Sunday, 5 February 2023

Malawi; Day 10 - Liwonde National Park & Malawi College of Forestry and Wildlife

   It was another grey morning for our last outing in the Liwonde National Park. Fortunately, we had seen almost all the birds we wanted, so decided to just take the jeep safari through the park and see what mammals we might encounter on the way. This particular drive was included in the price of staying the night at the lodge, the only night we did.

  As it happened, despite not looking for it, we managed to find the only target bird we were missing, the Racket-tailed Roller, about half an hour into our drive, perched nicely in the mid-story of the woodland. With that species finally seen, we had wrapped up all the birds we wanted to target in the park here, managing to see every single one! The birding during the morning also added Knob-billed Duck to our trip-list, but was otherwise made up of a similar complexion to the previous days. We ended the morning by the river, where we had distant views of Southern Carmine Bee-eater to round things off.

  As we were done by 11 in the morning, we were able to make good progress on leaving the site and were able to manufacture time to bird the Malawi College of Forestry again, to hopefully find the Vincent’s Bunting we missed before, as well as some other Miombo species that we had missed during our time in Dzalanyama.

  We did manage to find the Bunting in the end, right on top of the inselberg that surrounds the forest, with a couple of birds up there. They showed nicely, but were often not approachable and so photos were difficult. Also on the top of the rocks were a few Red-winged Starling, which were another new species for me.

  The mixed-species flocks we encountered in the woodland were excellent, with many species already being familiar to us but with a few new ones as well, notably Miombo Tit, which was common here after we had missed it so far. Grey Penduline Tit was also new for both me and the trip-list. Otherwise we enjoyed the excellent birding that Miombo had to offer.

  As the afternoon wore on, we decided to head off and make tracks for the capital, where we would find cheap accommodation, whilst also being ideally placed for the long drive the next day. 

-Racket-tailed Roller
-Crested Barbet
-Southern Carmine Bee-eater
-Trumpeter Hornbill
-Yellow Baboon
-Miombo Tit
-Red-winged Starling
-Mocking Cliff Chat
-Vincent's Bunting

Species List:
Liwonde National Park: Knob-billed Duck, Spur-winged Goose, Helmeted Guineafowl, Red-eyed Dove, Ring-necked Dove, Emerald-spotted Wood Dove, Crowned Lapwing, African Wattled Lapwing, African Jacana, Common Sandpiper, Grey-headed Gull, Marabou Stork, African Darter, Reed Cormorant, Hamerkop, Western Cattle Egret, Hadada Ibis, Osprey, White-backed Vulture, Bateleur, African Fish Eagle, African Hoopoe, Crowned Hornbill, African Grey Hornbill, Southern Red-billed Hornbill, Trumpeter Hornbill, Malachite Kingfisher, Woodland Kingfisher, Brown-hooded Kingfisher, Pied Kingfisher, Little Bee-eater, Böhm's Bee-eater, European Bee-eater, Southern Carmine Bee-eater, Lilac-breasted Roller, Racket-tailed Roller, Crested Barbet, Speckle-throated Woodpecker, Lilian's Lovebird, Brown-necked Parrot, Black-throated Wattle-eye, Chinspot Batis, White-crested Helmetshrike, Red-backed Shrike, Southern Black Tit, Dark-capped Bulbul, Willow Warbler, Red-billed Oxpecker, Meves's Starling, Spotted Flycatcher, Collared Palm Thrush, Arnot's Chat, White-browed Sparrow-Weaver, Blue Waxbill, Red-billed Firefinch, Village Indigobird, Southern Grey-headed Sparrow, African Pied Wagtail,
Malawi College of Forestry and Wildlife: Red-eyed Dove, Ring-necked Dove, Common Buzzard, Common Scimitarbill, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird, Black Cuckooshrike, Black-headed Oriole, Chinspot Batis, Black-backed Puffback, Fork-tailed Drongo, White-tailed Blue Flycatcher, Miombo Tit, Grey Penduline Tit, Red-faced Crombec, Yellow-bellied Eremomela, Green-capped Eremomela, Red-winged Prinia, Pale Crag Martin, Black Saw-wing, Dark-capped Bulbul, Southern Yellow White-eye, African Spotted Creeper, Red-winged Starling, Kurrichane Thrush, Southern Black Flycatcher, Collared Flycatcher, Miombo Rock Thrush, Mocking Cliff Chat, Familiar Chat, Eastern Miombo Sunbird, Bronze Mannikin, Blue Waxbill, Striped Pipit, Yellow-fronted Canary, Vincent's Bunting, 

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