I swept an area of farmland yesterday, and it picked out Linnets in grass at over 50 metres away.Hi all,
Just wondered if there were any updated opinions or recommendations on this topic, I'm particularly interested in the usefulness of thermal imaging in general day-to-day birdwatching (whats the usable range for snipes/rails in reeds, warbler in a bush/tree etc)?
Thanks in advance
I suspect the conditions yesterday were perfect as it was quite cold, so the birds would stand out. Nothing else was getting any heat.
On sunny days, you get a lot of noise from exposed branches and leaves that are getting heated up by the sun, so I'm pretty sure the maximum range would be lower. I'd guess 30 metres is consistently ok for Passerines.
Insects and stuff it picks up to about 10 metres, I'm guessing
If you were to use it constantly as you walk, It picks up just about everything up before they are aware of you, or they are hunkered down relying on camouflage.
It doesn't work well against the sky, or with a lot of sky in background. I think the sky is seen as cold, and birds, trees, all register as "hot". I haven't tried zooming in to just look at the tree with much less sky perhaps.