Explore Modjadji Nature Reserve
Look Out For
Encephalartos villosus cycads, Modjadji Nature Reserve.
The Encephalartos villosus cycads you will find at Modjadji are literally the dinosaurs of the plant kingdom. Approximately 50 million years ago, during the late Jurassic Period, there would have been diplodocuses, stegosauruses and velociraptors of all shapes and sizes grazing amid these primordial plants, so take time out to assimilate the essence of these amazing botanical treasures.
Go Birding
Malachite Kingfisher (Alcedo cristata).
The unique vegetation of Modjadji ensures interesting bird diversity. The dense forested woodland means the birds are not that easy to spot, but fortunately a good guide will enable you to identify many of the species by their calls. Even better, he may be able to ‘call’ the birds in, or you could do this yourself by using any of a number of apps on your cellphone.
The bird I really wanted to see here was the grey-headed bushshrike, known in Afrikaans as the ‘spookvoël’. This ‘ghost bird’ is very difficult to see, although you can hear its haunting whistle coming from the thickets all the time. On our walk down, I thought I saw just a flash of the bird, but no chance to properly identify it at all.
Look and Listen
Grey-headed Bushshrike (Malaconotus blanchoti).
Down at the dam, my guide, Edwin, used his cellphone to play the call of one of my favourite birds, the jewel-like malachite kingfisher. Quick as a flash, there was movement in the thick reeds, and with a flash of turquoise, the tiny bird whirred across the water to land on a bough below us. For a change, it gave me enough time to grab a few pictures as it perched amid the waving reedbeds. Luck struck for a second time as we climbed back towards the camp. We heard the Grey-headed bushshrike again, and after playing its call several times, we heard a telltale flap as it landed in a thicket behind us. For the next 10 minutes it played hide and seek with me, and I probably got a dozen shots of just a tail or a belly or empty branches as it hopped and skipped and flitted amid the branches. Then, finally, it posed for more than a couple of seconds, and I got my best shot ever of this gorgeous bird.
Top species spotted here include malachite kingfisher (Alcedo cristata), grey-headed bushshrike (Malaconotus blanchoti), scaley-throated honeyguide (Indicator variegatus), thick-billed weaver (Amblyospiza albifrons), green-backed camaroptera (Camaroptera brachyuran) and African olive pigeon (Columba arquatrix).
By Jacques Marais
