As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Thursday, 15 May 2014

Small, Quiet Drones Let Conservationists Peek Inside Bird’s Nests

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is using remote-controlled drones to monitor nests of endangered species
SMITHSONIAN.COM 
2 HOURS AGO
Drones are everywhere, it seems, even in national parks. But while the FAA decides that fate of drone delivery and whether drones can be used by news organizations, drones are being used for a completely different purpose: birdwatching. 

The Guardian reports that, in the U.K., the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is using remote-controlled drones to monitor nests of rare birds. 

From the Guardian

“In the case of a marsh harrier, we might want to use it to check on the state of a nest without traipsing in," Butcher said. "We don't like to put cameras close to nests until the eggs have hatched, because the birds can be prone to deserting the nest.

"But with the drone you can scoot it round to confirm the state of the nest. The alternative is having eight or ten people trampling through a reed bed in knee-high waders causing a lot of disturbance."

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