The heat is still breathtaking. But now for the afternoon trip in Lengwe National Park. After all, it’s already near 3:00 p.m.. The trail leads me over the Main Drive to the Main Hide. Hats off, walking from the parking lot is annoying – especially in the cops heat. But the hide itself is somewhat stable, gives an excellent overview of a remarkable water hole in this otherwise super-dry thorny savannah. The hide is situated on stilts, anchored between 2 trees. It allows good views to the sides, which are even suitable for photographers, as the slits are just wide or high enough. I only remove the lens hood, which I don’t need here anyway, since the hide’s windows are already suitable as sun visors. Fortunately, there is a light breeze at the waterhole, which occasionally provides relief from the monkey-like heat. The first thing I do is pick up Boehm’s Bee-eater (Merops boehmi) on a branch next to the hide. At first this bird – endemic to Mopane forests – sits on a branch nearby. Then it flies off in typical bee-eater-style and comes back on the same branch with a long dragonfly. The fat dragonfly is processed immediately. I can take great pictures of this long-tailed bird on the branch as it handles the captured dragonfly in its beak. After all, it lies “beak” -just and is carried with a swing into the throat.
Boehm’s Bee-eater is considered to be one of the “more difficult” Bee-eaters. This has nothing to do with the fact that it is rare, but because its range is limited to less visited parts of the African continent. The species occurs particularly in southern Tanzania, Malawi and northeastern Zambia. It is a very beautiful type of wet and dry mopane forest and can be found quite easily in Liwonde National Park or in Lengwe National Park in Malawi.
Lengwe National Park is a national park in Malawi near the city of Chikwawa and about 60 km southwest of Blantyre, the old capital of Malawi. Lengwe’s topography is unusual for Malawi and consists of open deciduous forests and dense thorn thickets. The park is known Continue reading Lengwe National Park and its Boehm’s Bee-eater
