Simon Thomsett

Category: Cataract Operation for Rosy, Crowned Eagles, Rosy and Girl in Naivasha | Date: Oct 18 2008 | By: sheryl bottner

From Sarah Higgins

This has been a week of ups and downs. Rosy had an operation on both of his eyes on Saturday the 11th and now we are back to putting drops in his eyes four times a day. He was a very much quieter bird for the first few days after the operation, which was hardly surprising, but there were definite signs that now he really can see something. Prior to the operation he was always ’scanning’ or ‘reading’ (as I am told it is called) which indicated that he could see nothing, but that has stopped altogether since this latest op. Now he points his beak or left eye right at you when you talk to him. I don’t think that he can see too much yet, but part of that is because of the milky steroids that were injected into his eye.

On the 15th he started calling again and called four times that day and was answered twice by Girl who was perched on the branch within her ‘palace’ that overlooks where Rosy spends his days. BUT the same day that Rosy started calling I could see the dreaded fibrin again, poking its way through Rosy’s newly opened right pupil. My heart dropped down to my boots and I sent of a picture of the eye to Doctor Dan. He too was disappointed but not despondent.

Rosy on October 15

The next day when I went to see Rosy I had my camera slung round my neck. I approached him from the left and as I bent forward to greet him the camera swung forward towards him and he nearly jumped out of his feathers. There is absolutely no doubt that he saw something coming at him although he probably couldn’t make out what it was. Despite this, when I looked into his left eye this too was showing signs of the fibrin beginning to fill up behind the pupil, although not nearly as severely as was happening in the right eye. Yet another photo was sent to Doctor Dan who again was not despondent and assured me that the steroids that he injected into the eye should eventually clear everything up. He said that Rosy’s eyes were reacting exactly like a human baby’s eyes do and that things really should start to look better soon.

Because the news was basically depressing I was reluctant to write up my Rosy Report. But today it looks as if the fibrin is beginning to retreat from his right eye and so things are definitely looking rosier. The big boy still chats to me in his silly little un-eagle-like voice when I spend time with him but that same voice is also regularly raised to its full volume as he claims his territory and makes absolutely sure that no one is going to trespass on HIS patch or try to steal his Girl.

Rosy on October 18

Please keep sending your good thoughts to Rosy as I am sure that it all helps in the healing process and we do so want him to be able to see again and be able to go back to his lonely Girl.

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Category: Cataract Operation for Rosy, Crowned Eagles, Steppe eagles | Date: Oct 15 2008 | By: simonthomsett

Rosy stepped out of the kennel and onto the glove with a vigour he has not shown for months. I walked him about and reassured him in soft tones that all was well. For the last few months during his complete blindness, he had been mellow and calm. He also “read” - a term used when a hooded (blindfolded) raptor scans his head back and forth as if reading a book. This habit is a sure sign that he was blind. Now he stood with his head still and looking hard. Today he was nervous. This is great news, and I was hopelessly emotional for only a short while till Mwanzia came walking down the path.

Picture of Rosy this morning

After breakfast, we thanked Sarah and Mike for being such great hosts, for us and the eagles. We got to Nairobi and dropped in to see Dr. Munir Virani, a colleague now heading the African programme for the Peregrine Fund. We then went together to Ngong Forest to view the Crowned Eagle nest where Virani and a photographer friend hope to build a hide. The nest is remarkably exposed, easy to access, and very close to high human density. We discussed various options to minimise the level of disturbance on this apparently tolerant pair. We also talked of the enormous development projects regarding the rural electrification of Africa and the apparent loss of environmental issues in the haste to get this mandate completed. Just what can be done to insure human development and not compromise wildlife and raptors in particular is an enormous challenge.

Approaching home from Nairobi, we turned off into Portland cement ranch. Immediately there were the large herds of wildlife and we aimed for the Martial Eagle nest. This is an odd site as we saw the adult male and female, large chick on nest as well as a 3-year-old sub-adult that was completely tolerated at the nest.

Driving on, we encountered an over-wintering near-adult Steppe Eagle, and three Tawny Eagles as well as a half dozen White backed Vultures roosting in a few yellow fever trees. It was an opportunity to compare these two similar eagles.

Tawny Eagle

Steppe Eagle

Finally arriving home near sunset, Tim flew in and landed on my back as I ducked down to avoid him. Laila then fed him in the evening light. Poor Tim, he still thinks we are family. Thankfully, he is not stupid and I am sure he would not do this with strangers. I hoped he would leave of his own accord, but as he persists in coming home, another solution may need to be found. We could, for example, release him along with the Bearded Vulture near the Tanzanian border in a beautiful mountainous location.

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Category: Cataract Operation for Rosy, Crowned Eagles, Rosy and Girl in Naivasha | Date: Oct 14 2008 | By: simonthomsett

Rosy stepped out of his dog kennel and onto the glove this morning still groggy from yesterday’s operation. He was a little different from usual in that he was more active in moving his head and scanning the world through open, if bleary, eyes. The eyes themselves were opaque, but that was to be expected given the recent operation and the injections of milky white anti-inflammatory drugs.

Rosy getting his eye drops

He sat on his perch in the early morning sunlight, while I put various eye-drops into each eye. It seemed as though he flickered an eyelid before I touched him. I asked Mwanzia if he could look after him while Laila and I walked to view the lake shore and the incredibly tame herds of zebra and waterbuck. Pied Kingfishers and Great Cormorants offered superb photographic opportunities. The pair of resident Fish Eagles often sit on a flimsy dead tobacco plant overlooking the water and this morning, the male was there allowing us to approach within 50 meters.

We returned for a late breakfast with Sarah and Mike on their verandah accompanied by a menagerie of wild weavers, doves, babblers and finches that busied themselves establishing the pecking order of the day. The ancient pet African Grey Parrot added some pertinent comments to the conversation that could have only meant it understood the gist of what we were saying. I felt a disturbing awareness that I might have been more careful in what I said, lest I offend the bird! I am not a great parrot fan, maybe because I have an uneasy feeling that they know very much more that what you think. Besides, the worst bite I ever had was from a parrot.

After breakfast, we “coped” one of Sarah’s Marsh Owls, who had a slightly overgrown bill. “Coping” simply means trimming the bill or talons of hawks, eagles, falcons and owls. It entails the use of a sharp knife and a file. The idea is to remove the overgrown part and return it to normal shape. The Keratin part of the bill and talons has no nerves or blood supply so it is a painless task. But the owl was very indignant.

Sarah and one of her Marsh Owls

We planned to visit friends Tommie and Annie at Carnelley’s Camp for lunch and then go to Hell’s Gate National Park. But the meal there was so good that we overstayed. Annie took showed us the newly fledged chick of a Fish Eagle, born in a massive tree in their garden. She is looking after one of the ugliest of all things, a baby Hadada Ibis, knocked from its nest at night. Despite its grotesque gargoyle shapelessness it was, of course, adorable.

At Hell’s Gate, we were unable to meet the Warden and the acting deputy. I had worked for some years in Hell’s Gate with students studying Augur Buzzards and Egyptian Vultures, and latterly releasing Bearded Vultures (Lammergeyers). I always had a great affection for Hell’s Gate and its towering cliffs. It is our hope that we can also do a census in the park and its nearby environs in order to continue to promote raptor conservation and awareness.

We returned to check on Rosy. He had not eaten much during the day, but this was not unexpected. He was much more jumpy than he had been since May 2008. As my hand approached his face to put the eye-drops in, he threatened it! I turned my head upside-down and he threatened that, too! Laila stood up and he followed her with his head. He definitely has more vision than at any period in the last five months. We can only pray that this improvement continues, especially as Girl sits confused and lonely in her grand breeding pen. I retired Rosy early to bed where he bounced about with something of his old belligerent manner.

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Category: Cataract Operation for Rosy, Crowned Eagles, Rosy and Girl in Naivasha | Date: Oct 13 2008 | By: simonthomsett

Laila and I drove to Naivasha to stay with Sarah and Mike Higgins on Friday night where I was able to reunite with Rosy and Girl for the first time in weeks. I was shocked at the condition of his eye, but Rosy was in good spirits and was particularly talkative. The iris of the right eye had, within the last few days, burst forward to coat the inner side of the cornea. Sarah had earlier sent Dr. Dan Gradin a photo of this eye by e-mail. Dan viewed this as an emergency requiring immediate surgery. I went to the shed to see Girl, and half hoped that she would be pleased to see me. But she was not and made it clear by launching herself around the shed in mad abandon. We did manage to exchange a few words after she recognized me.

Early next morning, after taking pictures of wildebeest, zebra and waterbuck at the lake shore, I took Rosy out for a short walk to enjoy the warmth of the sun. He leaned his body against me as we had done for so many years and seemed happy. But he was totally blind.

View of animals from Girl’s shed

We were able to convene at Dr. Barry Cockar’s clinic on Saturday at 10 a.m. After taking pictures in the morning light by the lake shore, we all had breakfast and then drove to Dr. Cockar’s, with Sarah following close behind. We arrived late but safe.

We met Dr. Barry Cockar, Dr. Nonee Magre and Dr. Dan Gradin and soon anaesthetized Rosy and proceeded with the operation to relieve the glaucoma. Pressure was immediately reduced by puncturing the iris. Within a minute, the iris collapsed and returned to near normal shape. Dan removed a coat of fibrin from the acrylic lens but in the process he had to remove some of the iris. He joked that should he be photographed, we would have to use his “good side.” The iris shape may look odd but it is of little consequence to good vision.

Dr. Dan Gradin looking down the scope

Rosy’s support group

The other eye needed similar treatment. The lens was coated with an amazingly tough layer but the process was very much shorter than the previous operation. Both eyes were injected with steroids and anti-inflammatory agents that are slow release and would inhibit the fibrin growth.

Drs. Nonee Magre and Barry Cockar preparing injections

During the operation, Rosy awoke and leapt about scattering people and equipment. This relieved the tension as there were times when it was difficult to hear his heart beat or breathing.

Like last time, we retired for a great lunch at the Cockar’s house. It was great to stand back and watch Rosy’s support team gather together on a veranda. We all had his interest at heart. Rosy was handed around and held like a baby as he recovered from the anaesthesia.

Rosy and Barry

We drove back with Rosy recovering on Laila’s lap. That night he spent standing up in his dog kennel. He did react to light, and the prognosis is good that he will see again. How well is not known.

Rosy recovering on journey back

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