Although drones aren’t something we sell, I have been watching with interest the growing use of drones equipped with thermal cameras and how they are being utilised for conservation. Thermal drones are brilliant for scanning large areas and locating quickly with the thermal lens. They are often equipped with traditional cameras which allows for identification. These cameras often have a high magnification which allows you to film the animals from afar without disturbing them.
Once the target species has been located then further study can be planned. Wildlife cameras can be deployed to get closer pictures, maybe even helping identification of individuals. For bird species there could be a chance to get closer and hopefully ring. It saves huge amounts of time as such large areas of land can be checked in such an efficient way.
The West Midlands Ringing Group have also been using thermal drones this year to great effect. They have been successfully locating individual birds as well as nest across many different species and locations. Bittern, goshawk, nightjar, tree pipit, corn bunting and various waders are some of the species found, identified and recorded using their DJI Mavic 3 Thermal. They have a decent spec 640x512 thermal camera as well as a standard camera and you can flick between the two easily.
Nightjar from above
But it’s not just birds they have found - they pick up mammals too.
A hare being shown with the thermal camera and the standard camera. A good way of studying mountain hares, in hard to reach places?
Thermal drones have been used for deer management for a while, but as they have become more affordable and the sensors improving, they are being utilised for many other species too, including wildcats in Scotland.
Forestry and Land Scotland have been working with professional drone surveyors BH Wildlife Consultancy using thermal drones to locate these illusive creatures. Wildcats are hard to find, and even harder to distinguish from domestic cats and hybrids of the two. A successful thermal drone expedition has allowed them to film never seen before footage like shown on this website below
https://www.bhwildlifeconsultancy.com/wildcats
Congratulations to all involved – brilliant work and great news for Wildcats!
Do you know of any important conservation work with thermal drones? Let us know!