Field journal

A low drone pass over the mulched hilltop

Woodland Hilltop

  • Seen from a drone flying low over a hilltop, two tall pines and an oak stand at the edge of a slope of wood-chip mulch and low gray-green plants, with wooded ridges and wispy clouds beyond.

    The top of the hill from a low drone pass: mulched ground with a cover of low plants under the pines.

  • A small gray drone with green and red propeller guards rests on wood-chip mulch dotted with tiny green seedlings and low reddish leaves.

    The drone back on the ground, with seedlings coming up through the chips around it.

On the afternoon of March 23, 2025, we flew a small drone low over the top of Woodland Hilltop Arbory, skimming the masticated ground. From the air, much of the hilltop had a low gray-green cover under the pines and oaks, probably manzanita sprouting back since the 2022 mastication. On the ground where the drone came down, tiny seedlings were coming up through the chips.

Video and stills from flights like this one are a running record of the hilltop from above, kept since September 2024. Alongside repeat photos on the ground, they show how the masticated and thinned ground grows back, one of the things the Woodland Hilltop restoration tracks.

Project Woodland Hilltop restoration

Themes AI-powered land monitoring Generational continuity & open datasets Ecological restoration

All field journal entries More from Woodland Hilltop More on Woodland Hilltop restoration More on AI-powered land monitoring

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