Drone photography disturbing endangered ospreys at iconic surf break
So Blowin you are happy to accept roads and carparks (through the bush I presume)to your surf spot but that's it. Somehow signage will destroy the natural experience excluding the man made access that delivered you there. Your advice is to do nothing. Before access was put there the nest was occupied for centuries and successfully bred each season. The reason the nest sites have collapsed in SA is due solely to human intervention. Cummins Monument is next to the main road that sees more and more visitors and drones are only one more of these numerous pressures the Ospreys are under. I'm interested to hear some alternative ideas from you on how to solve the specific issue that actually might work rather than informing the numerous people who stop there. What would stop you from going for a walk along the cliff and have a look at the nest site if you stopped there. It would seem like a 'natural ' thing to do unless you were otherwise informed.
Are the people on the cliff disturbing the birds or is it the drones.
As you're asking , fuck the car parks and the roads too. A couple of minimalist wheel ruts is plenty. Less impactful and imbues a sense closer to the pristine environment we all need to be happy.
Signs , fences etc are a blight.
" Interprative " signage makes me want to scream.
Both. I can hear your scream from here. Stay on the tracks.
If you're interested in watching things without being seen yourself, Gary G is your man. Gary has quite a history of bird watching - male or female - Gary is all about watching for watching's sake.
With all those craggy cliffs around the area, there would be plenty of little coves, or Glory Holes as Gary calls them, to stuff oneself into and observe the action from afar.
Gary can however sympathise with the desirability of the bedroom-ceiling-mirror perspective offered from the drone, although not if it's overly intrusive.
As for an earlier post query , yes,, the osprey ripped the bird apart, on top of a light pole not far from it where it snatched it ,, and they will attack rodents, if they have to put food on the plate . All well documented .
That would be the Eastern Coastal Budgie Smuggler. Ask Gary he's recognised in this field
The eastern coastal budgie smuggler most often located around the Victorian coastline: and whilst the creature is rarely sighted on the southern coast it is known to be always watching. There have been no confirmed sightings of the budgie smuggler in Victoria since the closure of the Stereosonic festival, it's last known urban habitat.
Displaying its full plumage during its annual transit to Schoolies week on the gold coast and occasionally as far away as the island of Bali, it is attracted by the smells of fake tan, coconut oil, and Guava Vodka Cruisers.
haha... classic
but yes , they are fisho's by trade and hence one of my favourite birds. I don't pretend to know jack about the south oz population , but I have spent a fair amount of my working and normal life around harbours and wharves etc on the east coast to have seen a thing or two. Part of my job as a mullet/bait fisherman was to sit on the same breakwalls , headlands etc as these guys , hunting the same fish.Endless hours spent sitting and watching , often taking advantage of their, and other birds superiour spotting skills .Seen them nailing crabs of the rocks , small rats and pidgeons and even a lizard, although I agree its a bit of a rarity. Most areas where they on the east have a lot of man made structures like bridges , jetties ,etc to attract enough small fish to keep them happy, .Lived and worked on boats all over the coast , and often we'll hold a fresh fish in the air ,and it's a bit of a test of nerve , as the osprey flies down and grabs it at top speed from your fingers.
I just found a rat in the chook pen.....I tried to belt it with an axe handle as it ran out and slipped and landed on my arse in the mud.
Forgive me for saying Eddiewouldgo , but I think this transgression from Ospreys to stalking women leads to a deeper hatred of either drones or drone users , don't get me wrong , I don't own one, but I know few people who do , and they don't swing that way.
Hey Middy, you summed up the situation well here when you said this :
"They have been exposed over two hundred years to human interference resulting in very few breeding pairs now left in Southern Australia specifically Western Eyre Peninsula.
In terms of surfing some of the best waves are at the base oh these Stacks and results in interactions but for the most part the nest sites have survived due to the activity being below the nest sites although increasing numbers, car parks etc do put pressure on these sites. Drone photography has come on so quickly that I'm sure operators have little idea of how critical a threat this activity is to a predator that relies on holding the high ground, is.
There is really no middle ground with Drones around the few remaining active nest sites left on the Eyre Peninsula.
I'm sure photographers have the best intentions in recording the coastline but they need to accept that this could literally be the last straw for the cumulative human negative interactions over Two Centuries.
Surfers also have a positive role to play by organising and informing the wider community and themselves and look for a way forward in protecting these magnificent birds.
We are custodians as we share their habitat."
The future of these wildlife creatures is in trouble, for example the whale observations at the head of the bight and all the traffic on land and Air has scared the raptor birds of prey away from that area. The birds nest below the cliffs and when humans drive along the cliffs there the birds move away . Lets look after the remaining ospreys at monnies and share the territory respectfully .
Middy do you think that the nest there is centuries / hundreds of years old ?
This is well said here Middy, so very interesting and informative knowledge:
"Before access was put there the nest was occupied for centuries and successfully bred each season. The reason the nest sites have collapsed in SA is due solely to human intervention. Cummins Monument is next to the main road that sees more and more visitors and Drones are only one more of these numerous pressures the Ospreys are under. I'm interested to hear some alternative ideas from you on how to solve the specific issue that actually might work rather than informing the numerous people who stop there. What would stop you from going for a walk along the cliff and have a look at the nest site if you stopped there. It would seem like a 'natural ' thing to do unless you were otherwise informed."
Yeh John Eyre Mathew Flinders sailed West to East to map Australia's coastline in the early 1800's. He had on board Austrian Naturalist Ferdinand Bauer one the greatest artist in this field of all time. He recorded all the flora, fauna and landscapes of this voyage of discovery. There are drawings of Osprey nests on Kangaroo Island that are still there to this day. Their size and structure are similar to some on Eyre Peninsula including the one on Cummins Monument Sea Stack. Coastal Raptors have territories and nest sites that when left undisturbed are used by succeeding generations to breed. Sea stacks are probably the last safe places rather than Cliffs since the introduction of feral species particularly foxes and cats with the coming of Europeans. So they are very specific sites and also much fewer in numbers compared to the broader habitat than their East Coast cousins.
Thats amazin Middy about the age of the nests that were identified on K.I. !
The big storm last yr September apparently destroyed some nests on EP completely and haven't been rebuilt again.
"There are drawings of Osprey nests on Kangaroo Island that are still there to this day. Their size and structure are similar to some on Eyre Peninsula including the one on Cummins Monument Sea Stack. Coastal Raptors have territories and nest sites that when left undisturbed are used by succeeding generations to breed. Sea stacks are probably the last safe places rather than Cliffs since the introduction of feral species particularly foxes and cats with the coming of Europeans. So they are very specific sites and also much fewer in numbers compared to the broader habitat than their East Coast cousins."
How are the Feral cat numbers on S.A. West Coast ?
Re link descriptions , my apologies .
Over many, many years , nesting sites often accumulate too much material , and are eventually destroyed by weather events . Its a natural cycle for them .Many artificial and existing nesting sites on the east coast are maintained by actually removing some of the nesting material as the nests expand. It doesn't seem to affect the birds when its done periodically outside of breeding season.
But on the subject of drones , an overseas researcher, James Junder, lost a drone that actually hit a stick and flipped over in an a osprey nest. Apparently an osprey hit it with a stick a couple of times , the osprey then placed the stick over the drone making it part of the nest.
Still in denial he said, "its cool i wont fly the drone of the ospreys around ✌ ".
Well theres no 'if or buts' you cant fly a drone at any time there !
'He has had to content with birds and even bees trying to attack his drone – a DJI Phantom 3.
“At Cummings Monument (Eyre Peninsula), I had a couple of Osprey trying to nail the drone,” Jesse said. “I’ve had a fair few birds try and knock it out of the sky and even had a swarm of bees try and take it down, because it sounds like a swarm of bees he said.'
http://www.victorharbortimes.com.au/story/4473591/a-new-way-to-look-at-t...
'The sharing of stunning photos on social media is becoming a destructive force as Instagram trophy hunters beat a path to Tasmania's natural gems, warns professional photographer Jason Futrill.
Jason Futrill, aka Tassiegrammer, has had a serious rethink about the photos he shares.
Futrill said waterfalls and alpine areas were being trampled underfoot by Instagrammers seeking to claim their own version of shots they've admired online.
And, as he is the first to admit, Futrill has been part of the problem — some of the degradation he has witnessed has been a direct result of his own photos being widely shared.
In a blog post, he called for photographers, tourism accounts and travel websites to reflect on their own impact and take more responsibility for the conservation of the photos they post and share.
Futrill described a chain of events starting with ego-massaging reactions to a nice photo, followed by requests for the location, followed by a travel account sharing the photo with a multiplier effect, followed by a swelling number of people sharing it or adding it to their Tasmanian itinerary or weekend wish list.
Before long, a stream of snappers and bushwalkers will be beating a path to that (often fragile) location.
The process prompted Futrill to ask:
"Are we slowly but surely causing some of the most beautiful, previously out-of-reach, unknown and hard-to-find locations to die a slow [or in some cases, a very, very quick] death?"
The awareness of his own direct role in the degradation of places like Chasm Falls in the Meander State Forest forced Futrill to reflect on the consequences of his photo sharing.
"I was the first to publish it [Chasm Falls] to a large social media profile and literally a week later a huge amount of traffic started to go into the area," he told the ABC.
"I've been in recently and all of the moss has gone.
"The whole area had just become degraded now as a result of sharing that location."
'It will never recover'
New visitors have forged new paths and stripped away moss. New visitors have forged new paths and stripped away moss.
At not-so Secret Falls in Wellington National Park near Hobart, Futrill said the toll of an Instagram-fuelled spike in visitation was alarming.
He said there were paths appearing that weren't there just a few years ago.
"There's just literally tracks that are just now mudslides. All of the ferns, the foliage, the moss — everything that used to be in there — has just been torn out because people just don't respect the area, and the foot traffic that we've caused," he said.
"Unfortunately, what we've done to it now from sharing that location is it will never recover.
"Everyone's chasing their own unique compositions which leads to the whole area being destroyed."
How could Instagram trophy hunters take more responsibility for conservation? '
http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-22/instagram-trophy-hunters-beatin...
http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-20/esperance-instagram-tourism-boo...
It ain't Fucking rocket science is it.
By all means take a photo of something, but leave it to the viewers to wonder where it is on the planet.
Drone safety: DJI forces drone pilots to pass safety test before lift-off in Australia FEBRUARY 13, 2018.
"The mandatory exam, created by DJI in conjunction with Australia’s Civil Aviation and Safety Authority, will automatically appear in the app used to fly its drones and follows a risky year for Australian drone users in which 32 were issued fines and “hundreds” received written safety notices for flying the devices in a dangerous manner.
DJI Asia Pacific public policy head Adam Welsh said the company launched the drone flight exam to ensure new users knew how to legally fly drones in Australia and didn’t give the technology a bad reputation.
Mr Gibson said CASA issued a record 32 fines for dangerous drone use in Australia last year, and sent out “hundreds” of warning letters to users who appeared to have broken the rules.
Australian drone laws stipulate drones must not be flown within 30 metres of other people, must only be flown during the day, cannot fly higher than 120m, and cannot fly within 5.5km of an airport.
Australian drone users can check whether it’s legal to fly a drone in their area by using CASA’s Can I Fly There app or checking droneflyer.com.au."
Its not likely that these laws factor in endangered species that are in their natural habitats ! ......... Just because its ok with CASA’s Can I Fly There app or checking droneflyer.com.au... it doesn't mean its allowed !...........Surely wildlife protection is priority ?
But they dont even mention it in their article.
http://www.news.com.au/technology/gadgets/cameras/drone-safety-dji-force...
Looking forward to meeting the next jerk who has a uav controller in their hands @monies this year.
Jesse ehlers
Kane Overall, doesn't get it. Whats he trying to make friends? Pro-hoing
Fuck off with the drones and the prophotog/prosurfer bullshit..leave SA for the underground core and adventurous
Promoting drone camera footage at the osprey nest break is a bad idea..........
The mistake should be acknowledged by removing all footage publically available online etc......so as to not encourage more drone fanatics to follow in the footsteps.......these are osprey endangered....and in rapid decline......everything that can be done to protect the species should be done....if you've been to the place and seen the situation its obvious that encroaching tourism could be the nail in the coffin of these nesting beauties.....
Get your priorities right surfers....and Photographers
"We're getting used to outrage about Instagrammers faking their exotic travels to impress their followers or their advertising clients.
But this influencer faked some shots for a rather different reason.
Instagrammer Carolyn Stritch took 10 years off her age and Photoshopped herself into a trip to Disneyland that never happened - just to show how easy it is to fake a life on social media".
https://honey.nine.com.au/2018/03/22/10/45/instagrammer-fakes-disneyland...
Kaptain Kooky aka Kane Overal seems to have had a little boost of confidence the past month or so after going quiet after some serious threats. He'll be put back to sleep soon enough
Victor Harbour Times photographer eh ?
Jesse admits while flying his Drone at Cummins Monument he has had Osprey Attack his Drone Feb 24th 2017.....!
If over 12mths on you are still doing it Jesse ....you deserve a fucking good Slapping.
Just had a look at that link eddiewouldgo... It seems Jesse Ehlers doesn't like criticism , and has obviously deleted some of the less than flattering stuff it seems ,, "got no time for haters hahaha",,J.E
Never heard of the guy before , but that sort of thing is as weak as the Michelob Ultras they'll be serving at the surf ranch this weekend.. If he can't answer his critics with a rational and reasoned response ,and his only alternative is to block his ears and silence those who discredit him , he leaves me with no choice but to think he is a self absorbed arsehole that cares more about his own image than the ones he posts on instagram.
Drone views from in the osprey territory recently, by the looks of @antstagram the drone enthusiast an this other jesse guy. Hope those osprey return becos they arent there anymore!
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/whitebellied-sea-eagl...