DAVID MAPHISA surveys his mountain kingdom (without binoculars)

When I asked David Sishozonke Maphisa if I could write an article about him after our atlasing expedition to Lesotho he replied, ‘Only if you don’t talk about your terrible driving!’

- ALAN LEE

Almost as soon as he got into my beleaguered Suzuki Jimny in Ladybrand, David was fastidious about pointing out all the many potholes. After a few hours I indicated that the reason he was with me was to spot birds, not potholes. Reluctantly he agreed to scan out the window and of course within 30 seconds I hit a pothole, shaking the Jimny so badly that I checked the mirrors to see if the wheels were still on. David’s eyes were firmly glued on the road for the rest of the trip! 

That evening at our accommodation, when he described my poor driving skills to the rest of the team, someone asked, ‘Is that true?’ ‘Well,’ I responded, ‘I don’t remember David having that much grey hair before we arrived in Lesotho.’ Such light-hearted exchanges were a key feature of our time together, with David’s face often erupting into a broad smile, a counterpoint to the bespectacled and serious professor face that also defines his persona.

David is a legend in the world of grassland birds and although we’d worked in parallel after he’d been recruited into the South African Names for South African Birds and the Regional Red Listing projects, we’d not yet spent any time together. He had been signed up to ensure that Lesotho was adequately represented in the species accounts for the new Red Data Book, partly because the National University of Lesotho in Roma had shown no interest in being involved, and bird conservation is all about enthusiasm.