This was supposed to be another full day in Dzalanyama, but we had already cleaned up on so much, only a few more difficult species remained. Max also woke up feeling unwell, so we only had limited capacity for searching for mixed flocks. We reencountered the flock close to camp that we had seen the previous day, with Steirlings Woodpecker and African Spotted Creeper both still in tow. Since we knew this flock did not contain the species we were looking for, we tried a new area and there found another flock with a few new species. While it did not contain our missing key targets, it did have Reichows Seedeater, plus a few new common species such as Black Cuckooshrike and Grey-headed Bushshrike.
We decided to move on from Dzalanyama at lunchtime, which
worked out nicely as we could grab a bite to eat in Lilongwe on the way. We
were heading south to Mount Mulanje, a journey of around five hours, but on the
way we wanted to stop at small patch of forest where we could look for Vincents
Bunting. While we failed to find the bunting, we were pleasantly surprised by
the health of the woodland there, and we found many interesting species.
Mocking Cliff Chat was new for me, and we found plenty of birds we did not expect,
including another African Spotted Creeper and other Miombo species we had seen
frequently in our time at Dazalanyama.
Our drive south was long, and the conditions were awful. We had torrential rain which reduced visability to less than 15 meters, but the fog that followed probably reduced it to five. This only cleared after an hour, but did slow our progress down significantly. It was an exhausting drive!
Dzalanyama Forest: Ring-necked Dove, Lesser Spotted Eagle, Ayres's Hawk-Eagle, Steppe Buzzard, Augur Buzzard, Speckled Mousebird, Green Wood Hoopoe, Pale-billed Hornbill, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird, Little Spotted Woodpecker, Black Cuckooshrike, Black-headed Oriole, Retz's Helmetshrike, Black-backed Puffback, Black-crowned Tchagra, Grey-headed Bushshrike, African Paradise Flycatcher, Souza's Shrike, Green-capped Eremomela, Tawny-flanked Prinia, Neddicky, Southern Yellow White-eye, Kurrichane Thrush, Southern Black Flycatcher, Collared Flycatcher, Miombo Rock Thrush, Eastern Miombo Sunbird, Bronze Mannikin, Common Waxbill, Blue Waxbill, Reichard's Seedeater, Cabanis's Bunting, Golden-breasted Bunting,
Malawi College of Forestry and Wildlife: Red-eyed Dove, Ring-necked Dove, Steppe Buzzard, European Bee-eater, Whyte's Barbet, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird, Lanner Falcon, African Golden Oriole, Black-backed Puffback, Black-crowned Tchagra, Fork-tailed Drongo, White-necked Raven, Bar-throated Apalis, Dark-capped Bulbul, Kurrichane Thrush, Collared Flycatcher, Miombo Rock Thrush, Mocking Cliff Chat, Familiar Chat, Eastern Miombo Sunbird, Bronze Mannikin, Red-backed Mannikin, Striped Pipit, Yellow-fronted Canary,
Thanks Daniel. Great reports from Malawi.
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