Bird of prey - up, up and away!

[Davros007]

Recently had advice on this site serve me well so made up the little rhyme above!
Was out at a mountain near home, Mt Frankland, getting a few shots:

when a Wedge-Tailed Eagle went past, holding a stick in its talons. I haven’t had an issue with one before, and thought it was a minimal threat, but I should have noted the stick - nesting somewhere!
Soon it went on the warpath, and flew at the drone, talons extended!
If I had not read about going up, my instinct would have been to “descend to safety”, and I would now be advertising drone parts and perhaps dealing with an injured bird.
But, I remembered from here reading, “Go up! - birds of prey drop down but climb slowly”. So, left stick up!
Worked like a charm!

and my feathered friend/fiend flashed past underneath!
The video - that happened to be on (still attached) - was a spinning, shaking blur, but it ends in a race home rather than incorporation into an eagles nest!

 

[Davros007]

Mods - not meant to be a showcase - meant to be instructional in drone piloting... Pics of dubious quality to illustrate manoeuvre success! Hence why put under discussion... Although here is fine, reader please note this is not my best photo skills nor meant to be!

 

[rehkram]

I got it, useful post for me with all the raptors around here. It was counterintuitive for me to climb, my gut reaction was drop like a stone. I will try to remember this next time a hawk has a go at mine.

 

[Motorcycle Rider]

When I see birds going for my drone, I climb straight up, before long they seem to leave it alone.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

Nice to see someone concerned about the bird.
Last year I got a look at the talons of a buzzard, via a long lens on a camera, but blimey those things are impressive.

 

[xunhui]

Thanks for the reminder... We seem to have gotten the attention of something rather quiet large here. To me the sound it makes seems to be of a hawk from what I can remember. We have seen it or them up high circling around in the past but now it seems to be a little more interested in what we're doing. She was taking some video and was engulfed in the screen and what she was recording. Then screams out that bird just flew in front of her. She was at 30 meters in height and from out of nowhere from her perspective she sees a large bird fly left to right going down within maybe 5 meters, maybe closer I don't know. I never saw it that close at the time but did see it circling very low at also around 30 meters and within 5 or so meters away from the drone. It would fly out of sight just above the trees and then return back and circle. We don't want the bird injured and also damage done to the drone. So lesson learned and down she came for the day. Maybe it has a nest near or this is just it's territory so it's time to give it some space for now.
Thanks again for the great reminder and good flying to you.

 

[rehkram]

Very interesting xunhui, and very stressful I'm sure. Did you get any photographs that would help identify the bird species? What are the colors and patterns of the plumage, as seen from the ground?

 

[xunhui]

Very interesting xunhui, and stressful I'm sure. Did you get any photographs, that would help identifying the bird.

No, we did not as at that moment she was not recording. I told her to bring it down as fast as she could and land. Which is why I liked the original post of going up when encountering birds rather than down like we did. To me the bird looked like a Chinese Upland Buzzard which I have no clue about it's habitat or behavior. I could also be mistaken about it's identity as I am not a bird expert. I think it needs to be left alone so we are giving it space and not returning to that location.

 

[rehkram]

Probably a good plan there xunhui. It certainly sounds like defensive behavior near a nest site to me.

Coincidentally my Mavic Mini was seriously buzzed by a smaller hawk a couple of days ago. I think it was a peregrine falcon, right size, shape and color, but I'm not totally sure. It made three very fast circles around the drone starting as I flew over a fence line just above the tree tops, and getting pretty close on the last pass. I turned the drone back onto a home heading and flew it back at the same altitude. The bird stopped the defensive behavior as the a/c moved out of the range I believe it was protecting, very roughly estimated to be around 20-30 meters radius.

As you say, best to give them space.