Pogonocichla stellata

It was mid December 2012 and David Letsoalo and I were sitting very quietly under a large tree waiting for what we hoped would be the appearance of one of South Africa’s mega skulkers; the buff-spotted flufftail. The environment was anything but comfortable; it was cold, it was damp and there were mosquitoes. A magic combination!

Fortunately, while we waited we were entertained by a couple of lemon dove and a very active white-starred robin. Having seen this small forest robin on a number of occasions but never been able to get a decent photograph, I was wandering whether the time would ever come, when it would sit still long enough for me to get a decent shot.

After waiting for over an hour with very little reward, I honestly think that this confiding robin felt sorry for me, and decided that he would take one for the team and pose for a photograph. He jumped up onto a branch, in a clear opening, not more than 3 metres away and stared at me for a few minutes.

An hour later we also saw the flufftail! What an awesome adventure!