So basically, what I want to do is fly close to trees and take pictures of the bark, birds’ nests, and things like that. I know they say not to fly near obstacles, but I was thinking about flying close to more open trees like eucalypts. I’m not talking about dense trees with thick foliage, just the ones with more space. Is this totally insane? I heard that the signal drops out if you go behind a tree. I have an old AR Parrot drone. Thanks in advance!
Just please make sure you’re not disturbing wildlife, especially when it comes to bird nests.
Hal said:
Just please make sure you’re not disturbing wildlife, especially when it comes to bird nests.
That’s definitely not my plan. I actually wanted to start with dead trees first to avoid any issues.
@Mai
Just a heads up, birds can get really territorial. Flying near their nests could lead to them crashing into your drone, which could destroy your drone and hurt the birds.
You could stay a bit further from the tree and use the zoom feature on the drone camera instead. 
It depends on the drone, but I’d suggest looking for one with a good zoom lens. It’s better for both the drone and the wildlife. These drones tend to be more expensive since they’re used for professional inspections, not just recreational flying. Honestly, the Parrot drone is more of a toy and doesn’t have the quality of a real camera drone.
@Conn
Can you recommend a drone that would work well for what I want to do? I’d like to take pictures of bark and create a composite image.
The Parrot has digital zoom, which honestly isn’t great. But it could work for now. Otherwise, you’ll need a better drone with optical zoom. Also, when you fly behind trees and lose signal, it’s because the drone and the controller can’t ‘see’ each other. This is why ‘line of sight’ is so important—radio signals don’t travel well through trees or other obstacles.
Don’t take pictures of active bird nests. The only time it might be okay is when they’re not in use during the off-season.
Ideally, you’d want a drone with a lens that has a long focal length, so you don’t have to get too close to the trees. The typical wide-angle lens on drones isn’t going to be enough for what you need. Also, birds only build nests when they’re mating and laying eggs, so there probably aren’t many active nests right now (at least in the northern hemisphere). But you should still be really careful around nests. You might scare the birds away, or worse, they might attack the drone. Some bird species even team up to defend their nests. If you’re doing close inspections, a drone with multiple cameras might be what you need, but those can get expensive.
Flying near bird nests when they’re active can cause serious problems, like the birds abandoning the nest. Don’t mess with wildlife! Get a drone with a proper zoom and avoid trees with nesting birds.