Simon Thomsett

Category: Falcons, Raptor Expedition | Date: Oct 06 2008 | By: Laila Bahaa-el-din

Simon arrived in Shannon, Ireland last Tuesday. The main purpose of his visit was to help transport all the equipment back to Kenya as no airline would allow us to carry it on. He took advantage of this trip to see a little of Clare, a county in the Republic of Ireland. A large area of east Clare was recently put under protection as the Hen Harrier breeds there. We spent a morning looking for it, but it wasn’t to be. We also visited the cliffs of Moher, a spectacular site on the western coast. We hoped to see some Peregrine Falcons but they had just moved inland the week before. The wind, however, was enough to impress us and I had to sit on the ground to avoid blowing away. Simon laughed and took pictures.

Simon at Cliffs of Moher

After baggage hassle and flight delays, we finally made it back to Nairobi early yesterday morning. Despite having been sleep-deprived for a couple of days and having a bad case of tonsillitis, I had a great first day back in this stunning country. As we drove to where Simon’s empty house currently lies, we saw huge amounts of wildlife and, most exciting for us, a secretary bird too busy eating a hare to care that we were so close.

Secretary bird eating a hare

I’ll admit much of the day was spent in and out of sleep on the floor of Simon’s house. The day finished off nicely as Tim the Lanner falcon flew in after a day off gallivanting. Tim was the first bird I flew when I volunteered with Simon last year. It was great to have him back on my fist. He spends his whole days out on his own now and where he goes is a mystery. But he returns at night and Simon keeps him at the foot of his bed to make sure he is not eaten by the genet cats that live in his roof.

Tim and Laila

Many of Africa’s raptor species occur in Kenya so we will be spending quite some time moving around here. We hope to visit Rosy and Girl, the Crowned Eagles, in Naivasha this weekend and get some footage of them. (Simon invested in a duty-free video camera on the way here). We also have a Lammergeyer (Bearded Vulture) to release in a fabulous location. That has had to be put off by a couple of weeks but we will write about all these exciting things as they happen.

Thanks to all the people that have sent very encouraging e-mails and Facebook messages. I don’t have time to respond to all but I really appreciate it and hope everyone enjoys the blog. Please join our African Raptor Expedition Facebook Group.

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