Bird attack on a Mavic Air 2

[Steve F]

While flying out along the California Coast yesterday, I had a black oystercatcher attack my drone.
See the following YouTube link for a short video with some frame grabs of the incident:

For a few seconds I thought it was going to go swimming, but it recovered and I was able to bring it back in for a stable landing. While landing the bird continued to make repeated passes at it. Inspecting afterwards I did not note any nicks or damage to the props, only a slight scratch to the side near the bottom of the fuselage. In the future it may be wise to use prop guards when flying along the coast where birds are exhibiting territorial behavior like this may be present. My thinking is that prop guards are more likely to protect the propellers from being disrupted (and thus stable flight) while also reducing the possibility of potential harm to the bird.

 

[RayKelly]

While flying out along the California Coast yesterday, I had a black oystercatcher attack my drone.
See the following YouTube link for a short video with some frame grabs of the incident:

For a few seconds I thought it was going to go swimming, but it recovered and I was able to bring it back in for a stable landing. While landing the bird continued to make repeated passes at it. Inspecting afterwards I did not note any nicks or damage to the props, only a slight scratch to the side near the bottom of the fuselage. In the future it may be wise to use prop guards when flying along the coast where birds are exhibiting territorial behavior like this may be present. My thinking is that prop guards are more likely to protect the propellers from being disrupted (and thus stable flight) while also reducing the possibility of potential harm to the bird.

Cool video. Glad you were able to land safely.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

While flying out along the California Coast yesterday, I had a black oystercatcher attack my drone.
See the following YouTube link for a short video with some frame grabs of the incident:

For a few seconds I thought it was going to go swimming, but it recovered and I was able to bring it back in for a stable landing. While landing the bird continued to make repeated passes at it. Inspecting afterwards I did not note any nicks or damage to the props, only a slight scratch to the side near the bottom of the fuselage. In the future it may be wise to use prop guards when flying along the coast where birds are exhibiting territorial behavior like this may be present. My thinking is that prop guards are more likely to protect the propellers from being disrupted (and thus stable flight) while also reducing the possibility of potential harm to the bird.

Bird our always going to be a threat but prop Guards are not going to help you at all.
The only protection you have is the spinning props and to avoid the bird by maintaining VLS and follow the rules of engagement which on a drone is
a Vertical climb . There is a chance that once the bird see that he will leave you alone .

I have come to the conclusion based on similar flying at the lake , the slower and careful i go , the more likely the bird sees me as an injured and easy prey.
When I come out and take charge : I am much more likely to be left alone.

I have about 4 videos where the Sea Gulls attacked the drone from behind.
So they our much more likely to attack from behind and not coming directly at you , although an eagle has proven that wrong. lol

This is why we now implement some what i call Crazy Ivans . vertical surges in the presence of birds.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in the Rain
Coal

 

[Lajser]

Thats crazy! I do like @Phantomrain.org explains, just full throttle Vertical climb.

 

[Steve F]

Bird our always going to be a threat but prop Guards are not going to help you at all.
The only protection you have is the spinning props and to avoid the bird by maintaining VLS and follow the rules of engagement which on a drone is
a Vertical climb . There is a chance that once the bird see that he will leave you alone .

I have come to the conclusion based on similar flying at the lake , the slower and careful i go , the more likely the bird sees me as an injured and easy prey.
When I come out and take charge : I am much more likely to be left alone.

I have about 4 videos where the Sea Gulls attacked the drone from behind.
So they our much more likely to attack from behind and not coming directly at you , although an eagle has proven that wrong. lol

This is why we now implement some what i call Crazy Ivans . vertical surges in the presence of birds.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in the Rain
Coal

I agree with the use of a vertical climb to get away from birds, but that presumes you have become a target. I have used that tactic in the past during similar situations. But in this case, it just came in from behind without warning. My thinking is the use of prop guards in this case would improve the survivability of the drone, since the lift from the propellers is less likely to be disrupted. The MA2 has a surprising amount of power, so I suspect that it will be less impeded by the attachment of such guards.

 

[Dakarenduro]

I fly along the coastline all the time. I have no clue what kind of birds are here but they are very aggressive. I have found the 'vertical height' to be the best solution as well. It was explained to me as a dominance thing. If you fly higher than the bird sees it as the hunter and the ones beneath it are prey. So they tend to move on.

I've had to cut hyperlapses short quite a few times because of the birds. The Crazy Ivan move is one I employ as well. If there is a swarm around the drone, going straight up might be a problem so the full throttle in a zig zag out of the pack works well. While climbing high.

 

[Ramjam61]

Prop guards to protect the birds. Injure a bird during nesting season and potentially you have also caused the slow death of their offspring. Drone pilots get enough bad publicity as it is. Just my view.

 

[15PSI]

Here is another flying encounter. I am a beekeeper and had a very strange thing happen last month. I was flying my mini recreationally about 40 meters from my hives. Then the mini was surrounded by 30-40 bees that kept attacking the mini. I landed the mini and it was apparent they bees left something sticky on the drone. I asked my local bee expert if he had ever seen or heard about this type of behavior before. His best guess was that they were confused by the high pitched sound and thought the Mini was a virgin queen in her mating flight and the drone bees were doing what nature intended them to do.

 

[Ramjam61]

So when do you expect to hear the small buzz of baby drones

 

[hiflyer201]

That's the Black Oyster catcher habitat ..rocky coastline. Where was that? Morro bay? Very scenic for sure. One of my friends lost his pilots license for a period because he was flying low along the coast near Monterey. It's restricted below 1000 ft. It's really a temptation for sure.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

I fly along the coastline all the time. I have no clue what kind of birds are here but they are very aggressive. I have found the 'vertical height' to be the best solution as well. It was explained to me as a dominance thing. If you fly higher than the bird sees it as the hunter and the ones beneath it are prey. So they tend to move on.

I've had to cut hyperlapses short quite a few times because of the birds. The Crazy Ivan move is one I employ as well. If there is a swarm around the drone, going straight up might be a problem so the full throttle in a zig zag out of the pack works well. While climbing high.

Its funny, I got the Crazy IVAN thing from a Scare Crow in the Net Flix Special BLACK SPOT , and why they worked out in the fields.

As soon as that Human Facet registered i took a more aggressive approach with the birds by letting them know I am not a crippled bird trying to sneak my way thu.
I have yet to be attacked with this new approach.

Notice in this video me trying to sneak past the birds and how they see me as an old man with a cane. lol
Now I let the Birds know Im taking over. Show my dominance , well put.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in the Rain
Coal

 

[Steve F]

That's the Black Oyster catcher habitat ..rocky coastline. Where was that? Morro bay? Very scenic for sure. One of my friends lost his pilots license for a period because he was flying low along the coast near Monterey. It's restricted below 1000 ft. It's really a temptation for sure.

This is the Sonoma Coast a few miles north of Bodega Bay. There are many beaches here accessible from pullouts along Highway One. There are no restrictions here from what I can gather.

 

[Steve F]

Its funny, I got the Crazy IVAN thing from a Scare Crow in the Net Flix Special BLACK SPOT , and why they worked out in the fields.

As soon as that Human Facet registered i took a more aggressive approach with the birds by letting them know I am not a crippled bird trying to sneak my way thu.
I have yet to be attacked with this new approach.

Notice in this video me trying to sneak past the birds and how they see me as an old man with a cane. lol
Now I let the Birds know Im taking over. Show my dominance , well put.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in the Rain
Coal

Thanks for the feedback.
One challenge with doing evasive maneuvers is that it breaks up the continuity of any video footage you may be trying to capture. Perhaps one needs a second drone to act as a wingman and fly cover to protect/distract the filming drone from attack. :^)

I had another friend share this comment with me about black oystercatchers:
"I can attest to Oystercatcher aggressiveness especially during chick rearing season. When we were kayaking in Alaska, anytime we landed on a beach with Oystercatchers they would harass us from landing until about a half hour when they finally settled down. You would eventually see the chicks, but not in a nest as they moved around the rocks and had to move up the beach as the tide came in. Anytime a bird (including another Oystercatcher) would fly within 300 yds both parents would go out to attack. Bald eagles were also no problem since both parents would flank each side of the bird, Chicks were ok without parents as they were hard to spot."

 

[hiflyer201]

This is the Sonoma Coast a few miles north of Bodega Bay. There are many beaches here accessible from pullouts along Highway One. There are no restrictions here from what I can gather.

Man ...that's a fantastic area..and close to where they filmed "The Birds" I've been over it a lot of times on flights from Santa Rosa to SFO. ATC keeps you down fairly low and is it ever scenic!

 

[Steve F]

Man ...that's a fantastic area..and close to where they filmed "The Birds" I've been over it a lot of times on flights from Santa Rosa to SFO. ATC keeps you down fairly low and is it ever scenic!

Here is the portion of the sectional with the area I flew pointed with the red arrow. Class G airspace. Next time I fly out there I will be bringing prop guards just in case.

 

[CentralOtago]

Very interesting...glad to see things turned out OK.

Here's a falcon "warning" my P4 received a few years ago: Warning flyby

 

[Cashed]

Hey Hey You You Get Off Of My Cloud!

 

[BushWacker]

I have renamed them "Black Dronecatchers"