BIRDING THE LIMPOPO PROVINCE WITH DAVID LETSOALO ...... Special people, places and memories

I have loved birds since I was in single digits. I still remember how the bright colours of waxbills and firefinches captivated my imagination as a youngster and encouraged me to spend endless hours paging through my bird book and marvelling over the amazing avian diversity we have in southern Africa.  

It was only in my late twenties, however, that I took up the hobby of birdwatching and soon after that my passion for capturing their magnificence with a camera. 16 years later and I am still in awe of creation and our incredible birdlife. Looking back on my journey I realise that the photographs themselves are only the final product. The real blessing has been the people I have met, the incredible experiences I have shared and the meaning behind these moments and connections. 

My first formal birding outing with an official bird guide took place in Woodbush Forest in Limpopo. My wife; Eileen and I had been staying at Kurisa Moya and had booked a man called David Letsoalo to help us find all the special birds in the area. I was beyond excited as I had done very little forest birding and the idea that we could possibly catch a glimpse of a White-starred Robin or a Narina Trogon or even a Green Twinspot was enough to get my heartbeat racing. 

A male green twinspot photographed with David Letsoalo on one of a handful of visits to Kurisa Moya and the surrounding forests in the Limpopo Province.

We met David the night we arrived, as he escorted us to our accommodation set within a beautiful forest scene and his wife; Grace, presented us with a delicious meal. His warm demeanour, hearty laugh and wonderful sense of humour made an immediate connection with us and I could not wait for morning to come. 

We woke before sunrise and made our way to Woodbush forest. One of the many special birds I wanted to see was an orange ground thrush. This shy, crepuscular bird with its big eyes and subtle yet beautiful plumage had caught my imagination and David seemed to know where we could possibly find one. We parked the car on the side of a narrow forest track and walked towards a viewpoint looking down on the valley below. The sun was just starting to show itself and the incredible dawn chorus had begun. 

After seeing this spectacular orange ground thrush with David I became enamoured with it and spent many trips looking to capture its beauty. 

David would call out the names of all the birds we were hearing around us; yellow-streaked greenbul, olive bush-shrike, bar-throated apalis, Cape batis, olive woodpecker, lemon dove, chorister robin-chat, narina trogon, yellow-throated woodland warbler and more. Some of which I had never seen before. I was in awe of his ability to identify birds by their call alone, when I battled to identify them in full view. And this was just the beginning of David’s phenomenal skill set. 

One of South Africa’s most versatile and incredible songsters; the Chorister Robin-chat.

He signalled for us to remain still and started to whistle a simple, repeated call. We stood there in a state of wonder not quite sure what was going to happen next. After repeating the call a few times, David stood motionless, listening attentively and then smiled.  There was seemingly another David responding from the valley below. This interaction continued for a few minutes and we could hear that the second David was getting closer and closer. The excitement was palpable. We stared into the darkness of the forest excited by the unknown. A burst of motion and a flash of orange colour provided the answer to our questions, as a beautiful orange ground thrush landed out in the open and a few metres away. It was a truly awesome moment and one that I will never forget. 

David Letsoalo is a passionate and renowned Bird Guide based in Limpopo Province

David’s skill, passion and enthusiasm was contagious and if I wasn’t already a lifelong birder, this event would have made me one. And this was just the first morning of our three days with him. As our time continued it was clear that we had picked a truly special man to be our first ever guide into the world of birds. His personality and desire to share his knowledge was equal to his birding skills and ability to locate all our targets. From jaw dropping forest birds, to short-clawed larks and bat hawks in the grasslands and plantations nearby. to magpie and red-backed mannikins in the urban gardens of Tzaneen. It could not have been a more exciting introduction to formal birding and it started a wonderful relationship with a man I still hold dear to this day.

This first adventure led to many others. On a return visit to Kurisa Moya a few years later I found myself sitting in a dark, damp and very cold forest getting bitten by mosquitos. Even a curious white-starred robin came to see what on earth we were doing as we sat in silence staring down at a small stream below us. The hooting call was the only evidence of our quest. I had persuaded David (which wasn’t hard as he is always up for finding difficult birds to photograph) to help me locate a buff-spotted flufftail. Although the pictures from this first outing were not for publication, I learnt so much from David and this early attempt. Much of what I gained was then used to achieve some of my most memorable images of these challenging yet unbelievably awesome birds.  

A Buff-spotted Flufftail taken a few years after my first sighting with David. 

After many hours in the field together, David and I got to know each other well. Birding has a way of forging deep connections. It allows time for the philosophical, personal and meaningful conversations to come out in a relaxed and authentic manner. The more I learnt about David the more I liked who he was. He was honest, kind, thoughtful and generous. He is a family man and loves his wife and children. He had a sense of humour that always brought perspective to missing a sighting or messing up a photo opportunity. 

A few years down the line, I invited him to join me on a trip to the Kruger National Park, but this time not as my guide but rather as my friend and fellow photographer. I was super excited when he said yes and off we went. We spent a few days in the north of Kruger exploring the richness of Pafuri and Punda Maria and taking as many photographs as time would allow.

One of my most vivid memories is spotting our first ever flock of bohm’s spinetails and trying to follow them as they sped off along the road from Crooks Corner to the Pafuri picnic spot. There was loads of laughter, lots of high speed continuous shooting and very few images of Bohm’s Spinetails.

David and I drove through kilometres of Mopane on our northern Kruger trip as we searched for the area’s avian gems. This image of a Magpie Shrike shows off some of its magical colours. 

I still treasure these moments. They remind me of what birding and bird photography is really about; meeting truly special people, making lifelong memories in special places and allowing these connections to leave their mark. Thank you David for being such a wonderful and influential part of my own journey and the journey of many others. If you ever are in the Limpopo Province consider spending a few days in the field with David. You will see many birds but you will leave with so much more. 

Connect with David Letsoalo: +27 (0)83 568 4678