I have been flying DJI drones in the UK and Sweden for 3 years, mainly in remote areas where I have implicit permission (such as the Forest of Bowland), or high over farmland, having taken off from a public area. But this Spring was the first time I experienced attack from birds.
On the first occasion a pair of Shelduck circled my Mavic Mini, having flown high above a pond in the field behind our house. They swept past very fast and close, like a pair of fighter aircraft, harrying a russian bomber (!).
A week later, I was flying on the edge of the Forest of Bowland when my Mavic Mini was chased from some nearby farmland by a flock of Curlews, and they only desisted when I fly it back into a remote heathland valley. A third incident happened a few days later when my Mavic Air 2 was set upon by a group of Oyster Catchers.
I have been advised by game wardens in the Forest of Bowland to keep away from the hill tops during mating/nesting season - March to July - but the common factor here seems to be farmland and large but non-predators.
I have decided not to fly my drones until August, now.
Has anyone else had this kind of experience?
On the first occasion a pair of Shelduck circled my Mavic Mini, having flown high above a pond in the field behind our house. They swept past very fast and close, like a pair of fighter aircraft, harrying a russian bomber (!).
A week later, I was flying on the edge of the Forest of Bowland when my Mavic Mini was chased from some nearby farmland by a flock of Curlews, and they only desisted when I fly it back into a remote heathland valley. A third incident happened a few days later when my Mavic Air 2 was set upon by a group of Oyster Catchers.
I have been advised by game wardens in the Forest of Bowland to keep away from the hill tops during mating/nesting season - March to July - but the common factor here seems to be farmland and large but non-predators.
I have decided not to fly my drones until August, now.
Has anyone else had this kind of experience?