GPS question

[JTC56]

Hi Guys,
I’m so new I don’t even own a drone yet, but I need to get one so I can try and locate bald eagles nest in Florida for a program called Eaglewatch. Can anyone shed some light about the capability of drones providing accurate GPS coordinates? I will have a general idea based on Florida fish and wildlife data of where the nest is located but much of that has not been verified in years. For the most part, I will not have eyes on the drone and it will be flying mostly above wooded areas. Do these drones capture a GPS location when I take a picture or turn on video? Any guidance would be appreciated

John

 

[LuvMyTJ]

Hello,
It is a pleasure to welcome you to the Phantom Pilots forum.
I hope that you will be able to use the forum to further your safety knowledge and for the exchange of innovative ideas and as a resource for current developments in DJI quadcopters.
*GO 4 APP MANUAL: DJI Go 4 Manual

Technically, to fly within the rules you must be in LOS or, line of sight at all times.

 

[JTC56]

Hello,
It is a pleasure to welcome you to the Phantom Pilots forum.
I hope that you will be able to use the forum to further your safety knowledge and for the exchange of innovative ideas and as a resource for current developments in DJI quadcopters.
*GO 4 APP MANUAL: DJI Go 4 Manual

Technically, to fly within the rules you must be in LOS or, line of sight at all times.

Oh bummer. As I think about it, that makes perfect sense from a safety perspective. I guess that will be shortening the number of nests I’ll be searching. Appreciate the quick response.

 

[N017RW]

Not to be a bummer but knowingly flying in the vicinity of wildlife, especially the Bald Eagle, is a bad idea.
Not only could you be liable for harassment but may suffer an attack to your drone as well as injure the animal(s).

 

[umanbean]

Technically, to fly within the rules you must be in LOS or, line of sight at all times.

Point #1

Not to be a bummer but knowingly flying in the vicinity of wildlife, especially the Bald Eagle, is a bad idea.
Not only could you be liable for harassment but may suffer an attack to your drone as well as injure the animal(s).

Point #2

Those two points cover everything I was going to say while reading the OP.

GPS location data auto-attached to photos and videos, or flying to a certain lat/long, no problem though

 

[LarBear360]

Disturbing a Bald Eagle is going to get you into a heap of trouble. Go buy a telescope or a pair of really good binoculars instead.

 

[RodPad]

@JTC56,
Welcome to the Forum!

Some links for you,
Any ap to show GPS coordinates?
Using Phantom 4 Pro to Capture Wildlife GPS Coordinates?
Photo GPS Accuracy
Advanced - what is GPS format found in EXIF data
Lat/Long Data for Picture Files Say China?
What's The Current Status Of Altitude Data?

How I found these.
Search Results for Query: gps picture | DJI Phantom Drone Forum

Yes, birds will attack birds near there nest, that have wings or propellers.

Rod

 

[WV. Rootman]

Unless the nest is on a dead tree, it will be very hard to see. Really impossible to see. The bright sun and the monitor makes it hard to see detail.
I use eagle watch site to help me stay away from eagles. Sometimes that is hard to do. There are 50 nest around the Orange county landfill. My friend has a large front on Lake Geneva, Fl. I don't know when there aren't eagles flying there. It was the same at my house in DeBary, Fl. off of Lake Monroe. Plus there was a lot of swallow - tailed kites.

 

[Meta4]

Do these drones capture a GPS location when I take a picture or turn on video?

The GPS location of the drone is recorded in Exif info which is part of every image file.
If you photograph looking straight down, the GPS location of what's in the centre of the photo will be what shows in the Exif info.
You can also download flight data and export a flight track to Google Earth to see the flight path.

 

[barefootbeachcombing]

Hi Guys,
I’m so new I don’t even own a drone yet, but I need to get one so I can try and locate bald eagles nest in Florida for a program called Eaglewatch. Can anyone shed some light about the capability of drones providing accurate GPS coordinates? I will have a general idea based on Florida fish and wildlife data of where the nest is located but much of that has not been verified in years. For the most part, I will not have eyes on the drone and it will be flying mostly above wooded areas. Do these drones capture a GPS location when I take a picture or turn on video? Any guidance would be appreciated

In addition to what other have said, I would make sure that whatever arrangement EagleWatch has with the state and federal agencies covers using drones for the observations. Even though Bald Eagles are no longer on the Endangered Species List, they are still protected and harassing them (such as coming in close proximity with a drone) is prohibited.

Also, since this is not a hobby/recreation use for your own personal enjoyment, you likely would need to get a Part 107 certificate to fly a drone for this purpose. Does Audubon have insurance that would cover this?

 

[Kirby Johnson]

Not to be a bummer but knowingly flying in the vicinity of wildlife, especially the Bald Eagle, is a bad idea.
Not only could you be liable for harassment but may suffer an attack to your drone as well as injure the animal(s).

Our Eagles are here only about 4 months out of the year. I'm SURE somebody with Eaglewatch has better sense than to get a drone anywhere near an active nest. I do volunteer work with FWC in so far as documenting undiscovered or new nests. But I use a normal camera and a GPS to provide the info to Fish and Wildlife.

 

[Kirby Johnson]

Hi Guys,
I’m so new I don’t even own a drone yet, but I need to get one so I can try and locate bald eagles nest in Florida for a program called Eaglewatch. Can anyone shed some light about the capability of drones providing accurate GPS coordinates? I will have a general idea based on Florida fish and wildlife data of where the nest is located but much of that has not been verified in years. For the most part, I will not have eyes on the drone and it will be flying mostly above wooded areas. Do these drones capture a GPS location when I take a picture or turn on video? Any guidance would be appreciated

John

Hi, to help you out a little, it has been my experience that it is almost impossible to see these nests from the air with my drone. One of the things I have wanted to do is look down into nests to see what kind of shape they were in, or look for eggs when adults were away, but I have not had a lot of luck. When a photographer or homeowner or someone discovers a new nest and submits it to FWC, they supposedly send out a fixed wing to verify the nest, but I have no idea how they see it. You official Eaglers may know more about that than I do. Good Luck.

 

[Kirby Johnson]

Like this?

 

[N017RW]

Our Eagles are here only about 4 months out of the year. I'm SURE somebody with Eaglewatch has better sense than to get a drone anywhere near an active nest. I do volunteer work with FWC in so far as documenting undiscovered or new nests. But I use a normal camera and a GPS to provide the info to Fish and Wildlife.

I don’t share your certainty of ‘sense’.
Re-read the OP.

Since I’m not interested in such flights your advice and guidance would be better directed to the OP.

Multi-rotors and Raptors don’t mix.

 

[JTC56]

Hi, to help you out a little, it has been my experience that it is almost impossible to see these nests from the air with my drone. One of the things I have wanted to do is look down into nests to see what kind of shape they were in, or look for eggs when adults were away, but I have not had a lot of luck. When a photographer or homeowner or someone discovers a new nest and submits it to FWC, they supposedly send out a fixed wing to verify the nest, but I have no idea how they see it. You official Eaglers may know more about that than I do. Good Luck.

thanks. I was wondering how visible the nest would be from blue. FWC’s budget has been cut pretty bad so flyovers are limited and hasn’t been updated since irma roared thru. We, the volunteers are discovering new nests all the time.

 

[JTC56]

Not to be a bummer but knowingly flying in the vicinity of wildlife, especially the Bald Eagle, is a bad idea.
Not only could you be liable for harassment but may suffer an attack to your drone as well as injure the animal(s).

Sorry. I should have been more clear. I’m aware of the rules with monitoring eagles nest. Can’t get within 330 feet unless we suspect injury and then you have to get permission... These would be flights in the off season. FWC nor Eaglewatch has a problem with it. thanks for the concern though

 

[JTC56]

Our Eagles are here only about 4 months out of the year. I'm SURE somebody with Eaglewatch has better sense than to get a drone anywhere near an active nest. I do volunteer work with FWC in so far as documenting undiscovered or new nests. But I use a normal camera and a GPS to provide the info to Fish and Wildlife.

October through April is our official season unless we are sure there are still baby’s at the nest and then we monitor until they fledge. FWC had some funding cutbacks in doing flyovers. Lots of new nests since IRMA came through. And he, you’re right. I should have been more clear. This is approved off season only type flying.

 

[JTC56]

In addition to what other have said, I would make sure that whatever arrangement EagleWatch has with the state and federal agencies covers using drones for the observations. Even though Bald Eagles are no longer on the Endangered Species List, they are still protected and harassing them (such as coming in close proximity with a drone) is prohibited.

Also, since this is not a hobby/recreation use for your own personal enjoyment, you likely would need to get a Part 107 certificate to fly a drone for this purpose. Does Audubon have insurance that would cover this?

Thanks for the info on the 107 certificate. I’ll look into that.

 

[JTC56]

The GPS location of the drone is recorded in Exif info which is part of every image file.
If you photograph looking straight down, the GPS location of what's in the centre of the photo will be what shows in the Exif info.
You can also download flight data and export a flight track to Google Earth to see the flight path.

Great to know. Thank you very much!

 

[JTC56]

Unless the nest is on a dead tree, it will be very hard to see. Really impossible to see. The bright sun and the monitor makes it hard to see detail.
I use eagle watch site to help me stay away from eagles. Sometimes that is hard to do. There are 50 nest around the Orange county landfill. My friend has a large front on Lake Geneva, Fl. I don't know when there aren't eagles flying there. It was the same at my house in DeBary, Fl. off of Lake Monroe. Plus there was a lot of swallow - tailed kites.

I was wondering how bad it would look above a tree line. thanks for the info. Some of that FWC info isn’t valid any longer, especially since hurricane IRMA came through. Officially the season is October thru April. The drone would be off season only.