Zonnendal area (Cape Town) Guinea Fowl

[Gill-b]

Today the sun came out for the first time in two weeks and ALL the birds celebrated with song... and the Guinea Fowl were no exception. They called to each other from roof tops, boundary walls and street corners; from far away and close by. A cacophony of hollers and answers... the likes and extent of which I have never heard Guinea Fowl preform before.

 

[Gill-b]

We do not get snow on the ground in our neighbourhood area, but we can see the snow on the mountain peaks of Hottentots Holland Mountain range from, and to the East of, our house.

...so here, directly below, is a picture of the aforementioned Hottentots Holland Mountain range that we can also see when we look to the East of our house.

The black arrow is pointing to the electrical power-line pole (and the field that it is in), just visible when you enlarge the picture, where our neighbourhood Guinea Fowl roost.

These mountain peaks have been constantly blanketed in clouds during this rainy period, therefore I have been unable, so far for this year, to get a photograph of the snow covering them; but one of my family members was able to snap a picture of this season's snow much further north along the mountain range...

The field where our neighbourhood Guinea Fowl roost was completely under water for a few days after the weeks of rain, so I have no idea where the Guineas roosted during the time, as they would have been unable to get to the power-lines; the same power-line pole as was pointed out by the arrow, seen directly in the middle of the above picture.

 

[Gill-b]

Sunning itself on the roof of our house,
in the first rays of sun this morning.

Time to get the day on the go

...and off.

See ya, have a great day!
​

 

[Gill-b]

https://snowreport.co.za/snow-falls-on-table-mountain-cape-town-south-africa-28-august-2024/

 

[Gill-b]

Spring has definitely sprung here, with flowers blooming everywhere, including on our sidewalk.

The Guinea Fowl have now paired off and no longer visit me in flocks. I still see Hop-a-long every other morning or so. Yesterday afternoon we came home from visiting with family to find him resting in the long grass on our sidewalk.

I snapped this picture of him from inside the car quickly - you can see him in the centre of the picture.

Once I got out the car, he came hopping on over and followed me all the way to my front door where he waited for me to come out.

Today I saw the first "crazy male" for this breeding season. He was "yelling" at his own reflection in a window and then running, at high speed, to the street corner and back again. He also ran up to me, looked at me while standing at his full height and then ran off around the corner. So the craziness has begun! Silly boys.

 

[Gill-b]

In South Africa we have an Afrikaans saying, "Sy kop is plat" which directly translates to, "His head is flat", but as a saying it means that someone is so excited about one single idea that they cannot function properly and often make mistakes or do silly things because they hardly have brain power left to think of anything else - in other words they are thinking in one dimension only - flat.

An example of this is when I throw a ball for my dog. He gets so excited when he sees a ball that he will trample over anything and everything to have it; and will quite literally run head first into a brick wall to catch it. Nothing else matters but getting the ball.

Why am I telling you this? Well, at the moment, the male Guinea Fowl here 'se koppe is plat'. They are so focused on mating that they are showing a lack of judgement, being absurd and foolish.

One Guinea Fowl male saw me putting out food for the garden birds. He ran up to me, clearly hungry, quickly pecked only twice at the food, stood up straight, turned in a full circle on the spot, twitched his head from side-to-side, and then ran off at full gallop. I could only watch him with amusement as he turned so quickly at the street corner that he had to put his wing out for balance.
Sy kop is plat.


Silly boys.

 

[Gill-b]

Wow, it has been 70 days since I last posted here on this thread. The reason is that there has been nothing significant to report. The Guineas have mostly disappeared from the neighbourhood except for a single pair who visit me every other day or so.

Photograph taken this morning of the only regular visiting Guineas of the past two months.

What concerns me is that the female of this pair is the same female who use to keep Hop-a-long company. I recognize her by her very distinct helmet (crown) which is in the shape of a comma sign. I have not seen Hop-a-long anywhere in the neighbourhood; and I am hoping that he somehow got separated from her and that he is somewhere out in the farmlands with the other Guinea Fowl. The alternative is sad for me to think of, but is most likely the reality. However, I remain ever hopeful that I will see him again.

Photograph taken at the end of September of a lone male Guinea fighting with his own reflection in the glass sliding door.

The same lone male Guinea dashing off after his reflection fight and then running circles in the driveway with his wings slightly lifted. He also gave the bumper of the car, seen in the photograph, a fierce peck or two... or three. Silly boy.

 

[Gill-b]

Here be Guinea Fowl

The "joys" of having Guinea Fowl visit my small garden is having to sweep the paving up after them only to repeat the process the next day.


Yesterday morning I was so happy to see Two-toes! I went out to feed the usual pair that visit me regularly when I saw a Guinea Fowl running towards us from the children's play park, followed by his mate trying to catch up. He seemed just as happy to see me as I was to see him. He made plenty of soft whistling noises and chips; and did not hesitate to eat out of my hand while I was trying to spread the food out on the ground for the two pairs. All four ate in harmony with the two males side-by-side.

One of my observations is that the females, who are ever so slightly smaller and whose facial colours are not as bright as the males, always put their male mate between me and themselves. The females are timid, especially compared to the males, and will not approach me without a male present. The males, however, will run straight up to me and "talk" to me as if telling me all about the day they are having.

This morning I was visited for the first time for this breeding season by a family unit.

There were four keets; of about 20 days old?

 

[Gill-b]

My heart is filled with joy!​

Hop-a-long turned up this morning!... after three months of absence! And not only did he visit with me, but he showed up with three keets in tow.

He seems to be without a mate, and is looking thin, worn out and stressed. The three keets are very skittish.

This above picture better shows his broken and bent out of shape leg. I noticed that the keets seem to behave slightly differently to normal, and I wonder if this is due to Hop-a-long's handicap since he obviously can not move around as agilely as a normal parent?

Foraging on the other side of the street.

Hop-a-long is the one in the middle without an indication circle. The three circles show where his keets are in the picture.

I nearly burst into tears when I saw him hopping towards me... silly me.

 

[fowltemptress]

My heart is filled with joy!​

Hop-a-long turned up this morning!... after three months of absence! And not only did he visit with me, but he showed up with three keets in tow.

View attachment 4012595
He seems to be without a mate, and is looking thin, worn out and stressed. The three keets are very skittish.
View attachment 4012596
This above picture better shows his broken and bent out of shape leg. I noticed that the keets seem to behave slightly differently to normal, and I wonder if this is due to Hop-a-long's handicap since he obviously can not move around as agilely as a normal parent?

View attachment 4012604
Foraging on the other side of the street.
View attachment 4012605
Hop-a-long is the one in the middle without an indication circle. The three circles show where his keets are in the picture.

I nearly burst into tears when I saw him hopping towards me... silly me.

Great news! I would have cried, too.