Bamburgh beach and castle

Our very own DroneScene is much better with more features (we use their data set, so you wont miss a thing)

I’ll try it out cheers Chris :+1:t2:

SSSI’s are a tricky one.

The Wildlife Act 1981 (as amended) makes it an offence to intentionally or recklessly destroy, damage or disturb (in the case of fauna) any of the features which make an area an SSSI, whether you know its an SSSI or not.

You can check the Magic website (https://magic.defra.gov.uk/) to see if an area is an SSSI - it’s then possible to look up what features are listed, which can give you an indication of whether what you want to do would result in any damage or disturbance.

e.g. Some SSSI’s are such because of special geological features … the rocks won’t care if you fly over them. Others are due to underwater marine features … so unless your drone is also a submarine you are probably not going to effect them.

The ones to watch out for are where the listed fauna are specific bird species … certain times of the year will be more sensitive than others for them e.g. overwintering, or nesting, so should probably be avoided. I think Magic can link you to the SSSI descriptions which outline the species.
The distance you would need to fly away from them (to avoid disturbance) will vary - they can have different reactions to the sound and appearance of a drone in the sky.
Research is being carried out into this - here is one paper a quick Google search threw up: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.13575

Cheers mate really informative, I’ll take a peek :+1:t2: Off to bed now as was up at 5 to get stuck at Holy Island causeway :pensive: