Many people think that “the drone” is an exquisite toy of photography, documentary or cinema that brings to humans images that were so far a monopole for only the birds, insects and the flying objects. Today, the drones are often used for aerial images of cities, natural ecosystems etc. But the drones could offer much more than that. After our first visits in the heronry of Divjaka, we tried to find other new paths of exploring the colony again. With two goals: (i) reducing human disturbance at the colony and (ii) avoiding the outnumbered field difficulties in exploring such a colony in particular where the explorers needed to cross kilometers of deep ditches, dense shrubs, bramble-bushes, hollows of mud and water as well as storms of insects that sting all the time. The drone accomplished our goals! We used it to first localize the colony, explore its boundaries, composition and its abundance. Now the colony, with hundreds nests of Little Egrets, Pygmy Cormorants, Night Herons and Squacco Herons, remains quiet in the northern part of Divjaka National Park. Where nobody disturbs it nowadays! Many thanks to the Administration of Protected Areas – Fieri Region and the staff of Divjaka-Karavasta National Park! Thanks for the wonderful work!
