Our penultimate full day in Malawi was spent birding around the Luwawa lodge. The morning started with heavy rain, so after an hour or so at the marsh, we returned to the lodge restaurant and saw out the rest of the morning in the garden there. The marsh had much of the same species as the previous night, but once again I got absolutely nothing on the rails, except to hear their raucous calls in response to my various methods to get to see them. The garden was nice, with good views of Bronzy and Forest Double-collared Sunbird on the flowers, and a palearctic migrant tick with a moulting Garden Warbler.
Once the rain had ceased and we had eaten a short lunch at
the restaurant we headed out. There is an area that has been replanted by the
lodge a couple of kilometres away, restored from plantation to native
vegetation, that we wanted to check out. Sadly we got lost on the way, but this
detour took us right into the path of an Isabelline/Red-tailed Shrike. Although
we only saw the bird for a few minutes, we were able to document it fully and
it could well be the first record of this species for Malawi, time will tell.
Once we arrived at the small indigenous woodland, we did
find a few nice species, including our first Whinchat of the trip, and a smart
Whytes Barbet perched up in the canopy. Generally, though the woodland was
quiet, although this was probably not helped by the time of day, coinciding
perfectly with the mid-afternoon lull. A few common Miombo species were around,
like Miombo Rock Thrush, and the dembos nearby had plenty of small estrilid
finches, although nothing out of the ordinary.
At the end of the afternoon we returned to the marsh where I
finally got all of about a second of an African Rails head as it emerged from
the reeds, only to quickly dart back in. Relief but frustration at the same
time, for the amount of effort put in, it would have been good to see it better
for sure. As dusk fell we were treated to a really special experience as all
the Red-collared Widdowbirds from the surrounding fields descended into the
reeds to roost. There could well have been 200 of them, the males dragging
their spectacular tail getup behind them as they came.
After dark we checked a few areas for birds, but did not find much. A Genet was seen distantly and we had a few frogs. There was also a new bird for me, when we picked up a high-flying Pennant-winged Nightjar. This is one of the most spectacular nightjars in the world, so it was frustrating to see it so poorly. But that said, the pattern on the wings was unmistakable.
Luwawa Forest Lodge: African Olive Pigeon, Red-eyed Dove, Ring-necked Dove, Emerald-spotted Wood Dove, Blue-spotted Wood Dove, Schalow's Turaco, Burchell's Coucal, Red-chested Cuckoo, Pennant-winged Nightjar, Common Swift, African Rail, Black Crake, Abdim's Stork, Black-headed Heron, Black-winged Kite, Long-crested Eagle, African Marsh Harrier, Speckled Mousebird, Malachite Kingfisher, Brown-hooded Kingfisher, European Bee-eater, Whyte's Barbet, Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird, Eurasian Hobby, Chinspot Batis, Black-crowned Tchagra, Tropical Boubou, Fülleborn's Boubou, Red-backed Shrike, Northern Fiscal, White-tailed Crested Flycatcher, Moustached Grass Warbler, Bar-throated Apalis, Tawny-flanked Prinia, Red-winged Prinia, Singing Cisticola, Trilling Cisticola, Short-winged Cisticola, African Yellow Warbler, Fan-tailed Grassbird, Little Rush Warbler, Black-browed Greenbul, Dark-capped Bulbul, Eurasian Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Southern Yellow White-eye, African Dusky Flycatcher, Spotted Flycatcher, White-eyed Slaty Flycatcher, Collared Flycatcher, Miombo Rock Thrush, Whinchat, African Stonechat, Bronzy Sunbird, Forest Double-collared Sunbird, Variable Sunbird, Copper Sunbird, Bertram's Weaver, Spectacled Weaver, Holub's Golden Weaver, Yellow Bishop, Red-collared Widowbird, Thick-billed Weaver, Bronze Mannikin, Common Waxbill, African Firefinch, Pin-tailed Whydah, Tree Pipit, Yellow-fronted Canary, Southern Citril, Brimstone Canary,
No comments:
Post a Comment