Our next destination was probably the one I was most excited about on this trip, the Liwonde National Park, the place where we would see the most big-game animals. We drove the two hours from Zomba early in the morning so we could make the most of our first day in the park. After a short break to grab some supplies, we eventually arrived at around 09:30, and were shown around the lodge grounds and where to pitch our tent. After getting ourselves settled in, we headed off birding around the grounds.
The lodge grounds were great in themselves, with Vervet
Monkeys, Yellow Baboons and Smith's Bush Squirrel all hanging around very relaxed, as well
as being able to hear the Hippos in the river and see them from the restaurant.
Birding wise we picked up a couple of targets early on, with Livingstones
Flycatcher being quite common, and Meves Long-tailed Starling also being
around. There were other common species, some of which I had not seen before as
well.
After lunch and a visit to the swimming pool, we set off out
on our first game drive. Yet before we even started, our guide, Justin, took us
to see a day-roosting African Barred Owlet which was perched within the camp
grounds. The drive itself also started extremely well, with Dickinsons Kestrel
and Lillians Lovebirds both being targets that we marked off quickly. Helmeted
Guineafowl was obviously the bird highlight of the drive however, and we saw a
few pairs as we moved around. Animals were also great, with Warthog, Buffalo,
Hippo and Impala all being common, as well as a few Greater Kudu, a species I
really wanted to see beforehand, although all the individuals we saw were
females, lacking the males impressive horns.
We had targeted a species of roller in the park, but during
our time searching for this bird the activity slowed significantly, and we saw
very little for almost two hours. We eventually gave up on that without joy,
and went to the riverside to watch the sunset. Here we saw a massive bull
Elephant, which compensated for the last hours of inactivity.
We had arranged to do a night drive, and this was really
brilliant. It started rapidly with an African Barred Owlet, followed quickly by
a Palm Civet. Carrying on we picked up an African Scops Owl and then the mammal
goodies really started with five Rusty-spotted Genet, Black-tailed Bush Hare,
brief views of a Sengi that I would have liked to have seen better and a pair
of White-tailed Mongoose. This latter encounter was absolutely brilliant, with
the two individuals running together on the grassy wetland. We also picked up a
European Nightjar, and had a few Side-striped Jackal close to camp. A
phenomenal way to wrap up our first day, leaving us very excited for what lies
ahead.
Liwonde National Park: White-faced Whistling Duck, Spur-winged Goose, Helmeted Guineafowl, Red-eyed Dove, Ring-necked Dove, Laughing Dove, Emerald-spotted Wood Dove, Burchell's Coucal, African Emerald Cuckoo, African Cuckoo, European Nightjar, Square-tailed Nightjar, African Palm Swift, Water Thick-knee, African Wattled Lapwing, African Jacana, Common Sandpiper, Grey-headed Gull, African Openbill, Woolly-necked Stork, White Stork, Marabou Stork, White-breasted Cormorant, Hamerkop, Black-headed Heron, Great Egret, Little Egret, Western Cattle Egret, Striated Heron, Hadada Ibis, Palm-nut Vulture, Long-crested Eagle, African Fish Eagle, African Scops Owl, African Barred Owlet, African Hoopoe, Green Wood Hoopoe, Crowned Hornbill, African Grey Hornbill, Southern Red-billed Hornbill, Malachite Kingfisher, Woodland Kingfisher, Brown-hooded Kingfisher, Striped Kingfisher, Pied Kingfisher, Little Bee-eater, Böhm's Bee-eater, Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, European Bee-eater, Broad-billed Roller, Greater Honeyguide, Bearded Woodpecker, Dickinson's Kestrel, Lilian's Lovebird, Black Cuckooshrike, African Golden Oriole, Black-throated Wattle-eye, Chinspot Batis, White-crested Helmetshrike, Black-backed Puffback, Tropical Boubou, Fork-tailed Drongo, Red-backed Shrike, Green-backed Camaroptera, Yellow-breasted Apalis, Rattling Cisticola, Barn Swallow, Wire-tailed Swallow, Dark-capped Bulbul, Willow Warbler, Livingstone's Flycatcher, Meves's Starling, Spotted Flycatcher, White-browed Robin-Chat, Collared Palm Thrush, Collared Sunbird, White-browed Sparrow-Weaver, Lesser Masked Weaver, Southern Brown-throated Weaver, Bronze Mannikin, Blue Waxbill, Southern Grey-headed Sparrow, African Pied Wagtail, African Pipit, Yellow-fronted Canary,
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