Why didn’t I think of this last summer? No, it’s not a drone to find nests, nor are we deploying satellite transmitters to work out where bitterns go after the rice is harvested.
It consists of a longish stick, a school ruler and some strapping tape I found in the first aid kit. And it saves me wading across the toe furrow to measure water depths and rice heights, then returning piles of mud to my car! Innovation at its best.
As for the bitterns, well the number of confirmed reports keeps rising as summer progresses. Coleambally is again proving to be a hotspot. There’s plenty of booming going on and we’re determined to learn more about their breeding in rice crops.
Click on this link for more information about the Bitterns in Rice Project.