There were more than seabirds flying above Bempton Cliffs the other day as techy wizard and RSPB ecologist, David Morris, put a
natty little gizmo, otherwise known as a quad copter, through its paces in the office garden.
Usually brought in to take aerial shots of habitats, if the test flight went well, the plan at Bempton is to use the copter, with its gimbal mounted GoPro camera, to monitor the seabird colony.
In order to count the colony effectively, the monitoring team currently have to take to sea. But if the weather turns foul and the boats can't sail, seabird numbers can't be recorded.
The quad copter, however, could launch at a moment's notice and, in closer proximity to the cliffs, could feasibly increase accuracy.
The test flight went up to around 150 metres. (Maximum flying height is 400 metres which explains why the unit is governed by the Civil Aviation Authority.) The images sent back were sharp, detailed and far reaching. It was a promising start.
But there is one potential drawback. Could the noise of the engine and the rotars disturb the birds? There was only one way to find out. Another test flight, this time from the cliffs themselves.
So it was off to Speeton, just down the road, where the colony starts. Here fulmars and herring gulls make their home and both are notoriously difficult to count. So with permission from Natural England, the quad copter took to the air again and the feedback was hugely positive.
It looks like the quad copter may be something we can literally count on in future.