Illegal Drone flying kills 3000

[bstanga]

And I think that's why the number is reported so unbelievably high. More likely to get penalties to stick and possibly more serious charges if the number of displaced birds are really high.

I manage a lot of commercial space. We get vandalism once in a while and I am the one that usually deals with the police when they come out to fill out a report. They always ask the dollar value of the damage because there are different tiers of crime depending on how expensive the damage is. If I say "a few hundred dollars" the police officer will often ask "could it be $X". They want a high dollar amount on their report so they can charge the vandal with the highest tier crime possible - even if they weren't really guilty of committing a crime in that tier.

sounds like yet another case of crooked cops!

 

[bstanga]

Thanks for the links and still think it’s just more propaganda.
Title of thread says (

Illegal Drone flying kills 3000)​

?
Sorry but as a retired GameWarden I know better. Yawl
can keep on but I know better. ?

I agree, only sheeple take for fact what the press puts out. Sad really

 

[bstanga]

Excuse me, but one drone crashing in a marsh on an island is not going to cause that many birds to abandon there nests no way no how. Low level over flight may cause a temporary escape

Much more believable is the off leash dogs causing the abandonment. This is the reason many golf courses use dogs to keep geese from nesting and causing E. coli blooms in ponds and excessive fecal release on greens, fairways, and tee boxes.

Maybe the rangers should consider closing the island during nesting until the eggs have hatched, but then there would be too much money lost from those paying to go to the island.

could be just a natural event.

 

[bstanga]

Terns are fearless when it comes to protecting their nests. They are particularly aggressive when there are eggs or chicks, and will swoop at and even make physical contact with humans or dogs walking in the area. I've seen this first hand at a local Bird Observatory - they will give you a nasty peck on the head. If you believe that headline I'd be very careful not to let anyone else know lest they try to sell you a bridge.

well said

 

[sar104]

My beef is with the headline and the story. Whether is came from the author of the Rangers, it's a BS headline. There is ZERO evidence the drones scared them off. None whatsoever. It is a hit piece. Just like all other nonsensical drone stories and headlines designed to use drone paranoia to get advertising clicks.

It could have just as easily been the dogs or the increase in human visitors. The story even says that.

A more accurate headline would be "3000 nests abandoned. Multiple theories being look into."

That is the story.

I understand what your beef is, but I don't think that you are even remotely qualified to draw the conclusion that it is BS, and that's in the context that I also think it would be surprising if the drone(s) caused the abandonment. But then I'm constantly surprised by things I discover outside my own field, and so I've learned not to dismiss stuff that blithely.

You think the news media should simply have suppressed the report? On what grounds? You are fine with drones being flown over and crashed in ecological reserves provided that they can't be proven to cause nest abandonment? I'm sorry but, in view of your role as an advocate for this industry, the strategy of yelling "fake news" every time negative drone stories are reported is not going to help your credibility.

 

[cgmaxed]

I don't believe it. Prey birds deal with predators every day. If birds abandoned their nests every time a predator bird showed up, there would be no more birds. If the article said one nest, or two nests were abandoned - maybe. 3,000 eggs abandoned because of a drone? No way.

I think the story is a bunch of B.S. 2 drone crashes scare away what would have to be 3000 of birds. In the video they mention, too many people at the site, bicycles and dogs running through the nesting site. The predators the birds were worried about are the people and the dogs. The drones had nothing to do with it. What ever scared the birds was a continuous invasion, not a temporary situation, like a crashed drone. To bad most people will believe whatever the news says.

 

[dronerdave]

Just seems to me the title is so misinforming. It did happen (sad) for one reason or another in my opinion. It probably was due to several factors including several drones over time along with incursion of more people, biking, dogs and other human factors as reported. But the media echo is somewhat typical & something often seen from most of the media these days. I have no problem with the article, it's the title that bothers me and how the media echos it.

 

[DavidT_ NZ]

I agree that we have enough facts to reasonably conclude the drone should not have been there. I agree that emotional defensive reactions serve no useful purpose (at least as far as determining what happened and why). I was actually trying to make that exact point by objecting to the thread title, "Illegal Drone Flying Kills 3000." Its rhetorical hyperbole intended to evoke an emotional response.

Agreed. But if the drone did actually scare the birds off their nests, that may have been witnessed. I have not seen that reported so far, but may have missed it. Despite that, flying a drone in a nesting area at any time is nuts and doesn’t reflect well on the pilot. Unfortunately, that sometimes rubs off onto the general public’s perceptions of other drone users, too. Cheers

 

[Hobo]

With that scary headline the media, in a not-so-subtle way, is using misinformation in an attempt to link: "DRONE" to "ASSULT WEAPON" – the story basically is linking drones to weapons of mass destruction! Unfortunately, the term 'Drone' has a negative ring with many people – these uniformed people believe drones are for killing birds and spying on people. Maybe it's time to walk away from calling them drones, since they've already destroyed the term?

 

[RParker762]

What part about “being flown illegally “ And ECOLOGICAL PRESERVE do you not understand?

Don't have to be a ( Mod Removed Inappropriate Language) about it bud.


How do they know it was the drones that caused the birds to leave? Could there be another reason such as environmental, or predatory? Seems an easy out to blame the drones. Not saying it wasn't but dang, jumping to conclusions much?

 

[Vic Moss]

I understand what your beef is, but I don't think that you are even remotely qualified to draw the conclusion that it is BS, and that's in the context that I also think it would be surprising if the drone(s) caused the abandonment. But then I'm constantly surprised by things I discover outside my own field, and so I've learned not to dismiss stuff that blithely.

You think the news media should simply have suppressed the report? On what grounds? You are fine with drones being flown over and crashed in ecological reserves provided that they can't be proven to cause nest abandonment? I'm sorry but, in view of your role as an advocate for this industry, the strategy of yelling "fake news" every time negative drone stories are reported is not going to help your credibility.

Obviously you don’t understand my beef. First, I never yelled “fake news”. It’s about a misleading headline. The story itself contradicts the headline.

And yes, I consider myself qualified about this. Based on experience alone. I’ve flown near plenty of birds, and have seen predators attack other birds.

Birds don’t simply abandon their nesting sites due to a couple of “predators” that stopped by. It just doesn’t happen.

People who disagree with me on this continuously put words in my mouth in an attempt to bolster their argument.

I never once said I was fine with people flying their drones over sensitive areas. Never.

The drone operators, if found, should be educated and/or fined.

I will continue to challenge blatant anti-drone media reports. Especially when they are so obviously biased as this one.

 

[SkyeHigh]

It’s one of the largest-scale abandonment of eggs ever at the coastal site about 100 miles (160 km) north of San Diego, according to reserve manager Melissa Loebl.

So reading this, this isn’t the first time eggs have been abandoned at this site. So what caused the other ones?? How long has this been happening??

A decent reporter (and News Editor) would look further into this site’s history. Having been in that industry for way too many years I know that just doesn’t attract viewer attention. Why let the facts spoil a good story?

There is always more than gets reported.

 

[The Fat Controller]

Obviously you don’t understand my beef. First, I never yelled “fake news”. It’s about a misleading headline. The story itself contradicts the headline.

And yes, I consider myself qualified about this. Based on experience alone. I’ve flown near plenty of birds, and have seen predators attack other birds.

Birds don’t simply abandon their nesting sites due to a couple of “predators” that stopped by. It just doesn’t happen.

People who disagree with me on this continuously put words in my mouth in an attempt to bolster their argument.

I never once said I was fine with people flying their drones over sensitive areas. Never.

The drone operators, if found, should be educated and/or fined.

I will continue to challenge blatant anti-drone media reports. Especially when they are so obviously biased as this one.

I absolutely agree. Very few would condone stupid or insensitive drone operators but that headline has to be one of the most ridiculous I've ever seen.

 

[Newislemedia]

3,000 Eggs Left After Drone Scares Birds

Some 3,000 tern eggs were abandoned at a Southern California nesting island after a drone crashed and scared off the birds, a newspaper reported in June.

learningenglish.voanews.com

 

[Vic Moss]

3,000 Eggs Left After Drone Scares Birds

Some 3,000 tern eggs were abandoned at a Southern California nesting island after a drone crashed and scared off the birds, a newspaper reported in June.

learningenglish.voanews.com

More repeated propaganda. True Journalism is a dead art. All anyone does is copy and paste any more.

 

[SkyeHigh]

More repeated propaganda. True Journalism is a dead art. All anyone does is copy and paste any more.

Absolutely!

Loebl said that there has been a great increase in dogs, particularly those permitted to run free. She explained that this is especially bad during the nesting season.

”The dogs chase the birds, and the birds abandon their nests,”she said.

Oh really? So might not be drones then?

One of the newsroom systems I administered a while back had the option to copy and paste from a web browser, a much used option by the journos. I was asked to disable it by the news editor following a court case where a journo had used a direct copy from a browser. The text in question was libellous and the news organisation was sued. If the journo had quoted the source in her article there would have been no case.

 

[sar104]

Obviously you don’t understand my beef. First, I never yelled “fake news”. It’s about a misleading headline. The story itself contradicts the headline.

And yes, I consider myself qualified about this. Based on experience alone. I’ve flown near plenty of birds, and have seen predators attack other birds.

Birds don’t simply abandon their nesting sites due to a couple of “predators” that stopped by. It just doesn’t happen.

People who disagree with me on this continuously put words in my mouth in an attempt to bolster their argument.

I never once said I was fine with people flying their drones over sensitive areas. Never.

The drone operators, if found, should be educated and/or fined.

I will continue to challenge blatant anti-drone media reports. Especially when they are so obviously biased as this one.

I'll agree that the headline was provocative and hyperbolic, but that's how journalism has always sold newspapers (or websites). You really ought to look beyond the headline and focus on the details which clearly indicate bad pilot behavior, rather than appear simply to be deflecting. And stop trying to claim that just because you have flown near birds that you understand avian behavior in general. I'm pretty sure that you have zero qualifications in that discipline.

 

[Vic Moss]

I'll agree that the headline was provocative and hyperbolic, but that's how journalism has always sold newspapers (or websites).

Inflammatory is the correct modifier for that headline. Nonsensical Bovine Excrement is even more accurate. It's one of the most blatantly misleading headlines I've seen.

You really ought to look beyond the headline and focus on the details which clearly indicate bad pilot behavior, rather than appear simply to be deflecting.

Show us where pilot behavior caused this. The article itself mentioned additional causes of why the birds "may" have vacated the nesting site. There is absolutely no way the rangers or the author know whether or not the birds left because of the drones. I stand by my assertion it's a garbage headline.

And stop trying to claim that just because you have flown near birds that you understand avian behavior in general. I'm pretty sure that you have zero qualifications in that discipline.

One doesn't need a degree in ornithology to understand logic. You have 2000 birds (another misleading aspect of this fairly tale) who mysteriously left a nesting site. The rangers insist it was the drone that scared them away because they were afraid they were a predator. That entire flock would have died out years ago if two predators can scare away an entire colony by simply flying over them, or in one case, dying (crashing) in their midst.

Logic and life experience dictates this, no degree necessary.

And I don't the bandwidth or desire to continue this conversation. Here or in other forums. When a reporter turns off comments on his personal FB page, because people were challenging his assertion, and using logic and facts in the process, it screams volumes about what his agenda is. And what his journalistic integrity is.

I will continue to do my part in defending this industry against hit pieces and the ignorant. And I strongly encourage everyone to do the same. We are well on our way to being fully accepted by the general public. Garbage like this set us back, and if left unchallenged, will continue to permeate the media. Whether it's in the media, local officials, or even federal lawmakers, we all need to speak up when this type of behavior is present.

And yes, no one should be flying over areas like this. But no one should let their stupid dogs run free either. Fair is fair, let's ban dogs too. [sarcasm]

 

[ninja_geezer]

sorry this thread is utter nonsense i need to leave now ......

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

..
My wife showed me this link on some social media site yesterday, with a link to a similar news story, rewritten verbatim.
I just looked at her and asked did she read the story and does she think this happened like the headline stated ?
She said yes and no respectively.

But sadly social media especially will go a long way to reinforce negative public views of drones now, even if not fully correct in nature.