these in the village where we park. From here, it is approximately a 30-40 min walk to the Rockfowl site through farmbush and then forest along a mostly level trail. The final five minutes or so, however, are quite steep and potentially slippery. Some people will find a walking stick beneficial here. We then sit on a bench overlooking the nesting/roosting sites for the Rockfowl and waitfor the birds to appear. This may take a long while, and participants should be able to sit quietly and still for that time.”
The walk in darkness back down the steep incline leading to the rock was very difficult for me. Ibrahim, who was barefoot at this juncture, (why, I don’t know) helped me down this portion of the descent. Without his physical help, and the “walking stick” that was found and given to me as we approached the steep ascent, I probably would have had to try to crawl back down. He re-enforced my impression of the Ghanese as very kind people, certainly with respect to the elderly (and I am soon to be 90).
After the steep part of the descent, Ibrahim and I spotted a dark bird in the underbrush. He was very, very excited to identify it as the first new lifer he has seen in Ghana for several years, a rare African Pitta.
I retired that night a tired man, but happy “as a lark”, because I had accomplished my main goal of the trip: seeing 6 new bird families in the company of kind and interesting people. I hope and wish they can say the same of me. Our living quarters at Bonkro had no air conditioning and no internet, but we were comfortable in our “Guest House” at Bonkro.
The balance of the trip was anti-climactic: just getting home. The road trip from Bonkro to the Accra Airport was incredibly long due to the traffic around and in Accra. The experience we had in Ghana was memorable because the people of Ghana were kind and cordial without exception. Adam saw about 190 birds, almost all of which were new to him. Don saw 120 new species to bring his total lifetime worldwide species list to 3,930. He saw all 6 species within families that were new to him, to bring his family list to 229 of the Clements list of families, which totals 250 extant families, plus 1 extinct family.
After our arrival in Accra we again hit the road, this time toward Kakum with Frank, a great driver, as our “new” driver for the remainder of our trip. In Jukwa near Kakum we stayed in the Rain Forest Lodge for nights 4, 5 and 6. Day 4 was mostly a travel day. We had driven from Mole to Tamale; flown from Tamale to Accra, and taken the time-consuming drive from Accra to the Rain Forest Lodge.
After we arrived at the Rain Forest Lodge in late afternoon we went looking for night birds. Twilight began about 6:00 p.m. We were done in time for dinner at the Rain Forest Lodge at 8:00. Our night birding produced an Akun Eagle Owl, our bird of the for Day 4. It was one of the few seen that day.
Day 5 around Kakum was spent walking in the morning. Don, suffering a bit from back problems and thinking of the climb up to, on and down from the Canopy Walk the next day, quit around 10 through most of the afternoon in order to rest up for the trek to the Canopy the next morning. My highlight of the morning of Day 5 was a fleeting glimpse of one of my target birds, a Green Hylia, (new family # 2, just recognized as a family by Clements in September of 2023). I got a much better view of the Green Hylia on Day 7 at Ankasa while sitting on Adam’s stool by a stream-side, as Adam and Ibrahim walked on ahead. My first view of the Green Hylia was not satisfactory, so I was very happy to see it so well on my second sighting (close and for a long time).
The hike up to the Canopy Walk on Day 6 produced a smashing view of the 3rd new family on my “Targeted Six”: the small but colorful male Rufous-sided Broadbill. It repeatedly performed its little aerial acrobatic act of sitting on a bare branch, taking a short, circular flight and landing back in the same spot. A number of years ago the Broadbills family was split into two families: One, the Asian and Grauer’s Broadbills (10 species , 9 in Asia, one of which I have seen, and 1, the Grauer’s Broadbill, in Uganda and Congo, Africa); and two, the African and Green Broadbills (6 species, 3 in Africa and 3 in Borneo and neighboring areas). What an amazing geographic dispersal of species within families.
The “highest” highlight of the trip was on this Day 6, when we spent the whole morning walking to and birding from the CanopyWalkat Kakum. Sarah Benke described the Canopy Walk well on FLICKR:
“This series of rope-style bridges brings visitors into a jungle layer that is usually reserved for birds and monkeys. Unique on the African continent, the Kakum Canopy Walk allows hikers to experience a portion of the jungle usually reserved for climbers and fliers thanks to a trail of precariously hung suspension bridges. Located in the thick tropical jungle of Kakum Naional Park, the canopy walk was actually designed by a pair of Canadian engineers and five Ghanians. Looking to increase tourism (specifically ecotourism) in the largely ignored national park the designers wanted to create a unique feature that would make the park a destination, thus an elevated trail through the canopy was devised. Opened on Earth Day in 1995, the canopy walkway consists of seven separate bridges that hang from the trees over 130 feet above the ground. Across over 1,000 feet of walkway, the bridges look as though they are constructed like a traditional rope bridge made from the materials of the forest, however, the sturdy spans are made of wire rope, aluminum, and wooden planks, and even have safety netting to keep people from plummeting off the trail.”
And from the Wings Birding Tours information on-line, this:
“At over 120 feet high the canopy walkway really is something different. It was built by a Canadian company and the locals have been trained in its maintenance. Along its course are stable viewing platforms. It is wide enough for just one person at a time, and it is best to allow the person in front of you to get over halfway to the next viewing platform before starting your walk.
All our birding was done from the platforms, which are far more stable and spacious and allowed Ibrahim to set up his telescope for better viewing. Here are some pictures featuring the Canopy Walk:
Video of the view from the canopy walk
From the Canopy I saw, at a distance, a Violet-backed Hyliota ( my # 4 new family found in Ghana). Having now seen representatives of 4 of the 6 targeted families, Ibrahim’s optimism was, if possible, growing, and my pessimism disappeared. I had left only a Nicator and a Picathartes.
Not far from the Canopy a group of about 50 Lesser Spot-nosed Monkeys moved through the trees.
From the Canopy we saw this White-crested Hornbill
On Day 7 we drove from the Rain Forest Lodge in Jukwa to Ankasa National Park and the Ankasa Reserve Lodge, where we spent nights 7 and 8. Ankasa is about 400 kilometers from Accra. It is in the far southwest corner of Ghana (formerly named the Gold Coast) near the border with Cote d’Voire (formerly Ivory Coast). During the drive to Ankasa we saw several naturally wet areas and looked for the Hartlaub’s Duck, without success, We saw more White-faced Whistling Ducks, Long-tailed Cormorants, Great Egrets, Cattle Egrets, and, new for me, an Allen’s Gallinule, and a few others before we arrived at Ankasa.
On Day 7 I was pleased to see and watch for a while another Green Hylia at close range while sitting quietly by a mostly obscured little stream, as Adam and Ibrahim forged onward on the trail. Although this viewing did not count as a new family, because I saw a Hylia briefly 2 days earlier, it was a very satisfying experience not having seen it well the first time.
I was struck by the number of species of Greenbuls that Ibrahim identified at both Kakum and Ankasa. He could identify them either by song or by sight. These mostly somber greenish-grayish nondescript birds usually seen in poor light and among lots of leaves, all looked pretty much the same to me. According to Ibrahim, the species seen were at least 9, as follows: Slender-billed, Golden, Simple (Leaflove), Red-tailed, Western Bearded, Gray, Yellow-bearded, Little, and Icterine. I have been hesitant to add any of them to my life list and probably will not, because if I were to see them again I think I would have no idea what species I was looking at.
Pretty much the same could be said about the numerous Sunbirds, although each species of Sunbird has a special beauty and distinction. The Sunbirds we recorded in Ghana, the majority of which (10), were at Kakum or Ankasa, were: Fraser’s, Little Green, Collared, Reichenbach’s, Blue-throated Brown, Olive, Buff-throated, Carmelite, Olive-bellied, and Superb. In addition we had in Ghana previously seen 3 species at Mole: Pygmy, Scarlet-chested and Beautiful. Ten of the 13 were new to me. After Ghana I have seen 30 species of Sunbirds, of which the majority were in Africa, including 2 on the island of Madagascar. Other far away places where I have seen Sunbirds are: Black, in New Britain (off the coast of Papua New Guinea); Palestine (Israel); Purple (India); Olive-backed (Papua New Guinea); Mrs. Gould’s (Bhutan); Green-tailed (India and Bhutan); Black-throated (India); and Vigor’s (India).
On our second day at Ankasa (Day 8) we started by loading into an ancient and battered four wheel drive vehicle. We entered a very wet, muddy, narrow and rutted lumber road into the forest. We were headed for some small ponds far back in the forest. But about 10 minutes into the drive we had to stop because a large tree had fallen across the trail totally obstructing our progress. At first, I was concerned that it might be an ambush of some sort. But on close inspection by our driver and Ibrahim, it became apparent that the tree fell of natural causes. But what to do? The tree was very large and we could not get around it. So we turned around and went back. We then spent a couple of hours of the morning productively seeing several excellent species, including Yellow-billed Turacos.
Day 8 also produced a nice Black Bee-eater:
And a Yellow-throated Tinkerbird
And a Chocolate-Backed Kingfisher
By mid-afternoon a crew had managed to clear the tree from the logging road and we began again. It is difficult to believe that any vehicle could traverse this track. But, after a long ride, and a long walk, we came to our first pond. This was followed by a further walk, as it began to grow dark, to see ponds 2 and 3. This proved, however, to be a great Kingfisher day, as we saw several species at the ponds. They included a Shining Blue Kingfisher:
And this African Pygmy Kingfisher
Also at the ponds we saw a White-bellied Kingfisher and an African Dwarf Kingfisher.
I was elated when I made it back to the vehicle on my own 2 legs.
My long-delayed birding trip to Ghana finally came to pass during the last 10 days of January 2024. This trip was first planned with Ashanti African Tours for March 2020. A few days before my wife and I were scheduled to arrive in Ghana in 2020 the Covid pandemic closed air travel to Ghana. Ashanti had been paid in full, airline tickets purchased, and visas obtained. Delta refunded its portion of our airline tickets (from Des Moines to Amsterdam). The cost of the portion of the flight handled by KLM (Amsterdam to Accra) was mishandled by KLM and never received. Ashanti offered substantial credit of 85% if the trip were rescheduled for 2021. This was later extended (on a reduced credit basis, generally reflective of the amount of irretrievable expenses incurred by Ashanti and subsequent inflation in Ghana. Discounts were extended first to 2022, and extended again to 2023 and 2024. I had not purchased cancellation insurance for the 2020 trip, so Ashanti’s offer and generosity were very welcome. I could not have dealt with better people. Over the course of the subsequent years my wife decided she would prefer a different destination, so my frequent birding companion, son-in-law Adam, joined me for our 2024 adventure in Ghana.
Late on January 20, 2024 we departed from JFK in New York on a non-stop Delta flight to Ghana. We arrived in Accra, Ghana’s capital and its largest city, mid-afternoon on Sunday January 21 (officially Day 1 of our 10 day trip). We were met at the airport by our Ashanti assigned guide, Ibrahim Entsie. He escorted us to the Labadi Beach Hotel for our one-night stay in Accra. Accra is on the south coast of Ghana on the Atlantic Ocean shoreline and it is the capital of Ghana. Adam took a stroll before dinner on the nearby Labadi Beach.
The only birds we saw in Accra that we could identify were Pied Crows. We saw more Pied Crows every day we spent in Ghana.
Early next morning (Day 2, Monday January 22) we flew with Ibrahim to Tamale, about 370 miles north of Accra in north central Ghana. We hoped to see Egyptian Plovers on the White Volta River. Egyptian Plovers are the sole species in the monotypic family Pluvianidae which would be a new family for me. We met our driver at the Tamale airport. He remained with us until Day 4, for the Mole/White Volta part of the trip. The drive northwest from Tamale Airport to the village of Daboya on the White Volta River took about 2.5 hours. The road was rough and with some time out for birding along the way, the time on the road grew long.
Although Ghana as a whole is about 70% Christian, the Christians are mostly concentrated in the south. The Tamale area in the north is mostly Muslim. Ghana’s people, Christian and Muslim, pride themselves on their amicable relations with one another, regardless of religion. Cattle are the primary source of income in the Tamale region. We were there in the midst of the dry season. Water is scarce and it is pumped from bore holes, which often go deep into the earth. The cattle we saw were quite thin. Tamale is the capital of the North Region of Ghana and has a population of about 1,000,000 making it Ghana’s 3rd largest city (after Accra, # 1, and Kumasi, capital of the Ashanti Region, # 2).
Many of the small villages in the northern part of Ghana have mostly small houses with grass roofs:
On the drives both to and from the village of Daboya on the White Volta River we made a few stops. We then saw Speckled Pigeons, Vinaceous Doves, a Western Plantain-eater, many Red-throated Bee-eaters, a Rufous-crowned Roller, African Gray Hornbills, Eurasian Kestrel, Pied Crows, Cattle Egrets, a Bateleur, a Grasshopper Buzzard, Yellow-billed Kites, Northern Gray-headed Sparrows, Black-rumped Waxbills, Red-cheeked Cordon-bleus, Red-billed Firefinches and Bronze Mannikins. Pictured below is a Black-billed Wood-Dove:
After a long and bumpy ride, we arrived at the White Volta River around noon. We did not have to wait long before a pair of Egyptian Plovers appeared nearby, seemingly oblivious of the numerous people working or playing near the River. Dramatically marked and unmistakeale, pictured below are the Egyptian Plovers:
So, I found the first of 6 the new Families that I thought possible in Ghana. Most plovers are included in the Charadriidae Family. Egyptian Plover is the sole species in the Pluvianidae Family, as the Magellanic Plover is the sole species in its Pluvianellidae Family. For me, the Egyptian Plover became Family number 224. 250 families are recognized in Clements Birds of the World. With this, which I thought of as the second most important bird for me to see in Ghana, there remained 5 more new families to possibly see in Ghana. Ibrahim was confident we would see all 5. I had some doubts.
From Daboya on the White Volta, we drove northward to Mole (pronounced “Molee”) National Park where we stayed in the Zaina Lodge for 2 nights (Days 2 and 3). There was daylight enough when we arrived at Mole to see some of the birds and animals. Many were added on Day 3 and on the drive out of Mole on Day 4. The room at the Zaina Lodge required us to make a choice of a comfortable large bed or an uncomfortable small bed. Adam graciously chose the small one (with no objection from me) as his, but could not refrain from photographing evidence of his sacrifice with this one of our Zaina Lodge Room:
We quickly learned that the armed guard, a very convivial fellow, who accompanied us on all our outings in Mole, whether by vehicle or on foot, was important for our safety. The Antelope, Warthogs and Elephants were numerous in Mole. The elephants can be dangerous and are impressive animals. We were the victim of attempted intimidation (or worse) by this old bull African BushElephant:
Among the species of antelope in Mole, we saw Waterbucks, Bushbucks, Roan Antelope, a Red-flanked Duiker, and many Kob:
Warthogs were fun to see, especially when we saw a pair as they scurried quickly along with their little ones in the dim light of evening. Closer and in better light is this warthog:
Monkeys and Olive Baboons were also well represented in Mole. I am unsure whether the picture below is a Patas or Green monkey. I think it is a Green Monkey:
Among the birds that we saw at Mole were White-faced Whistling Ducks, (many), Helmeted Guineafowl, Double-spurred Francolins, a Stone Partridge family with a couple of small chicks hurrying to their night roost across an abandoned air strip, Hamerkop, Gray Herons, Black-headed Herons, Squacco Herons, Striated Herons, Hadaba Ibis, Hooded Vultures, Lizard Buzzards, Dark Chanting Goshawk, a single Black Kite, many Yellow-billed Kites, Black Crakes, Water Thick-knees, Spur-winged Lapwings, a Forbes Plover, White-fronted Plover, African Jacanas, a Common Sandpiper, & a lek with Chestnut-backed Sparrow Larks.
One of the highlights for me at Mole was the sighting of a couple of flocks of Violet Turacos. Between short flights they kept well hidden at the tops of tall trees, but Adam managed to capture this image of a Violet Turaco:
Near one of the elephant-frequented water holes, which held very little water at this time of year, we saw this Gray-headed Kingfisher:
And this Malachite Kingfisher:
We were impressed with Mole. It is a wonderful park. The drive to Mole from Accra would have been very time-consuming, so we had opted to fly on Africa World Airlines from Accra to Tamale and back. Day 4 we drove from Mole to Tamale to catch our plane back to Accra. More to come soon in Part 2.
I signed on with Caribbean Conservation Trust for a 10-day bird survey in Cuba, followed by a day in historic Havana. My son-in-law Adam and I joined 7 other survey participants on the Southwest flight from Fort Lauderdale to Havana on January 9th. Our itinerary covered central and western Cuba where we found most of the possible endemic species. Our objective was to enhance the scientific information relating to the numbers and distribution of birds in Cuba in order to facilitate their survival in an increasingly problematic environment.
My personal and specific objective was to see one of the two species of the Endemic Cuban Warbler Family: either a Yellow-headed Warbler or an Oriente Warbler. We succeeded in finding both.
As a secondary objective, I also hoped to see the smallest bird in the world. That was achieved when we were able to observe this Bee Hummingbird at the feeders at a private home.
Well, now that I started with the punch lines, I will write in a little more detail about Cuba and the tour.
Cuba is our closest neighbor in the Caribbean. It lies within 100 miles of Florida. The flight from Fort Lauderdale to Havana is less than an hour. American and Southwest airlines, and probably others, fly between Fort Lauderdale and Havana on a regular basis. Notwithstanding the Trump administration “restrictions” it is still legal (and not especially difficult) for United States citizens to visit Cuba. But because of the (intended) fear and uncertainty created by the “new” restrictions and sanctions, visitors from the U.S. are currently many fewer than they have been in recent years, causing considerable privation among the Cuban entrepreneurs and workers who have developed and depended on tourism for their livelihoods. U.S. fear and sanctions are hurting Cubans. And now, the Corona Virus.
Cuba is a little over 700 miles long and about 120 miles wide at its widest point. It is the largest island in the Caribbean. It has about 11,000,000 inhabitants. The second largest Caribbean island is Hispaniola, which is divided between Haiti and Dominican Republic, each with about 11,000,000 inhabitants. These 3 countries account for 75% of the population of the Caribbean. There are many other islands in the Cariibbean, some independent and some owned by other countries. The ones with over 1,000,000 inhabitants are Jamaica with 3,000,000, Puerto Rico (a U.S. possession) 3,000,000, and Trinidad and Tobago, 1,500,000. Some of the independent countries are surprisingly small and sparsely populated. All in all, there are over 700 islands, and 11 independent countries.
While there, a Cuban summarized the accomplishments of the Cuban Socialist Revolution since 1959 as follows: excellent education system, excellent medical system, excellent sports events and participation; but not much to eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Food is rationed. Here is a “store” where people go to get their basic foods on a weekly basis.
For car afficionados, it is a mecca for observing vintage autos, often brightly painted, which are on display everywhere, and used as every-day operating vehicles.
We spent a lot of time driving through the countryside. The land is beautiful, with low lying mountains, valleys and green pastures dotted with trees. There is much pastureland. There are cattle, horses, pigs, chickens and goats. There are fields of sugar cane, tobacco, bananas, tomatoes, and other fruits and vegetables.
The history of Cuba is fascinating. One of the most interesting books I read before my trip is Havana Nocturne, which well and entertainingly describes the situation in Cuba as it existed and changed in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, up to the ouster of the Batista government by the Castro led Socialist Revolution on January 1, 1959. I recommend it as necessary background for understanding present-day Cuba and the relationship between Cuba and the United States.
We were surprised that we did not need malaria pills for this trip. Malaria has long been extinguished on this island. We felt very safe wherever we went, in the country-side or in the cities.
We arrived in Havana on the 9th and drove directly to Vinales, to the west. We arrived too late to do any birding, and stayed there for nights 1 and 2 with night 2 following our Day 1 of actual birding. This area produced for me Yellow-headed Warblers, fulfilling my primary objective of the trip, as one of the 2 species in the endemic Cuban Warbler family. We also had a brief in-flight view of Gundlach’s Hawk.
Also seen in the area (or on the drive to the Zapata area) were the endemic Cuban Blackbird and the following West Indian Endemics residing in Cuba, or Cuban subspecies: Great Lizard Cuckoo, Antillean Palm Swift, Cuban Emerald, West Indian Woodpecker, Stygian Owl, American Kestrels, Cuban Peewee, Loggerhead Kingbirds, Red-legged Thrush, Cuban Bullfinches, Western Spindalis, Tawny-shouldered Blackbirds, Eastern Meadowlark (hypocreppis), and Greater Antillean Grackles.
Here is the Stygian Owl, one of a pair seen.
From Vinales we went east to the south coast town of Playa Larga for nights 3 and 4. I was unable to participate in Day 3 of Birding because I became ill during the preceding night, suspicious of food poisoning, and missed the day. Adam was able to get a picture of Blue-Headed Quail Doves.
The rest of the group also saw several Endemic Species most of which I was able to see before or after that day, except for the Blue-headed Quail Dove and the Gray-fronted Quail Dove (which our guide Nils does not believe is deserving of species status separate from the Hispaniolan Gray-headed Quail Dove, which I have seen there).
A boat tour of the Zapata Swamp on Birding Day 4 was a highlight the trip, with Zapata Wrens and Zapata Sparrows showing well; but, like everyone else, we did not see the Zapata Rail.
I also saw the following Endemics on Day 4: Bare-legged Owl, Greater Antillean (Cuban) Nightjar, Bee Hummingbird, Cuban Green Woodpecker, Cuban Parakeet, and Cuban Oriole.
Day 5 was spent on the road north across to the northern coast, to Cayo Coco (“Key” Coco). The ride was long. It terminated with a drive across a 35-mile causeway built on the shallow seabed between the coast of Cuba and the northern keys. There we lived in luxury for 2 nights at a plush tourist hotel with lots of international guests. A big pool, all-inclusive meals and drinks, a room above the water, evening live music, and other amenities enhanced the birding experience.
The most notable new Endemics added to my personal count during our stay at Cayo Coco or on the drive back to Havana via Sancta Spiritus (where we spent the night), Trinidad and Cienfuegos were: Cuban Black Hawk, Cuban Tody, Cuban Gnatcatcher, and Oriente Warbler, the second species of the new Cuban Warbler family.
In Havana we stayed at a unique, small hotel (about 10 rooms) converted by German investors from an Oldtown residence to a hotel. It was ideal as a base for our day-tour of Havana. Among the highlights of the day tour were these.
Several of our group in front of the Fidel Castro mural on an administrative building in Revolution Square
Also at Revolution Square is the Jose Marti Memorial, at 358 feet in height, the largest memorial in the world in honor of a writer. Long planned, and much delayed, it was finished in 1958 in the final days of the Batista regime. Governments of Cuba whether pre-revolution or post-revolution, deem it important to honor Marti. From Encyclopedia Britannica:
“Jose Marti, born January 28, 1853, Havana, Cuba—died May 19, 1895, Dos Rios. Poet and essayist, patriot and martyr, who became a symbol of Cuba’s struggle for independence from Spain. His dedication to the goal of Cuban freedom made his name a synonym for liberty throughout Latin America. As a patriot, Marti organized and unified the movement for Cuban independence and died on the battlefield fighting for it. As a writer he was distinguished for his personal prose and deceptively simple, sincere verse on themes of a free and united America.”
Jose Marti Memorial, Adam in foreground
The fight for independence from Spain began in the 1870s and ended in 1898 when the United States, after the sinking of the Maine in Havana Harbor, went to war with Spain and drove it from Cuba.
The 29 new species I saw in Cuba brings to 3,825 my total species seen. Adding the Cuban Warblers to my family list brings it to 223 out of 248. That leaves only the Sapayoa as my single Western Hemisphere unseen family. When the Corona Virus is conquered, I may still see the Sapayoa in Ecuador or Panama.
The trip to Madagascar offered an opportunity to see lemurs, found nowhere else in the world. There are 3 orders of mammals found only on Madagascar: lemurs, tenrecs and Malagasy carnivores. We saw a Tenrec, as earlier reported, but none of the Malagasy carnivores. As for Lemurs, the Island lived up to its reputation. From the Behrens and Barnes invaluable guide, “Wildlife of Madagascar”:
“Lemurs: A massive radiation of primates that is endemic to the island. There are five living families, plus a further three that have become extinct.” “Lemurs are Madagascar’s most celebrated biological treasure. Fifteen percent of the world’s primate species and subspecies, 20% of its primate genera and one-third of its primate families, are endemic to the island. Lemurs form one of the most prominent voices in the Malagasy forest. Most species are vocal and produce many different calls.”
The five different families of lemurs are Mouse, Sportive, True, Indri and Aye-aye.
Mouse Lemurs (Cheirogaleidae Family). 18 species, 9 to 12 inches long. Behrens and Barnes: “These tiny nocturnal lemurs include the smallest living primate in the world: Madame Berthe’s Mouse Lemur. . . . They closely resemble the galagos, or “bushbabies” of Africa. Modern taxonomy has seen the number of recognized species increase dramatically from two to 18, and more species may yet be described. Although mouse lemurs are occasionally found sleeping during the day (resembling tiny fur balls), most sightings are during the night, usually in the form of a pair of eyes bounding about the forest at remarkable speed. There is some variation in size and colour (from gray to rufous), but all mouse lemurs look very similar, especially with a typical night walk view. According to current information, most can be identified simply by where you are, so refer to the locality and species table on this page.”
Grey-brown Mouse Lemur
“Dwarf Lemurs (also in the Cheirogaleidae, or Mouse, family). 7 species, 16 to 22 inches long. Behrens and Barnes: “Dwarf lemurs are small nocturnal lemurs in the same family as mouse lemurs. They are remarkable as the only primates known to go into a hibernation-like torpor during the dry season (approximately May to December), during which they live off the reserves of fat stored in their tails. . . . There seems to be little overlap in range of most species so tentative identifications can be based on the location of a sighting. Refer to the locality and species table on this page.”
Based on my prior understanding that finding any mouse lemurs (including dwarf lemurs) would be difficult, I was hoping we would see at least one species from this big family of small, nocturnal lemurs. We found 3: Grey-brown Mouse Lemurs at Ifaty, and Goodman’s Mouse Lemurs and Crossley’s DwarfLemur at Andasibe.
2. Sportive Lemurs (Lepilemuridae). 26 species, 17 to 25 inches long. From Behrens and Barnes: “Sportive lemurs are classified as an entirely separate family. They are rather chunky, with big eyes and ears, and have a vertical posture. These nocturnal lemurs are often seen during the day, roosting in tree cavities or dense tangles. At night, they move about with impressive leaps while retaining their vertical posture. This is another group, like the mouse lemurs, where the number of recognized species (currently 26) has increased dramatically in recent years, and new species may yet be described. These species look very similar, especially at night, but show some variation in size, color, prominence of the ears, and other traits. However, it is unusual for two species to coexist, and so most can be identified by location (see table below).”
As with the Mouse Lemurs, I thought we would need luck to see any Sportive Lemurs. But, we saw 2 species: Petter’s Sportive Lemur (White Footed?) at Ifaty, and Zombitse Sportive Lemur at Zombitse
3. “True Lemurs” (Lemuridae). This family includes several larger lemurs, generally thought of as separate groups, (a “genus”) including Bamboo Lemurs, Ring-tailed Lemurs, Brown Lemurs and Ruffed Lemurs. Most True Lemurs are active in daylight, unlike the Mouse or Sportive Lemurs. Except for the Ring-tailed Lemurs which we saw at Isalo, all of our sightings of this family were in the Andasibe area.
A. Bamboo Lemurs. Bamboo lemurs are active during the day. They can be up to almost 3 feet long, tip of tail to tip of nose. We found Eastern GreyBamboo Lemurs at Andasibe.B
Another species of Bamboo Lemur, the Golden Bamboo Lemur, is critically endangered. It exists only in Ranomafana National Park, which itself exists in large part because of the discovery of this species there in 1985. We chose not to visit Ranomafana due to its remoteness, difficult topography and our time constraints for the trip.
B. Ring-tailed Lemurs. We included Isalo in our itinerary primarily because Ring-tailed Lemurs can often be seen there. The 3 to 3.5 foot long Ring-tail is probably the most distinctive and well-known lemur in Madagascar, although the Indri, discussed later, certainly gives it a run for the money. We were fortunate to find a very active group near the campground at Isalo. Their expressive faces, athleticism and long tails make for a good show.
C. Brown Lemurs. From Behrens and Barnes: “Brown lemurs are a large genus (Eulemur) within the ‘true lemur’ family, and include some of the lemur species most frequently seen by visitors. There are 12 species . . . . Brown lemurs are medium-sized [3 feet long], vocal, and generally found in groups. They are generally diurnal.” We saw them at Andasibe.I
D. Ruffed Lemurs. We saw just one Black and White Ruffed Lemur at Mantadia National Park, north of Andasibe, toward the end of our trip. It is generally found high in the trees, and that was the case for us. It appeared to be eating the flowers.
4. The Indriidae Family. Like the True Lemurs, this family is normally active in daylight hours. The Family includes Wooly lemurs, Sifakas (both Verreaux’s and Diademed), and the wonderful (and, if from a distance, haunting) voice of the forest, the Indris. All of them are large, colorful, athletic and charismatic. They gave us many hours of pleasure, and a few shocks as one or more Indri would suddenly emit from overhead an incredibly loud and surprising scream.
Our first encounter with any of Indri family was with the Verreaux’s Sifakas in the southwest.I
At Andasibe, we were treated to several sightings of Wooly Lemurs,
And Diademed Sifakas,
The stars of the Lemur Show at Andasibe were undoubtedly the Indri. They were vocal and loud, beautiful and impressive with their leaps through the trees. They could be heard every morning from our hotel. The locals call them the Voice of the Forest. Truly, never to be forgotten voices, deafening at close range, haunting from a distance.
5. The Aye-aye. As for the 5th Lemur family, the monotypic Aye-aye, we did not expect to see any because it is rare and restricted to areas we did not visit. Nevertheless, to complete the Lemur discussion, we quote a summary from Behrens and Barnes: “This remarkable creature is one of the world’s most bizarre animals. Its strangest features are its perpetually growing incisor teeth and its thin, elongated middle fingers, which are used to extract larvae from dead wood. Although it was sometimes considered to be a rodent in the past, recent genetic studies have placed it firmly in the lemurs. It forms its own family (one of Madagascar’s five lemur families).”
We were able to identify 13 species of Lemur, at least one species within each of the 4 Lemur Families that were possible to find in the areas we explored. The most surprising sightings were of the 3 normally nocturnal Mouse Lemur species and the 2 Sportive Lemur species, better than the previously hoped for 1 of each family.
THE CHAMELEONS
This Oustalet’s Chameleon showed up outside our hotel on our first morning in Tana.
The Andasibe area added several Chameleons to our collection.
Short-horned Chameleon
Big Nose Chameleon
And the near threatened Parson’s (Giant) Chameleon.
THE GECKOS, SKINKS, LIZARDS, TORTOISES AND FROGS
We saw 7 species of Gecko. One of the prettiest is this Lined Day Gecko
Gold-spotted Skink
Three-eyed Lizard
Spider Tortoise
Frogs were small but colorful. Here are several:
Marbled Rain Frog
Baron’s Mantella (Painted Frog)
THE BUTTERFLIES AND OTHER INSECTS, AND SPIDERS
Notable at Andasibe were the large numbers of various species of Butterflies.
Green Ladies in with hundreds of white butterflies
Cream-lined Swallowtail
And these denizens of the insect (or spider) worlds:
Kung Fu Cricket (seen at Ifaty)
Grant’s Millipede
And the weirdest of all, this Giraffe-necked Weevil
We flew from Tulear to Tana on November 26. There our party was divided for the remainder of the trip because of the need for smaller, four-wheel drive vehicles in the Andasibe/Mantadia area. It took nearly 2 hours to get out of Tana because of the heavy traffic. The road was narrow and full of pot-holes. It was slow-going most of the time and perilously fast the rest of the time, with heavy truck traffic both ways all the time. We arrived at the Andasibe Hotel long after dark; we would spend the next 4 nights there.
Within the Andasibe area are Andasibe National Park, Mantadia National Park and smaller preserves. We spent most of our time near Andasibe, but on the 3rd day we drove the road to Mantadia. We certainly needed the 4-wheel drives for that trip, which was not far, but very rough and wet.
Over the course of several days we enjoyed 3 sightings of the odd Madagascar (Crested) Ibis:
And, finally, a stunning closeup view of a Cuckoo-roller, one of the regional endemics of Madagascar previously seen in good numbers, but not as close as this one.
Madagascar Pygmy Kingfishers were found at several locations.
Our Vanga sightings improved with first sightings of Nuthatch Vangas, more Chapert’s Vangas and a better look at a Blue Vanga.
This White-headed Vanga stayed high in the trees.
A White-throated Oxylabes (of the Malagasy Warbler family) on the nest held still for our photographers.
Nelicourvi Weavers showed up every day.
Purple Rollers were foraging above a small pond.
One late afternoon we were able to see a Collared Nightjar.
I used to focus on species in my birding outings, of which there are over 10,000 world-wide. In the past several years, however, I have been trying to see as many of the bird families as possible. Currently there are 248 families, up from about 200 a few years ago. Genetic analysis has resulted in this remarkable increase. I started thinking about going to Madagascar a year or so ago because it would be possible to add 7 new bird families to my then life-time total of 216: Mesites (endemic to Madagascar), Flufftails (widespread in Africa), Crab Plovers (widespread in the Africa-Asia coastal areas), Cuckoo Rollers (endemic in the Madagascar region), Ground Rollers (endemic to Madgascar), Asities (endemic to Madagascar) and Malagasy Warblers (endemic to Madagascar). I was able to see 6 of the 7, but although our guide had fleeting glimpses of a couple of Asities, I did not. And so I was able to add 6 families to my count to bring to 222 the number of families of birds that I have seen. As for species, I added 83 new species to my world list, to bring the total to 3,796. Couas are members of the world-wide Cuckoo family, and Vangas have some newly assigned family members in other parts of the world, but both the Couas and the Vangas on Madagascar are particularly colorful and interesting.
My final Madagascar installment (Part 5) will feature Lemurs, Chameleons and other creatures unique to Madagascar.
On November 23 we took the long drive from Tulear to Zombitze and Isalo.
These destinations were included in our itinerary primarily for the opportunity to see Ring-tailed Lemurs at Isalo. We were not disappointed.
We stopped for a roadside brunch along the way. The stop was productive of plenty of birds winging their way through the open valley and brushland bordering the road. Included were Madagascar Sandgrouse, Hammerkops, and Grey-headed Lovebirds. On to Zombitse where Cuckoo-rollers (my 5th new family of the trip) were numerous and vocal as they flew calling over the forest. [A later close-up view with picture came at Andasibe, for a later installment]. At Zombitze we found Giant Couas
We were lucky at Zombitse to get good close-up views of a pair of rare and range-restricted Appert’s Tetrakas (of the endemic Malagasy Warbler Family).
Zombitse produced a surprising daytime view of our second Sportive Lemur, the Zombitse Sportive Lemur
And our first encounter with a group of Verreaux’s Sifakas.
Both Greater and Lesser Vasas (parrots) were present, as were Archbold’s and Common Newtonias (Vanga Family), and Blue Vangas. A Hook-billed Vanga had a nest nearby.
Another Zombitse find was this Madagascar Paradise-Flycatcher, one of several seen at various stops on the tour.
From Zombitse it was a short drive to our very impressive Hotel Relais de la Reine at Isalo
From the Hotel we took an evening walk, which Barbara and I cut short as the rest of the group walked on, so I could rest. We climbed up some nearby rocks overlooking a grassy bowl. There we sat on the ridge surrounding the bowl for a long time as the sun set
and a pair of Helmeted Guineas furtively lurked through the valley of tall grasses.
The 24th found us at Isalo National Park where we hoped to find Ring-tailed Lemurs. And we did, as they gamboled about in the trees by the campground for a long time.
A long walk further into the park produced nothing of interest and we returned to the campground where we were fortunate to see again the acrobatics of the Ring-tailed Lemurs as they prepared to depart from the campground area. I also saw the Park’s lone surviving Verreaux’s Sifaka as she danced her magical side-step down the path to join the retiring Ring-tailed Lemurs. Her family was wiped out a few years ago in an out-of-control burn of nearby pasture lands that spread to the forest.
Here we also saw this Madagascar Tree Boa.
None of the snakes on Madagascar are poisonous. Others seen on the trip were Cat-eyed, Speckled Hognose, Striped Garter and Mahafaly Sand Snakes.
On the 25th we returned to Tulear, with the drive occupying most of the day. Along the way we saw panning for jewels in the muddy rivers, (recent discoveries of various precious and other gemstones has led to a “gem rush” in various areas in Madagascar).
We saw clothes being washed in muddy rivers and dried on the banks.
We saw numerous burial sites.
We stopped at a small Mahafaly Village
where we were welcomed and invited into a resident’s typical, modest, one-room, dirt-floored home.
Cooking of the evening meals on outdoor charcoal pits was in process.
Water is imported from miles away with trucks coming through the villages on a weekly basis.
On returning to Tulear, we visited the market
and returned to the Hotel Moringa for a restful night before our flight back to Tana, followed by a long, slow, dangerous drive from Tana to Andasibe where we would spend the rest of our tour in and around the Andasibe and Mandatia National Parks and the Perinet Preserve.
Stay tuned for Part 4, the Birds and Lemurs of the Andisibe area.
The spiny forest produced the top bird of the day, (November 20), maybe of the trip, a Subdesert Mesite, one of the species comprising my 3rd new family recorded in Madagascar.
This Running Coua was another highlight of the Spiny Forest.
A shallow water area, the Ifaty wetlands, held numbers of plovers, sandpipers, herons and egrets. Efforts to find the Endemic Humblot’s Heron were unsuccessful. Madagascar Bee-eaters were common.
Here we also saw the endemic Madagascar Plover.
Cisticolas, including Jerys were regular during the day.
On November 21 we drove by another wetland on our way to the La Table dry bush area.
Verreaux’s Couas showed well at La Table.
La Table also produced stunning views of a pair of Red-shouldered Vangas, a bird found only in a small area of southwest Madagascar.
[Side note: Our guide told us that a Red-shouldered Vanga was the last bird seen by Phoebe Snetzinger. In about 1980 at the age of 50, Phoebe, a resident of the Illinois/St. Louis area, was diagnosed with terminal skin cancer. She decided then to make use of her remaining days by becoming a serious birder. Her cancer went into remission several times in the next 20 years, and in the meantime she became the top birder in the (mostly male birders) world, documenting her sightings of over 8,000 of the then recognized 8,500 species. In 1999, twenty years almost to the day prior to our visit to La Table, Phoebe was killed there when the van in which she was riding overturned soon after finding the Red-shouldered Vanga.]
At La Table we also saw our first of a number of Crested Drongos.
We made a late afternoon stop at the Botanical Garden
There we found a pair of cooperative Red (Green)-capped Couas.
Also at the Botanical Garden was an apparently nesting Madagascar Nightjar.
On the 22nd we made the boat trip to Nosy Ve, a small island off the southwest coast of Madagascar, in the hope of finding Crab Plovers. Crab Plovers are not restricted to Madagascar, but in my prior travels I had never seen any. This was to be my best chance of adding this single species family to my life list. Boarding the boat required first an ox cart ride from shore to boat.
The day was perfect for an excursion into the Mozambique Channel, with light clouds, light winds and moderate temperatures. We were extremely fortunate to find 17 Crab Plovers (my 4th new target family in Madagascar) at the end of our trip, on the sand spit called Nosy Ve. Nosy Ve is not to be confused with Nosy Be at the far more popular destination for beach lovers on the northwest corner of Madagascar. Here are a couple of the Crab Plovers, sometimes found on Nosy Ve.
Nosy Ve also hosts large numbers of Red-tailed Tropic Birds raising their chicks, and here is one of them.
The return boat trip took us past spectacular cliffs where we finally spotted a rare Humblot’s Heron, silhouetted on a cliff by the sea.
On then to Anakao for lunch and the regular Littoral Rock Thrush. Near the café we were lucky to find at close range a pair of cute little Gray-Brown Mouse Lemurs in full daylight.
Part 3 of my Madagascar blog will cover November 23, 24 and 25, including the long drives from Tulear to Zombitse and back, the wonderful Ring-tailed Lemur experience at Isalo National Park, and an unexpected visit to a small Mahafaly village along the way back to Tulear.
