3-5 Sep 2019: Liwonde National Park

Liwonde, in the southern Rift Valley, stretches along the Shire River and offers excellent woodland and riverine birding. Maans and myself camped the first night at Bushman’s Boabab Camp, a lodge just inside the park. A quick lunch at the restaurant was interrupted by elephants and we had to grab our plates and make a hasty retreat to a safer environment. That afternoon a boat trip on the river delivered thirty-six new birds for my Malawi list, but none for my Big Year list.

African Barred Owlet, Liwonde

While walking around the lodge and dodging elephants I ticked African Barred Owlet, Böhms Bee-eater and Orange-winged Pytillia – all new birds for the year. The evening turned out a bit hectic – Maans had to evacuate his tent because of elephants, and I was kept awake by the groanings and rumblings of their stomachs as they munched branches and palm leaves around Daai Dêng. At one stage, while looking at an elephant destroying a young tree about five metres away, and pressing my nose against the mosquito-net window for a better view in the darkness, an elephant’s trunk appeared right in front of my face. Sorry – there are no other words to use – I nearly shat myself!

Elephant through Daai Deng window

The next morning, beady-eyed with very little sleep, we made our way to Mvuu Camp where we stayed for two nights. Here we crossed the river by boat and went on a walking safari in the bush with a local bird guide and armed game ranger. In the riverine forest we managed to track down the Brown-breasted Barbet – an uncommon and localised East African endemic. I was also hoping to find the Pel’s Fishing Owl, but it wasn’t present at its usual roosting sites. While crossing the river again we had Gull-billed Terns flying past the boat and we found both the White-backed Night Heron as well as the Black-crowned Night Heron in the very same riverine tree. A tame Böhm’s Bee-eater hawked insect at our campsite while Lilian’s Lovebirds chattered in nearby fruiting trees. In the veldt we found a pair of Dickinson’s Kestrels at their nest. Liwonde turned out to be a good birding destination, with various new species ticked for the Big Year list.

Böhms_Bee-eater,_Liwonde

Very Strange Bird