“Stop!”
The command echoed from the back of our vehicle, instantly spiking our adrenaline. In the dense thickets of the Kruger National Park, a sudden shout usually means one thing: a leopard draped over a branch, a rare buck or perhaps an elephant with a singular, majestic tusk.
We held our breath as the vehicle reversed a few metres, our eyes frantically scouring the bush for heavy paws or golden fur. Instead, Heaven Modise’s lens was aimed high above the canopy, locked onto a solitary figure perched on the crown of a distant tree.
“That’s an African fish eagle,” 53-year-old Modise said, his voice thick with excitement.
As he zoomed in to capture a tack-sharp image of the raptor, he began weaving a passionate story about its behaviour and hunting patterns. For anyone used to the traditional “Big Five” safari, it was a total paradigm shift.
But for Modise, the true magic of the Kruger doesn’t walk on four legs — it wears feathers.
Same sharp eye, different lens. Modise’s journey into the skies is a story of profound evolution. Over the decades, he has transitioned from taking killing shots to capturing killer shots.
Growing up on a farm in Thabazimbi and later in a village near Mantserre, outside Rustenburg in the North West, Modise did what almost every young boy in the bushveld did: he tracked birds. Armed with a homemade skietrekker (slingshot), he began his early relationship with the avian world out of survival and culinary curiosity.
Listening to the rhythmic calls of Southern Red Bishops and doves descending on leftover maize and mabele, he would plan his hunts. A successful afternoon meant returning home to turn his catch into a rich, delicious soup or braaing the meat over hot, glowing coals.
Remarkably, those childhood tracking tactics laid the foundation for his current life’s passion. The lethal hand-eye coordination required to master a skietrekker has seamlessly transferred to modern digital photography. Having spent his youth tracking erratic movements through dense canopies, Modise now easily tracks birds mid-flight, capturing breathtaking, high-speed images that leave others in awe.
The day the birding bug bit
Though Modise initially picked up a camera as a side hustle to earn extra cash by taking portraits, his wildlife journey truly began in 2017. Like most visitors to Kruger, he was initially fixated on big cats — even spotting a rare leopard on his very first trip. Birds were merely accidental background characters in his frame.
That changed the afternoon he witnessed an African Fish Eagle swoop down from the heavens, scattering a hierarchy of massive Yellow-billed Storks in a display of raw, chaotic drama. Intrigued by the power and complexity of avian life, the birding bug bit him hard. Today, he literally eats, sleeps and breathes ornithology.
During our four-day trek to the south of the park, his obsession was on full display. He was always the first out of the camp at the crack of dawn, determined to squeeze every second of golden light out of the bush. His vast knowledge of avian behaviour and markings is enough to make seasoned game rangers envious. On the rare occasion he encounters a mystery, he quickly utilises a digital field guide app to crack the code.
In just four days, Modise logged over 27 distinct species, bringing his official first-year life list to an impressive 180 species. His recent lens captures read like a roll call of avian royalty: the majestic Bateleur’s Eagle, the Brown Snake Eagle, the Martial Eagle, the African Harrier Hawk, and the elusive Verreaux’s Eagle-Owl. His portfolio also boasts vibrant snapshots of the Crested Barbet, the Lilac-breasted Roller, the Pied Kingfisher, the Burchell’s Coucal, and the White-backed Vulture.
Decolonising the skies
Beyond the personal thrill of the chase, Modise is on a deeply intentional mission to deconstruct deep-seated stereotypes. Growing up, he was surrounded by tired, systemic myths that Black people couldn’t swim, jump or navigate, appreciate, or excel in the wilderness. By immersing himself in birding — a subculture historically dominated by an older, white demographic — he is actively rewriting the narrative.
“I haven’t met one Black photographer or fellow Black birder out there,” Modise reveals. “There aren’t many of us in wildlife photography in general, and I am being very intentional about changing that.”
However, breaking into this elite hobby has come with a toxic undercurrent of gatekeeping, jealousy and competitive cynicism. Because his work is so technically flawless, some critics have even questioned his integrity, suggesting his world-class photographs are AI-generated.
However, Modise refuses to let the sceptics ground him. He is currently channelling his energy into producing a high-end, visual coffee table book. Far from a simple catalogue, the book will feature a narrative element designed to bridge cultural gaps by introducing indigenous names to mainstream birding.
“I want to develop a birding book with a little story that goes with each bird and try to put our African names to them,” Modise explains. “Including African languages will go a long way in teaching the young ones that birds should not be treated just as meat for consumption.”
From the dusty trails of Thabazimbi to premier birding havens like the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden and the Sasol Dam, Modise has come full circle — proving that the finest shots of the African sky are best captured, not caught. – news@mukurukuru.co.za
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