The Isle of May Cormorant colony from above (Finley Dennison)
Close-up from up high (Finley Dennison)
Isle of May nesting Cormorant
Sunday 11th June comments: technology can be a wonderful thing if used in the right way to help benefit and if it used in the appropriate way and no better example than drones. The use of drones can divide opinion but used sensitively, carefully and making sure the wildlife comes first, you can obtain some great results as we have just found out.
A good example was given just a few days ago where we used a drone to count the nesting Cormorants on the island. Cormorants only started nesting for the very first time on the Isle of May in 2020 (due to a lack of people in the covid year?) but have now established themselves on the north end of the island. Due to the sensitive nature of the species (they are very prone to disturbance) we stay clear of the colony and restrict all human activities in that area of the island. However we are keen to check the health of the colony and how many pairs are nesting and this is where we used the drone.
The drone was flown high above the colony, several photos were taken and then returned to base within a matter of minutes. Our team on the ground ensured the Cormorants were not disturbed (we watched for any signs of adjuration or distress) whilst the operation was underway and all passed smoothly. Although this was used for the Cormorant colony, it will not be used in other areas of the island due to the cliff nesting species which are known to be more sensitive.
Overall it was a good job done and it confirmed that the colony had increased once again with 23 pairs of nesting Cormorants. So just goes to show, used in the right way we can achieve a lot of good results.
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