Dear All,
While birding with a group from the rooftop terrace of Serena Mountain Lodge on the afternoon of 12th May 2014, we found ourselves inundated by the resident white-throated Skye’s Monkeys and they took up positions on the balconies and proceeded to scan the scene. Suddenly, one animal that I was photographing jumped off the balcony and returned about 30 seconds later with a bird in its mouth that I could see was a male Harlequin Quail. The bird appeared limp and ‘fresh’ but there was no indication that it was alive. The monkey was bold in its attempts to keep the prey item to itself and proceeded to eat the bird head first.
This observation was noteworthy on two counts; firstly, I would imagine there are few records of this monkey species eating a Harlequin Quail. Secondly, it was a strange location for a Harlequin Quail which I can only suppose was migrating over the forest of Mount Kenya at night and drawn to the bright lights of the lodge. We’ll never know if the bird was already dead or just recuperating after an exhaustive night before it was ‘dispatched’.
Sadly, it was the observation of the quail on our trip!
Cheers for now,
Adam
