Simon Thomsett

Category: Raptor Expedition, Rosy and Girl in Naivasha | Date: Jan 11 2009 | By: Laila Bahaa-el-din

After all the setbacks, we were keen to get on the road as soon as I got back to Kenya on December 30th. We set off for Nakuru, a small National Park on a brackish soda lake full of flamingos and pelicans. We had received a tip that it had lots of migrant Steppe Eagles and Steppe Buzzards as well as the rarer Spotted Eagles. Simon had been working on the car over the Christmas break, and we packed it up and hit the road.

It was my first time in Nakuru and I was immediately impressed with the beauty of the area and the amount of wildlife. We got into the park in the early evening and had to rush to our campsite but saw a Spotted Hyena, the much rarer Striped Hyena and rhinos as well as thousands of buffalos on the way.

The three days we spent in Nakuru were very productive. We saw lots of Steppe Eagles, Steppe Buzzards and Montagu’s Harriers as well as a few Lesser Kestrels. We found the most productive area for raptors to be on the outskirts of the park on the sewage treatment plant. There resided cormorants in large numbers alongside Marabou Storks and here we saw the largest numbers of Eurasian Marsh Harriers, Fish Eagles and European Black Kites. We didn’t turn our heads away from the lions we saw walking along the lake shore, or the two leopards we saw sitting in trees.

Eurasian Marsh Harrier

We dropped off to see Sarah Higgins and Rosy and Girl in Naivasha on the way back. Rosy is back in the big shed with Girl. He can see a little out of his right eye but nothing out of his left eye. His immune system seems to be rejecting the lenses and building up fibrin. But he still seems as tough as ever and calls out territorially.

We spent a night in Hell’s gate and sat atop a cliff in the morning waiting for the cliff-nesting Ruppell’s Vutlures to start flying below us. We spent three hours photographing and watching the vultures as they set off for the day. We were giving a presentation that afternoon so we sat alone at a designated picnic spot, working on the computer. Simon suddenly shouted, and I turned to see a huge male baboon sitting on the wall behind me. Simon ran at it with his arms waving and shouting. This baboon was not one bit intimidated and jumped straight into the car, turning the place upside down before Simon managed to scare him off. He didn’t go far though, just a few feet away where he drank from a tap that required him to press a button and dip his head under the tap to drink at the same time. Impressed, we decided to move on before his buddies joined him.

Ruppell’s Vulture

Simon gave his presentation that afternoon and we returned to Nairobi where we are now, sorting a couple of things, before setting off again tomorrow. It’s good to be on the road and busy. The birds of prey have not let us down. In fact, we have been luckier than expected with a second sighting of the Greater Spotted Eagle in Nakuru. Our piece of good news is that we have heard from Ole Donyo Laro who are almost ready to take the Bearded Vulture which will completely free us to start moving through the continent on this expedition.

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Tags: baboons in cars, Eurasian Marsh Harrier, Nakuru expedition, Ruppell's Vulture

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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, 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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