May 2008 ~ The Seychelles

In 2008 my wife and I celebrated 25 years of marriage so we decided to push the boat out and go somewhere exotic for our holiday. We chose the Seychelles and were not disappointed with our choice. What a beautiful and unspoilt part of the world this is. We chose a hotel called La Reserve on the North side of Praslin island as our base. This involved flying from Manchester to London, London to the main island Mahe (10.5 hours) and then by small plane to Praslin.

In total there are about 116 island that make up the Seychelles. These are scattered over a large area of the Indian Ocean. Most are coral atolls but a few (where most of the people live) are granitic with some really high mountains in their centres. There is a population of just 81,000 and there is still plenty of room for wildlife as over 80 of the islands are uninhabited and many are designated wildlife reserves.

Although it was not a bird watching holiday I took along my 40D and my travel lens (EF 100-400mm) and did manage to do a little bird watching early most mornings or sometimes in the afternoon. Most birds that we did see where relatively tame and fairly easy to photograph. I had a hint of what we might see on arrival at Mahe. As we walked from the international arrivals area to the domestic departures, I saw common mynah birds (introduced from India), barred ground doves (also known as zebra doves) and a few Seychelles sunbirds feeding of nectar from the many exotic flowers surrounding the airport.

On arrival at Praslin it was raining really hard. We were driven to our hotel along pretty much the only road on the island, that doesn't even go all the way around it. Before travelling, I'd looked at the map and images on Google Earth and thought that I'd have plenty of opportunity to go walking in the forests and mountains. I was wrong. Apart from a few small paths in the highlands and the Vallee de Mai nature reserve and the road around three quarters of the island, you could not walk anywhere without a machete. It really was dense jungle! That didn't stop me enjoying much of the bird life (and other wildlife) of the Seychelles.

To start with, upon arrival at our hotel (once the rain had stopped) I noticed a green-backed heron fishing from the rocks on the beach. In fact there was an adult and a juvenile both hoping to make a meal out of the many fish in the water close to the edge of the beach. On my first trip around the hotel gardens I was able to spot Madagascar fodys, Seychelles sunbirds, Madagascar turtle doves, barred ground doves, Seychelles bulbuls and common mynahs all within just a few minutes. At this time of year the male fodys and sunbirds were sadly not in full breeding plumage but I did find a few male fodys that were close to full breeding plumage which is a vivid bright red. I also found a single male sunbird with the metalic blue breast that they wear in the breeding season but not with the bright yellow or orange pectoral tufts. By the hotel entrance was a fruiting tree that attracted quite a few Seychelles blue pigeons. These have bald pink faces, surrounded by a collar of long white feathers and the rest of the body is deep blue. Quite unusual I thought.

On the beach there was a dead mangrove tree. In this a pair of fairy terns had nested and had a single small chick was perched precariously on the branch. These birds don't build a nest but just lay their single egg directly in a crack of hollow on the branch itself. A risky method of rearing their young but as there are so many about one that must be successful.

Occasionally a single greater crested tern, or sometimes a small group of these terns, would come to fish off the hotel beach. They entertained us with their sweeping dives and expert fishing techniques.

We took a few trips to other islands. One that we visited was the near-by island of La Digue. This is home to the Seychelles paradise flycatcher. I didn't expect to get to see these birds as they are a very rare, endemic bird to this one island only. I was therefore pleasantly surprised to find a pair that obligingly allowed me to take several pictures (although under the dark canopy). The male is particularly splendid being entirely black except for his blue beak and blue eye ring. He also has long trailing tail feathers making him particularly handsome. He also has a bright yellow inside to his beak which was surprising to see. I don't know if the female is the same.

We also took a trip to the island of Cousin. This is an island that is exclusively a nature reserve and it is full of birds, lizards, crabs and other wildlife. Here we saw thousands of lesser noddy terns, a few of the larger brown noddy terns, many fairy terns and a number of white-tailed tropic birds. All of which were fairly easy to photograph. There was also a small number of the very rare Seychelles magpie-robins. These birds were once reduced to just 14 in the world but now number around 200 on 4 different islands. They are extremely tame and getting close for photography was not difficult. What was difficult was getting a good picture. They are mostly black with small white patches on their flanks and they inhabit the deep shadowed undergrowth of the islands forests. Without flash it was hard to get any sort of picture.

On cousin, I also saw two other very rare Seychelles endemic birds: the Seychelles fody (less colourful than the Madagascar fody) and the very rare Seychelles warbler, which is as dull in colour as most of our UK warblers. I was unable to get a photograph of these latter two however. This is because you aren't allowed the freedom to roam the island at will but rather visitors are herded into groups and assigned a guide. Although the guides are very informative you are expected to keep up so no waiting around for the perfect shot unfortunately.

Other good islands for birdwatchers are Bird island, home to a few million sooty terns plus the place you are most likely to see passage migrants in spring and autumn. There is also Aride island, which has all of the species on Cousin, plus some other exciting ones such as frigate birds. I saw the latter a few times out at sea but never close enough for a photograph. Aride is easier to visit between November and April when the sea is not so rough and landing is easier. Day trips are possible in these easier months but may not be at other times. Sadly not when I visited. Bird island can be visited all year round but needs to be planned ahead as an over-night stay is required.

One bird I did hope to see but missed was the Seychelles black parrot. These are only found on Praslin and their stronghold is the Vallee de Mai. Sadly when we went I was unlucky and didn't even get a glimpse of one let alone a picture. Still I was lucky with other rare species so I guess I can't complain.

Besides the birds there are a number of other interesting creatures. The coral reefs are great for snorkelling with small sharks, rays, octopus, turtles, spiny lobsters and a vast array of brightly coloured fish to be found. The beaches and mangroves are full of interesting crabs, especially the comical ghost crabs. The many fruiting trees on the island attract flying foxes, fruit bats, that also find there way onto the local dinner plates. The 'jungle' (that's what it is) is home to a few species of lizard and the large (4 inches across) palm spiders and their gigantic webs. Happily they are not dangerous and in fact there are no dangerous creatures on land in the Seychelles unless you count the odd mosquito or biting sand fly.

It's a great place. Not cheap but very unspoilt and beautiful. If you get the chance to go I thoroughly recommend it. Pictures of many of the birds that I saw can be found in the foreign birds section of the photo pages and many of the other creatures can be seen in the non-bird photo section.