Birds of prey and drones.

[Aussie Oldtimer]

I’m from Aust and at any one there are up to 20 raptors within a 1km radius.

My maiden flight today with the M2P in Qld Aust and set up in a nice bare field with no obstructions. When I got about 10m agl, a nesting plover came straight for it and turned at the last minute.

I had to drop to about 1m agl and rth. Plovers nest directly on the ground that I couldn’t see

I just moved about 100m away. The bird kept squarking but stayed at its nest. Scary for a first flight

I'm a wildlife photographer and I've seen raptors attack and grab other smaller birds of prey on many occasions

I know that I have to be careful with raptors but how often do non agro birds chase drones?

I'm looking for some ideas to help when I spot a raptor

 

[Rnl]

Go straight up, birds dive.

 

[Aussie Oldtimer]

Go straight up, birds dive.

Go straight up, birds dive.

Thanks but the one that attacked came UP from the ground. The raptors usually fly from 50 to 500m high and I'm limited to 120m

 

[Rnl]

Reflecting tape, or some color they aren't attracted to.

 

[gjmphoto]

I was recently attacked by a bird...I never actually saw it, but my gimbal went crazy and then I saw something cross my vision. I flew straight up (as suggested above) and brought my MPP right back as quickly as possible and examined it for damage. I found a feather piece in the gimbal assembly, but no damage. I felt VERY lucky.

I had been told to fly straight up in that situation - my understanding is that it's not to get away as much as that birds know you're not a bird when you go straight up and often lose interest in you.

 

[lertsek]

I've had several raptors (Coopers Hawk, Red Tailed Hawk, Sharp Shinned Hawk, even Turkey Vultures) come over for a look while I'm playing around. My advice to avoid a collision is just try to get a picture of them while they're flying around. Unless you're seriously invading their nesting area, I doubt they'll mess with your drone. BTW the birds that seem most interested in my Mavic are hummingbirds. Maybe the noise?

 

[AMann]

Good luck, mate. There’s nothing you can do about it - You live in the land of the wedge-tailed eagle.

Come up to California where the hummingbirds chase drones.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/droned...of-sky-by-australian-wedge-tailed-eagles/amp/

 

[Cymruflyer]

The reason you should climb is because all birds have a hard time gaining altitude quickly, but some birds can dive at 250mph. So if you meet a large bird that is intent on getting your drone, diving is always the wrong thing to do. Climb quickly and wait until it passes and then fly away from it and come back to your home point and land quickly. I even have barn swallows dive bombing my Mavic, but they never touch it. Best is to move somewhere else when you see a bird constantly after your drone. Bright marking are a possible deterrent but I have no idea how well that actually works. So, remember, climb quickly to get above the bird then leave the vicinity and land.

 

[Laurie1]

Hi Oldtimer , which part of QLD r u? I am in Brisbane.

 

[Aussie Oldtimer]

Hi Oldtimer , which part of QLD r u? I am in Brisbane.

currently in townsville but i travel full time as a grey nomad.

 

[Aussie Oldtimer]

The reason you should climb is because all birds have a hard time gaining altitude quickly, but some birds can dive at 250mph. So if you meet a large bird that is intent on getting your drone, diving is always the wrong thing to do. Climb quickly and wait until it passes and then fly away from it and come back to your home point and land quickly. I even have barn swallows dive bombing my Mavic, but they never touch it. Best is to move somewhere else when you see a bird constantly after your drone. Bright marking are a possible deterrent but I have no idea how well that actually works. So, remember, climb quickly to get above the bird then leave the vicinity and land.

The reason you should climb is because all birds have a hard time gaining altitude quickly, but some birds can dive at 250mph. So if you meet a large bird that is intent on getting your drone, diving is always the wrong thing to do. Climb quickly and wait until it passes and then fly away from it and come back to your home point and land quickly. I even have barn swallows dive bombing my Mavic, but they never touch it. Best is to move somewhere else when you see a bird constantly after your drone. Bright marking are a possible deterrent but I have no idea how well that actually works. So, remember, climb quickly to get above the bird then leave the vicinity and land.

The birds that harassed me are ground nesters and its breeding time now. Commonly called plovers but they are really masked lapwing or spur winged plover. I had one actually smash into my camera lens last year when I walked near their nest. Dad circled behind me and at the same time mum came head on at me. She actually hit my camera lens and pushed the camera back into my face breaking a tooth and cutting my lip in the process
I've seen footage of a raptor of some kind flying from its tree branch and smashed into the drone.
i couldnt see the birds until i started to fly the drone. After i put my heart back into the right position, i moved about 100m away and no problems.

 

[Laurie1]

currently in townsville but i travel full time as a grey nomad.

If u ever come this way let us know & we can talk drone flying....

 

[demoncamber]

So far over here in the states (NJ) the hawks haven't bothered with my air. I've gotten pretty close and some good footage of them circling. Just waiting for the day though lol.

 

[JDawg]

"She actually hit my camera lens and pushed the camera back into my face breaking a tooth and cutting my lip in the process
I've seen footage of a raptor of some kind flying from its tree branch and smashed into the drone."

That is one bad bird.

 

[AMann]

"She actually hit my camera lens and pushed the camera back into my face breaking a tooth and cutting my lip in the process
I've seen footage of a raptor of some kind flying from its tree branch and smashed into the drone."

That is one bad bird.

That would be the wedge-tailed eagle of Oz, they love to attack anything flying, even ultralights and parasailers have been their victims.

I have a killer hummingbird that attacks cats, hawks and other things in our neighborhood, I imagine it would challenge my M2P if I flew it here, too.

 

[JDawg]

That would be the wedge-tailed eagle of Oz, they love to attack anything flying, even ultralights and parasailers have been their victims.

I have a killer hummingbird that attacks cats, hawks and other things in our neighborhood, I imagine it would challenge my M2P if I flew it here, too.

Poisonous snakes the size of trains, crocodiles the size of cars, spiders that carry off small children, killer hummingbirds... I am not man enough to live down under.

 

[AMann]

Poisonous snakes the size of trains, crocodiles the size of cars, spiders that carry off small children, killer hummingbirds... I am not man enough to live down under.

I don’t come from the land down under, I come from the land of plenty.

California has really big, scary hummingbirds, where one alsways chases my neighbor’s cat under my truck. Its pretty funny to watch. Its mainly because I have an acacia tree they get nectar from and nest in. As a pilot, one has to have situational awareness for nests and things like that, and I am sure a nesting red-tail or another of our smaller raptors wouldn’t accept a Maveric flying by their nest. But man, that eagle in Australia takes it to extremes!

 

[Aussie Oldtimer]

Poisonous snakes the size of trains, crocodiles the size of cars, spiders that carry off small children, killer hummingbirds... I am not man enough to live down under.

very few poisonous snakes in the world but there are heaps of venomous ones. we are lucky enough to have 9 or the top 10 most venomous snakes but i dont think they will bother my drone. a mate of mine flew his drone along a sandbar on the Daly R NT and spotted 53 crocs on the single sandbank. no hummingbirds here

 

[John Suhr]

I was recently attacked by a bird...I never actually saw it, but my gimbal went crazy and then I saw something cross my vision. I flew straight up (as suggested above) and brought my MPP right back as quickly as possible and examined it for damage. I found a feather piece in the gimbal assembly, but no damage. I felt VERY lucky.

I had been told to fly straight up in that situation - my understanding is that it's not to get away as much as that birds know you're not a bird when you go straight up and often lose interest in you.

I had two hawks chase mine, I went in to panic mode straight up. Anytime I see them I try and avoid, we have many hawks

 

[Deleted member 25239]

I'm also in Aust, Mornington Peninsula in Victoria. Played chicken with a Little Raven the other day.
You can't tell from the video / images, but I was flying in the middle of a large open park with not a soul around. If the Mav had come down, the only thing hurt would have been my hip pocket. And maybe the Little Raven. Although I know from experience that these birds are smart enough and good enough flyers not to actually hit the Mav, but its 'warn off' flybys are impressively close.