Night Birds

The gamekeeper's guard-birds have been garden visitors for the past few days and they are notoriously difficult to photograph, so I waited till bed time.

Guinea Fowl are often kept with breeding game birds such as pheasants, as they originate from the plains of Africa and have a highly developed early warning system.
The birds keep in a tight flock when ground feeding, with one or two birds taking turn to act as lookouts, if they see anything untoward, they make a tremendous racket, then all the others join in and go into a huddle so they look like one large intimidating beast. (To predators anyway if not to me!)

When contented, the Guinea Fowl make a calling sound to each other in order to keep the flock together that sounds uncannily like 'Come Back, Come Back!' as if calling to wayward members of the flock.

The birds roost in trees at night, these two have started their upward journey, by hopping up onto some fence posts.