Malawi; Day 6 - Zomba

  Since we had done very well with our targets the previous day, we only had one species we really wanted to aim for today; the only Malawi Endemic, the Yellow-throated Apalis. The place we checked was the Zomba Plateau, which is a spectacular mountain sadly devastated with almost no natural vegetation remaining. However, we did our best, and in the first fragment of forest that we checked, we had luck with two Yellow-throated Apalis showing very nicely, allowing for great views and nice photos. In the same area we also had Malawi Batis, another target for the day and a few other commoner montane species we had seen the previous day.

  Having seen our only real target before seven, we tried another area that our information said could be good. Sadly we found it absolutely devastated, with only pine and eucalyptus growing. Still, there were some common birds to enjoy such as Singing Cisticola and Yellow-bellied Waxbill, plus another good species in Bertrams Weaver. Perhaps for me though, the highlight of the morning were three Willow Warbler, including one singing! There was one individual that was also void of colour, a really strange bird, but sadly it was lost into the undergrowth before we got to study it fully.

  Given our success, we spent the afternoon around the lodge, having some drinks in the bar and relaxing, recovering for the next phase of our itinerary. 

-Yellow-throated Apalis

-Bertram's Weaver

-Singing Cisticola

-Yellow-bellied Waxbill

-Pin-tailed Whyda

-Forest Double-collared Sunbird

-White-throated Samango [Blue Monkey]

-Yellow Baboon

-Guttural Toad

Species List:
Zomba Plateau: Hildebrandt's Spurfowl, African Olive Pigeon, Blue-spotted Wood Dove, Tambourine Dove, Livingstone's Turaco, Burchell's Coucal, Red-chested Cuckoo, African Fish Eagle, White-eared Barbet, Malawi Batis, Black-backed Puffback, Tropical Boubou, Pied Crow, Grey-backed Camaroptera, Yellow-throated Apalis, Black-headed Apalis, Singing Cisticola, Rattling Cisticola, African Yellow Warbler, Evergreen Forest Warbler, Wire-tailed Swallow, Little Greenbul, Dark-faced Bulbul, Willow Warbler, Southern Yellow White-eye, Grey Tit-Flycatcher, Cape Robin-Chat, African Stonechat, Collared Sunbird, Olive Sunbird, Amethyst Sunbird, Forest Double-collared Sunbird, Variable Sunbird, Bertram's Weaver, Spectacled Weaver, Lesser Masked Weaver, Yellow Bishop, Bronze Mannikin, Yellow-bellied Waxbill, Common Waxbill, African Firefinch, Pin-tailed Whydah, Yellow-fronted Canary, Southern Citril,