Simon Thomsett

Category: Crowned Eagles, lammergeyer, mountain buzzard, warthogs | Date: Nov 04 2008 | By: simonthomsett

Few things can be as boring as lying in hospital. Laila stayed with Munir Virani a fellow raptor fanatic, and with Sandy and Sandy, friends of ours at Athi. She managed to get in well before visiting hours. I was lucky. Lucky to not have the water tank fall a few inches closer and lucky that Laila coordinated such a cool-headed rescue and stayed and helped me through the following days. We had only just begun a few tentative excursions to the Aberdares, and were trying to be as productive as we could given that we still cannot leave Kenya because there is still the Lammergeyer (the most valuable of all the birds) left for release. We were testing out the vehicle and getting the hang of the cameras and procedure. We were doing quite well under these circumstances and had already got the best photograph I have seen of a Mountain Buzzard. It wasn’t great, but if we dally weeks to get the perfect shot of each of more than 100 species, we will be on the road for years. We cannot afford this. Laila has to get back and continue her life at the end of the year and time can run out quickly. We cannot let this accident slow us down.

I am known among friends and family as being able to bounce back very quickly after an accident. I have had quite a few. But I am older now, and the body just doesn’t do what it used to, nor recover as fast. But the head is the same and I have no intention of drawing this injury out any longer than it should. Laila is very strict that I should do as the doctor orders. I must now behave and listen because this trip is a joint effort. Laila is as much a part of the expedition as I and has as much to lose. We are partners in this work and I cannot let her and the many others down who have an interest in this expedition.

We went by taxi to the outskirts of Nairobi to stay four nights with David Gulden at Hog Ranch. This small sanctuary of indigenous forest and bush is the home of Peter Beard and shares it border with African Fund for Endangered Wildlife giraffe centre. It is a remnant of Karen Blixen’s old farm, unchanged from the original bush she first found there “under the foot of the Ngong Hills.” We stayed in spacious tents, surrounded by a busy family of Warthogs and a herd of Rothschild’s Giraffe. It looked and felt as though you were in the bush, but for the hum of humanity near its borders.

The days passed slowly with little to do but paint. Laila befriended “Becket” a black Lab, and videoed enough Warthog footage to make a documentary. When we arrived there were six babies, one dragging a back leg but in good spirits. Later that day, there were five. Laila thought to go find it to feed it up and make it strong. We went to go look for it, I on crutches. We found he had died in peace under a bush. His siblings thrived and continued to entertain us by pirouetting around in tight circles and having mock fights. Laila got to scratch a huge fat female warthog, while I filmed.

We saw a mewing Steppe Buzzard. It cries like a thin cat mew, high overhead. Odd that it should do so in its wintering grounds. There were distant vultures framed by the impressive Ngong Hills. We saw and filmed the Little Sparrowhawk, who sat bold and perky in a tree. We were desperate to photograph but the cameras were at home in Athi. A video camera was all we had. High overhead one morning, we heard the Crowned Eagle. Beneath in the thick foliage its cry was taken up by Robin Chats that mimic the call of many birds.

We were sorry to leave when Sandy and Sandy picked us up and took us to their home at Athi but it’s good to be back and we now have the cameras again.

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Category: Raptor Expedition, Vero's | Date: Oct 28 2008 | By: simonthomsett

A couple of days ago, I read my e-mails and my heart sank when I read the first line on screen. “I am sorry to tell you that Vero’s was killed …”

Martin Wheeler took on Vero’s a couple of months ago because I was closing down the raptor facility at Athi River. Vero’s, a Verreaux’s Eagle, was an Abel rescue from a small mountain near me. She had fallen 75 feet down a cliff and I ended up looking after her. Twelve years have gone by, and we built up a special eagle/human bond that few other than eagle handlers will ever understand.

I dreaded the day when we were to part company. I was too quick putting her in her box and racing to the airfield for her to be flown up to Martin who lives on a great escarpment in Samburu district at Il Ngewsi. In a moment she was airborne, carried away by a small plane. I had hoped to see her again, perhaps if things worked out she may even have joined me again, somewhere new.

Vero’s flying to Laila

Martin informed me that she was killed at night by two Samburu “warriors” as she perched in a small tree. She had killed a dik dik previously and had flown to the tree. Martin was in the process of letting her have her freedom as much as possible. The two men may have had a vendetta of some kind against wildlife for they left her body on the road to be found. Despite conservation projects focusing more and more on sharing benefits with local communities, these sorts of incidents seem to be becoming more frequent. It is very hard for me right now to get my head around the reasons why. I am trying not to be too despairing about the situation.

Vero’s flying

I loved Vero’s, as did Martin and all those that met her. She flew to the hand of hundreds, influenced a generation of people in Kenya and visitors from abroad. She was gentle despite her massive size, and harmless. That two brave warriors felt moved to bash her to death puts so much into perspective.

I was not happy that day and Laila knew it. She thought to make me more light hearted by videoing a “Work out video.” It worked. The video shows me struggling to do sit ups, straining to do some awful lower back exercise. Then we thought it would be fine to finish off with some pull-ups. We were filling in the time waiting for Tim to make his appearance.

I have a 1000 litre water (264 U.S. gallons) tank supported by a cradle of metal scaffolding. It makes a good place for pull-ups. I jumped up and for a laugh decided to fake enormous strength by using my feet on the lower scaffold. The result was recorded: The whole thing spun around and collapsed on top of me. It happened in a flash. The weight was terrifying and I thought in that fraction of time that if the crushing force was to continue I would end up in a serious mess.

The metal twisted and crunched into my left thigh. I howled with pain and the shock of the water bursting added to the confusion. Laila ran to lift up the scaffolding off my leg in a burst of strength. I lay under a barbed wire fence looking up at the sky trying to think straight. The pain was worse than a broken bone. Laila ran to the house and got a blanket and phoned for help. Of all the moments to look up into the sky and see a falcon, one appeared overhead catching termites. I was slightly light-headed but composed enough to think it was Tim returning but it turned out to be a hobby.

Laila yelled for Nicholas and he showed up with Puppy. Puppy, who is otherwise totally aloof, was distraught. She stood with her cold nose in my ear, looking very upset. Darkness fell and the rescue team arrived with David Hopcraft, Phil Tilley, Isaiah, Diane and Tim Bannister. Expertly, they strapped my legs together and got me out of my wet clothes. They put me in the back of a 4×4 truck and Isaiah and Laila took me to Nairobi hospital. It was an agonizing two-hour drive down a bumpy road.

I arrived in hospital to be quickly dealt with. Laila knows more about the next couple of hours as I was given pain-killers that made me funny. Munir showed up and I was then taken to the ward around midnight. The next morning, I was taken to “surgery” where they cleaned my open wounds and stitched me up. I have a small fracture in my pelvis that will need to mend on its own. My dislocated hip popped itself back into place.

I can’t wait to get out of my hospital bed and get back outside and continue with our plans, though they might have to be slightly altered.

More posts about Vero’s:

• Goodbye Vero’s
• Vero’s and Puppy
• 4th Nov 2007

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Category: Raptor Expedition | Date: Oct 28 2008 | By: Laila Bahaa-el-din

Two days ago, Simon received an e-mail giving him bad news. He was pretty down all day. Evening was falling and we waiting for Tim the lanner to return home when we decide to goof around and get Simon’s spirits back up. We knew we had to get fit for the expedition so we started a work-out routine. I filmed as Simon demonstrated. We were laughing so much as Simon struggled to do three sit-ups.

I instructed Simon to do some pull-ups at which point we walked over to his water tank which is supported on a large metal frame. He pulled himself up and turned to make sure I was filming as he started his “pull-ups” (he was actually pulling himself up with his feet). Within a split-second, the frame collapsed, coming down on Simon and landing the full 1000 litre tank down on him (264 U.S. gallons). I yelled as I came forward to pull the frame off of him.

Simon lay on the ground moaning in pain, sure his leg, or hip, or both, was broken. The evening was setting in and it was getting cold. Simon was unable to move as he lay shivering in the water and mud. He looked as if he might pass out from the pain. I called for the help and ran for the blankets to keep him warm, treated his open wound with antiseptic and kept talking to him to keep him awake. The first few moments were scary as he lay there under the barbed-wire fence. Scarier still, he started to become a little delirious, looking up at the sky for raptors and talking in a softer voice than I had ever heard from him “look at the hobby catching insects.”

Help finally arrived and people got straight to work moving him as he was laying on his bad hip. Diane Bannister, a nurse who lives on the ranch, arrived and was quick to sort us all out. We got Simon out of his wet clothes and he started to be more alert, even joking as we moved him. Diane strapped his legs and a joint effort got him into the back of the car. Unfortunately for Simon, he was put on his bad hip and every bump on the two hour drive to Nairobi Hospital was hell.

We arrived at the hospital and Simon was seen straight away. As I filled out the endless paperwork, he went for x-rays and it was established that his hip was dislocated and that there may be a small fracture on the pelvis. Nothing required emergency surgery and he was given painkillers. Munir showed up with food which was a God-send and, nearing midnight, we took off back to his house where he and his wife kindly put me up for the night.

Two days on, and Simon is still in hospital but in good spirits apart from being terribly bored. He is sitting next to me writing his version of events. We are both disappointed that this is going to hold the expedition back but so grateful that it was not worse.

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Category: aberdare national park, hyena, vultures | Date: Oct 26 2008 | By: simonthomsett

We left Sungare Ranch later than we hoped. We did not make a road count of raptors on the way as we needed to get a proper method in place. But we did see a migrant Steppe Buzzard and a local Peregrine Falcon above the road.

We were both filthy dirty when we arrived in Nairobi and dumped the car on Bali, my old friend and increasingly angry mechanic. He raised his eyebrows and temperature as we rattled off the various mods (modifications) required on the car. Mods we had so recently learnt from the overlanders the day before.

After getting a lift we arrived at home. On arrival we saw a kettle of vultures swoop and fold out of the sky to a dead cow near “my” windmill. Without stopping from a long day driving we pushed on to get pictures. One of the vultures had a yellow tag on its wing, and may have been one of the vultures that Laila and I captured last year in the Mara. We found a dead calf nearby.

Vultures

Laila insisted we make use of the dead calf by holding a “stake-out” for hyenas. We moved it close to the house, and fixed a remote camera with a cheap, and as it turned out useless, remote control firing system. The idea was to get very close up shots of hyenas as they went about their gruesome business. This malfunction was one of a number of others that ruined the evening, including no headlights on the car, the burning out of the spotlight, failure of the flash camera, rain, insects in their thousands and lack of obliging hyenas.

After our disastrous “stake-out,” we returned to the empty house. Laila sat editing pictures while I wrote on another computer. Our studious work time was interrupted by Laila asking from the next room, “What was that”? I went over to have a look and she turned over my briefcase from the wall. There crouching in the shadows was a huge and hairy spider. The body from head to rear was about 6.5 cm, but the legs were fairly short. It gave me the creeps and we both went for the cameras. Laila asked if I would put my finger next to it to show just how big it was while she took a photo. Swallowing hard, I poked a shaky finger at it, whereupon it leapt into the air and let off a growl. No kidding the thing had a voice! (The sound was more like a harsh buzz). When I ran away I was cruelly called a wimp.

Big, hairy spider

As Laila sleeps on the floor, she thought it would be best if we removed the spider lest it crawl about her face in the night. My ego bruised, I went and found a huge pan from the kitchen and a sweep. Laila unkindly turned the video camera on us as the battle began. I started scooping it out the door when with a flick, the spider dashed across the floor and vanished. I searched in vain. It occurred to me that it could be nowhere else but climbing up Laila’s leg. This conclusion was crossing Laila’s mind too, and a look of panic crossed her face. I then glanced down and saw it spread large and malignant on her leg, and asked as calmly as I could if I could have the video camera. I guess Laila knew what was coming, but the result was recorded for posterity, with loud shrieks and yells as she bounced about the house. I knocked it off her leg and we did finally get it out the house.

You can see what tough and hardy characters we are from this story … exactly what you need to undertake this trans-African expedition.

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