Ninjas on the Zaagkuildrift Road

I visited Zaagkuildrift in early April 2021. Not to long after arriving I spotted a small flock of Crested Francolins in the road. Normally these birds scurry off into the grass as soon as you approach, but these guys stayed on the road. Then the action started. At first I didn’t know if they were fighting or mating, but is was very cool to watch.Crested FrancolinCrested Francolin    Crested FrancolinCrested FrancolinCrested Francolin  Crested Francolin

But I started to think that this was a less than friendly encounter as the one bird seemed particularly aggressive towards another bird.Crested Francolin Crested Francolin Crested FrancolinCrested Francolin    Crested Francolin

The third bird looked on for a while and then seemed to act like a referee. And all of a sudden calm was restored and all of them went on their way.Crested Francolin

The interaction only lasted a minute or two, but it was a fascinating experience.