Malawi; Day 15 - Vwaza Marsh National Park & Luwawa Forest Lodge

 Having travelled down from Nykia the previous day, and having basically completed our itinerary, we were at something of a loose end today, trying a few other sites that might yield new birds for us.

The first site we tried was the National Park at Vwaza Marsh, but the south gate, as opposed to the north gate we had visited the previous day. Sadly this really did not come to much, as the road was badly damaged and we could not enter the park to any great distance. The bush was overwhelmed with horseflies that infested the car whenever we opened the window, and to top it off, the birding was slow. Although Helmeted Guineafowl was always good to see, all the other species were common. We had just as many interesting species on the drive to the reserve, with Broad-tailed Paradise-Whyda and Southern Red Bishop.

After a lunch of Pizza and Ice Cream in Mzuzu, we headed south to the Luwawa Forest Lodge on the edge of the Viphya forest. Although there was nothing super important to see here, it offered some nice birding and comfortable settings for our final few days. Once we arrived and set up our tents it was already mid-afternoon, so we set off to try to find some birds. I had a couple of new species with Lesser Swamp Warbler and Little Scrub Warbler, but the fact that we heard multiple African Rails but failed to see any, despite being close to numerous, certainly put a dampener on proceedings.

After dark we returned to the marsh briefly, where we had a spectacular show of fireflies, while African Wood Owls sang in the background. We also had a few potentially interesting mammals, with a nice Genet running across the campsite, a probable bushbaby in the trees adjacent to the restaurant, and a medium-sized rat in the canopy. 

-Abdims Stork

-Moustached Grass Warbler

-Brimstone Canary

-Burchell's Coucal

-African Marsh Harrier

-Broad-tailed Paradise Whyda

Species List:
Vwaza Marsh Wildlife Reserve: White-faced Whistling Duck, Egyptian Goose, Helmeted Guineafowl, Red-necked Spurfowl, Ring-necked Dove, Laughing Dove, Emerald-spotted Wood Dove, Purple-crested Turaco, Common Swift, African Palm Swift, Water Thick-knee, African Jacana, Common Sandpiper, Little Egret, Palm-nut Vulture, Speckled Mousebird, Common Scimitarbill, African Grey Hornbill, Southern Red-billed Hornbill, Pied Kingfisher, European Bee-eater, Black-collared Barbet, African Golden Oriole, Chinspot Batis, Black-backed Puffback, Tropical Boubou, Wire-tailed Swallow, Common House Martin, Willow Warbler, Spotted Flycatcher, Collared Palm Thrush, Holub's Golden Weaver, Lesser Masked Weaver, Black-winged Red Bishop, Bronze Mannikin, Blue Waxbill, Northern Grey-headed Sparrow, African Pied Wagtail, Yellow-fronted Canary,
Luwawa Forest Lodge: African Olive Pigeon, Emerald Spotted Wood Dove, Schalow's Turaco, Burchell's Coucal, Red-chested Cuckoo, Black Crake, African Marsh Harrier, Speckled Mousebird, Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird, Eurasian Hobby, Tropical Boubou, Moustached Grass Warbler, Lesser Swamp Warbler, Little Rush Warbler, Black Saw-wing, Dark-capped Bulbul, African Stonechat, Bronzy Sunbird, Variable Sunbird, Holub's Golden Weaver, Red-collared Widowbird, Yellow Bishop, Thick-billed Weaver, Common Waxbill, African Pied Wagtail, Southern Citril, Brimstone Canary,