As the Brewood ringing group have had some success with thermal imaging at night we had managed to get hold of a thermal imager via a London University on loan, so tonight we gave it a trail on the Moor. The one used by Breewood is a Pulsar XD50S camera which has a capability to magnify similar to binoculars up to x2.8 with a range of 1250 metres. This specific model is no longer available but has been replaced by the XP50 but has a high price in the region of just under £4000, but there are other models XQ50F that are similar price at around £2500 as the XD50S, that have ranges up to 1500m with two other models that have a ranges of 1350 and 1000m. They are very much in the high financial outlay for most ringing groups, and Brewood where fortunate to be grant funded for the purchase by the West Midlands Bird Club.
It soon become obvious, that ours a hand held device not dissimilar to carrying a mobile phone,m without any magnification capability would have it's limits as it is used for examining rocks from a fairly close range. We though did have some moderate success on walking along the bank at close range surveying and quickly picked up a single Jack Snipe that was caught utilising a hand net.
It soon become obvious, that ours a hand held device not dissimilar to carrying a mobile phone,m without any magnification capability would have it's limits as it is used for examining rocks from a fairly close range. We though did have some moderate success on walking along the bank at close range surveying and quickly picked up a single Jack Snipe that was caught utilising a hand net.
Jack Snipe
The bird was processed and returned to the same spot as it was originally found at.
Again the imager picked up what turned out to be a Water Pipit, which interestingly showed that the roost overnight on the weed a few feet in from the bank overnight. The bird was not caught unfortunately as we are trying to colour ring the birds on the Moor to discover their local movements, actually how many are present and with luck where they go to bred in the summer, and whether they return the following winter.
A Short-eared Owl was seen hunting over the Moor, which is never really dark due to the light pollution, which always leaves the area seemingly under late twilight light.
A Short-eared Owl was seen hunting over the Moor, which is never really dark due to the light pollution, which always leaves the area seemingly under late twilight light.
Nothing was picked up at any distance, and it was hard to pick out any positive images at times. It also became obvious that this specific imager would probably be of little use trying to locate Sky Lark on adjacent Stanwell Moor.
Totals: 1
Jack Snipe - 1