Systemmatic list - part 6: Waders (Shorebirds), Gulls and Terns
Water Thick-knee (Water Dikkop) Burhinus vermiculatus [4]
1-2 each day Liwonde 25th-27th.
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Water Thick-knee, Liwonde, 26th May 2011
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Long-toed Plover (Long-toed Lapwing) Vanellus crassirostris [1]
8 Lake Chilwa 15th.
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Long-toed Plovers, Lake Chilwa, 15th May 2011
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Blacksmith Plover (Blacksmith Lapwing) Vanellus armatus [6]
3 Liwonde 26th and 3 Johannesburg Airport 28th.
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Blacksmith Plover, Liwonde, 26th May 2011
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Spur-winged Plover (Spur-winged Lapwing) Vanellus spinosus [c6]
2-4 Liwonde 25th-27th.
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Spur-winged Plover, Liwonde, 27th May 2011
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Wattled Lapwing (Senegal Plover, African Wattled Plover) Vanellus senegallus [2]
1 Liwonde 27th and 1 Johannesburg Airport 28th.
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Wattled Lapwing, Liwonde, 27th May 2011
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Kittlitz's Plover (Kittlitz's Sandplover) Charadrius pecuarius [10]
10 Liwonde 26th. When I pointed these out to the guide I don't think he believed me at first - he had apparently not seen this species before.
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Kittlitz's Plovers (and Collared Pratincoles), Liwonde, 26th May 2011
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Three-banded Plover Charadrius tricollaris [1]
One flew over the track calling as we drove through the sugar cane plantations on the way into Lengwe on 20th.
Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus [1]
1 Lake Chilwa 15th.
Lesser Jacana Microparra capensis [2]
2 Lake Chilwa 15th - an adult with a chick. I enjoyed seeing Lesser Jacanas at Lake Chilwa last trip but this time it was all the better for seeing a chick as well.
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adult and chick Lesser Jacanas, Lake Chilwa, 15th May 2011
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African Jacana Actophilornis africanus [40+]
Always a favourite!
About 30 Lake Chilwa 15th, 2 Mangochi 19th, 2-6 Liwonde 25th-27th.
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African Jacanas, Lake Chilwa, 15th May 2011
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African Jacanas, Liwonde, 26th May 2011
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African Jacana, Liwonde, 27th May 2011
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Small Buttonquail (Kurrichane Buttonquail) Turnix sylvaticus [4]
Perhaps the highlight of the holiday was the totally unexpected sighting of not just a Small Buttonquail, but a Small Buttonquail with 3 tiny chicks, on the way out of Dzalanyama. They were along the middle of the three main exit routes, in an area of cultivated land.
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Small Buttonquails, way out from Dzalanyama, 24th May 2011 - photographed through a dusty windscreen as they ran down the track in front of us
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Bronze-winged Courser (Violet-tipped Courser) Rhinoptilus chalcopterus [1]
1 Lengwe 20th. After dark and having lost the track we were attempting to return to the camp along, we were forced to turn round and take the longer route back - this proved fortuitous as this Courser appeared on the track in front of us, illuminated by our headlights.
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Bronze-winged Courser, Lengwe, 20th May 2011
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Collared Pratincole Glareola pratincola [2]
2 Liwonde 26th.
The African races, including fuelleborni which occurs in Malawi, are darker than Palaearctic pratincola.
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Collared Pratincoles, Liwonde, 26th May 2011
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Grey-headed Gull Larus cirrocephalus [c120]
Common, and the only gull seen:
6 Johannesburg Airport 14th, 6 Lake Chilwa 15th, up to 30 Liwonde 25th-27th and c50 Johannesburg Airport 28th.
Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybrida [30]
About 30 Lake Chilwa 15th.
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Whiskered Terns, Lake Chilwa, 15th May 2011
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