Matt Prior of Wiltshire Ornithological Society (or Matt the tree sparrow man as he's more usually known) has been helping the farmers on the Marlborough Downs to manage habitat for farmland birds for more years than we care to mention. By ringing birds and monitoring their movements we've built up a good idea of where the strongholds are and where more work is needed. We've also invested in special tags for some of our tree sparrows which allow us to record their use of feeders and nest boxes. With the data we get from Matt, we can target our efforts and ensure that habitat work, nest box installation and winter feeding is all done in exactly the best places for the birds. And by working together in this way, our efforts have resulted in a huge increase in the numbers of both nesting pairs and fledged young, and we've managed to encourage tree sparrows to extend their range and set up home in at least three more locations on the Downs. Recently, Matt recorded a flock of over 700 yellowhammers and 400 tree sparrows on one of our farms. To realise how amazing this is, you should bear in mind that most places in southern England would be proud to have 75 tree sparrows in their entire county!

We now want to understand better how our wildlife moves around the Downs at night, so we can focus on the habitats they use for nocturnal foraging and shelter. To do this, we'd like to contribute towards the cost of a thermal imaging camera which detects heat (as infrared radiation) emitted from objects within a defined field of view. The metabolic heat produced by birds produces a distinct thermal image against a cooler background as shown in the photo above, where each of the light coloured dots is an individual bird.

Since artificial light is not required, the risk of disturbing birds (or other wildlife) being surveyed can be greatly reduced. Open fields can be scanned for birds from vantage points much more readily and effectively than through deploying night vision equipment that uses infra-red light. Cameras provide clear images, and both stills and video footage can be recorded.

Wiltshire Ornithological Society have agreed to part-fund a camera, but Matt is still a good way short of his target. Although the Space for Nature project budget will contribute, unfortunately we have a very limited budget and lots we want to do. We're therefore asking if you would consider making a one-off donation to help purchase a camera.