Daintree Rainforest Observatory Monitors Osprey Nest with Milestone Video
The Challenge:
James Cook University’s (JCU) Daintree Rainforest Observatory has an osprey
nest on top of a crane near the canopy-the uppermost rainforest layer that
encompasses the branches and leaves of the trees and serves as the richest
habitat for plant and animal life. To enable Daintree researchers to monitor the
ospreys, JCU needed a camera that could be mounted in a delicate position and a
system that could monitor the ospreys’ movements and everything happening in
and around the nest. They also needed flexible video data storage management
and a system that was easy for research fellows to download and use.
The Solution:
JCU enlisted the help of CoastalCOMS, a company specializing in cloud
-hosted environmental digital asset management and a longtime Milestone
Solutions Partner. CoastalCOMS mounted a Sony VM632R network camera at the end of
the crane boom and a robotic SNC WR630 on the crane tower. CoastalCOMS use
a fiber optic cable to connect the cameras to the server room. The camera, which
operates at one megabit per second, sends its data for viewing and recording on
Milestone X Protect Essential video manage ment software (VMS).
Advantage:
With a camera mounted on the crane, researchers are able to closely monitor the
birds without disturbing them. They can also isolate video segments to capture still
shots of the ospreys to export and share. The easy to use VMS interfaces allow rese-
arch fellows with no prior VMS experience to quickly download and monitor the osprey
camera out put from various remote research facilities.
James Cook University Ecological Research:
JCU’ Daintree Rainforest Observatory is one of only five longterm ecological monitoring
sites in Australia. There are two laboratories onsite, one open air teaching lab and one
traditional, air conditioned laboratory equipped to support the basic needs of most
rainforest research.
The Observatory also has the Canopy Crane, which allows researchers to explore the
rainforest from above, where the atmosphere is different, down through its various levels
and into the soils and subterranean water resources. The wide variety of micro climates
present in the rainforest make it possible for researchers to conduct many experiments
they could not conduct elsewhere, such as exposing a small section of the rainforest to
drought conditions to test the effects.
Milestone Helps Researchers Capture Incredible Footage:
According to CoastalComs, a division of Coastal watch, the ospreys have been
nesting in Daintree for years, but now the Milestone solution is giving them the
chance to finally observe them up close.
Researchers had no reliable way to access the birds. GoProtype cameras, were
considered, but it was too inconvenient to have to constantly shift the camera
angles and send people to collect the footage. With Milestone, observers have
video features and control at their fingertips remotely.
Chris Lane, General Manager for Coastalwatch, says that the day after the cameras
were installed, the ospreys began to investigate their new neighbor and the result
was stunning.
“The birds were curious from the start,” Lane says. “They would fly right up to the
camera and poke their heads around it. Nigel and I happened to be around the
observatory one day, and one of the people monitoring the camera excitedly called
us into the control room. Milestone VMS had recorded the osprey looking right into
the lens!
We archived a two minute clip of her flying up into the nest and back down, and we
isolated single frames from the VMS. There’s an incredible shot of her looking out at
the entire rainforest. It’s one of the best shots we’ve ever captured.”
Lane says that research fellows are encouraged to download Milestone Mobile on
their phones and tablets and are provided with logins to view the cameras and
extract imagery.
Lane is excited to share the osprey cam with the public in the near future.
“Right now, the nest is comprised of two ospreys bringing up their young in that
nest,” Lane says. “My hope is that in 12-18 months, satellite connections will
improve to the point that we can stream the camera live to the public, so they can
get as excited as we are about it. We may even be able to show a live hatch.”
Animal Cams Paired with Milestone Make New Research Possible:
Nigel Sim says based on the success of the osprey cam, researchers asked that 5
static Sony VM632R) cameras be installed to monitor a group of possums they
thought were living in a certain place. When the cameras went live, they saw that
no possums were there after all. However, a large colony of tree ants had made its
home there.
“While it turned out to be a completely different research project, we got incredible
footage of these enormous ants,” Lane says. “The ecologists were super excited to
get live shots of the ant nest getting built. Without Milestone, none of this would
have happened.”
Lane says there are also cameras monitoring penguins in Victoria.
“They’re affiliated with the penguins on Phillip Island, which is the biggest penguin
colony in mainland Australia,” Lane says. “With just a camera or two connected to
Milestone, biologists and ecologists are now able to do research that just a few years
ago they were only dreaming about.”