Drone Monitoring?

[halifax]

I am a forest ecologist by trade, working on large-area conservation projects in northern New England. I had the first confirmed observation of peregrine return to the eastern Adirondacks several years ago.

Generally, the further the nesting pair lives from people, the more sensitive they are to anthropogenic disturbance. Remote/backcountry peregrines ("interior" birds) might abandon a nest due to a single disruptive interaction. City peregrines are most at ease with humans ("commensal" birds) and their machines, but repeated close encounters can cause them to abandon nests, too.

It's not just about disturbing them, it's also about increasing the energy costs of the parents and development delays to eggs when the mom has to leave the egg to deal with a possible intruder. And etc.

Of course, if flying in proximity to a nest, and if they attack the drone and they get killed by it, one can only wonder what USFWS would do to someone who killed one. Even though they were recently delisted from the federal ESA, they are still covered under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act Penalty and Enforcement Act and likely on many state rare, threatened, or endangered species lists.

If you really want to track external threats to the nest, I imagine you could add an outward-looking cam.

Just my $0.02.

 

[Deleted member 92101]

While it is possible that it is a drone, I can tell you from flying many drones in remote parts of the country that smaller raptors are not spooked from most drones. And in fact the Falcons and Hawks try to chase them and in fact attack them. We have to watch for them and have had to land at times and let the hawks fly off so we could continue. Most raptors are territorial and the smaller ones are not afraid of larger birds and will attack.

Now of course this is here in the states, and different species can act differently. Seen flacons run a bald eagle off here in my back yard. Those small birds were hitting that eagle fast and hard.

Just something to keep in mind. As the other suggestion it may be best to get another camera. Do you all have Wildlife Officers that are in charge of Conservation there?
May be time to give them a heads up, they usually have a lot of resources. I know here using a drone and Harassing or Disturbing wildlife is Illegal and amounts to some jail time.

Dave

ETA: Beautiful Falcons by the way

Thank you.

I am a forest ecologist by trade, working on large-area conservation projects in northern New England. I had the first confirmed observation of peregrine return to the eastern Adirondacks several years ago.

Generally, the further the nesting pair lives from people, the more sensitive they are to anthropogenic disturbance. Remote/backcountry peregrines ("interior" birds) might abandon a nest due to a single disruptive interaction. City peregrines are most at ease with humans ("commensal" birds) and their machines, but repeated close encounters can cause them to abandon nests, too.

It's not just about disturbing them, it's also about increasing the energy costs of the parents and development delays to eggs when the mom has to leave the egg to deal with a possible intruder. And etc.

Of course, if flying in proximity to a nest, and if they attack the drone and they get killed by it, one can only wonder what USFWS would do to someone who killed one. Even though they were recently delisted from the federal ESA, they are still covered under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act Penalty and Enforcement Act and likely on many state rare, threatened, or endangered species lists.

If you really want to track external threats to the nest, I imagine you could add an outward-looking cam.

Just my $0.02.

Thank you. I'll pass on this info.

 

[Rockowe]

Hi everyone

Are there any apps available that could monitor if a drone is in the area? There's a wildlife group in Bath, UK, that suspects that a drone has been disturbing a pair of Peregrine Falcons that are due to nest.

You can see footage of how stressed they were.

Many thanks for any advice!

HOW is it Possible to HEAR these Birds and not the DRONE?

This was Not drone Footage ....

There was Not a Drone here when this video was shot - something else is disturbing the Birds...

Maybe theres another reason why 'a drone detector' is required....

 

[Meta4]

This was Not drone Footage ....

No-one was suggesting it was.
It's obvious that it isn't.

 

[cgmaxed]

I am a forest ecologist by trade, working on large-area conservation projects in northern New England. I had the first confirmed observation of peregrine return to the eastern Adirondacks several years ago.

Generally, the further the nesting pair lives from people, the more sensitive they are to anthropogenic disturbance. Remote/backcountry peregrines ("interior" birds) might abandon a nest due to a single disruptive interaction. City peregrines are most at ease with humans ("commensal" birds) and their machines, but repeated close encounters can cause them to abandon nests, too.

It's not just about disturbing them, it's also about increasing the energy costs of the parents and development delays to eggs when the mom has to leave the egg to deal with a possible intruder. And etc.

Of course, if flying in proximity to a nest, and if they attack the drone and they get killed by it, one can only wonder what USFWS would do to someone who killed one. Even though they were recently delisted from the federal ESA, they are still covered under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act Penalty and Enforcement Act and likely on many state rare, threatened, or endangered species lists.

If you really want to track external threats to the nest, I imagine you could add an outward-looking cam.

Just my $0.02.

Your Right. If they are so concerned and making assumptions, they really should gt an outward looking camera. Just a couple outdoor inexpensive ones with wifi. I'm sure they have the funding or could get it, if the expressed their concerns. I still, think, because we can hear the cars below, we would be able to hear the drones rotors spinning nearby.

 

[RussOnTheRoad]

I for one would like to know what wildlife group we are talking about and why they suspect a drone is involved.

 

[teeroy]

I for one would like to know what wildlife group we are talking about and why they suspect a drone is involved.

Convenience.

 

[Don@CoS]

Try DroneWatcher. This is not an endorsement.

Drone Detection Systems | DroneWatcher™ UAV Defense Radar

MERLIN™ drone defense systems provide drone interdiction & surveillance using anti drone radar technology and DroneWatcher, a real-time app to detect drones.

dronewatcher.com

 

[Meta4]

This is not an endorsement.

Neither are the reviews for the app.
They suggest it doesn't work at all.
But that sounds like the perfect solution for whoever was referred to in the OP, who are convinced the falcons are stressed by a drone without any indication of stress or any evidence a drone is bothering them.

 

[Deleted member 92101]

I'm astounded by some of the sarcastic and defensive responses to what I believed to be a very inoffensive unthreatening question. I was expecting mature professional responses but I guess not.

Is this the level reached through the degradation of societal behavior?

 

[Meta4]

I'm astounded by some of the sarcastic and defensive responses to what I believed to be a very inoffensive unthreatening question. I was expecting mature professional responses but I guess not.

Is this the level reached through the degradation of societal behavior?

My response was not defensive (why would you even think it might be?).

The concern about the bird's welfare seems exaggerated, like the concern about the degradation of society standards.
The video doesn't show any stress on the part of the birds and there's been no reason given to suspect that a drone has been in the vicinity.

And to put my comments in context, I'm a wildlife ecologist of more than 25 years experience, including with Peregrine falcons.

 

[cgmaxed]

Try DroneWatcher. This is not an endorsement.

Drone Detection Systems | DroneWatcher™ UAV Defense Radar

MERLIN™ drone defense systems provide drone interdiction & surveillance using anti drone radar technology and DroneWatcher, a real-time app to detect drones.

dronewatcher.com

I have tried the "drone watcher app". It doesn't work. I flew 4 different drones while the app was on and active. None of my drones showed up even with being registered with LAANC for flight. 3 were DJI and one was Autel.

 

[cgmaxed]

We can hear the car sounds coming from below easily, but not a drone? A drone near that nest , close enough to bother the birds would create a heck of a lot of noise. Sorry folks, it isn't a drone. The birds aren't acting if an outside threat is near anyway. It looks like they are having a marital spat. or, they are trying to establish who is dominant and who isn't, or both birds want to raise different broods and they are just fighting for ,"who gets the nesting spot".

 

[Tomk_]

Hard for me to be sure from those images but I think those two birds were of the same sex - upset with each other - not some intruder.

The first one into the nest is a male. The second, larger one, is a female.

The are probably a mating pair.

My guess is that the male left the toilet seat up. The female is voicing her desire to change his behavior and he is trying to explain how sorry he is and it won't happen again.

When she flew away, she said she is going to her sisters nest to have a glass of wine to settle her nerves and would be back in an hour. He continued to apologize and said for her to have a good time and he would go do the grocery shopping for the week.

Neither mentioned anything about a drone.

 

[cgmaxed]

The first one into the nest is a male. The second, larger one, is a female.

The are probably a mating pair.

My guess is that the male left the toilet seat up. The female is voicing her desire to change his behavior and he is trying to explain how sorry he is and it won't happen again.

When she flew away, she said she is going to her sisters nest to have a glass of wine to settle her nerves and would be back in an hour. He continued to apologize and said for her to have a good time and he would go do the grocery shopping for the week.

Neither mentioned anything about a drone.

LOL. Good to lighten the thread. Sounds like this thread is being taken a little to seriously.

 

[Tomk_]

The second one is female regardless whether or not she is squawking. You can tell by her markings. Males are smaller with white breast and females are larger with spots on their breast.

 

[RussOnTheRoad]

The first one into the nest is a male. The second, larger one, is a female.

The are probably a mating pair.

My guess is that the male left the toilet seat up. The female is voicing her desire to change his behavior and he is trying to explain how sorry he is and it won't happen again.

When she flew away, she said she is going to her sisters nest to have a glass of wine to settle her nerves and would be back in an hour. He continued to apologize and said for her to have a good time and he would go do the grocery shopping for the week.

Neither mentioned anything about a drone.

Don't be silly. Falcons don't drink wine...strictly vodka. LOL.