Hawk attack to my Mini II

[GadgetGuy]

There's not much sexual dimorphism in Ospreys. Females are a bit larger and have slightly darker plumage, but it would be difficult to tell who is who here. Males and females both defend the nest and territory.

That's what I thought, too. Thanks for reaffirming.

 

[Jackh]

Hawk attack!​

Now you say flew by?
So did it attack your drone?
Or was it a fly by?

Check the vid. He did attack.

 

[MS Coast]

Check the vid. He did attack.

I see a single close pass at 02:33, but nothing that suggests contact. As @GadgetGuy pointed out, the talons weren't out, either.

 

[Jackh]

I see a single close pass at 02:33, but nothing that suggests contact. As @GadgetGuy pointed out, the talons weren't out, either.

He made contact from behind, the result of the drone spun violently to the right 180 degrees. The frontal cam shot was his initial threat action only. I paused the drone while I switched to sport mode before he hit me from behind. I did edit the finished video down to show the attack, the purpose of the vid was to showcase Dana Point, not about attacking birds.

 

[Jackh]

If you watch my vid of Laguna Beach, at the 4:14 mark I flew over a large formation of birds. I was about 50' above them and didn't even see them until I edited the vid. That happened a few days before the hawk attack vid.

 

[MS Coast]

He made contact from behind, the result of the drone spun violently to the right 180 degrees. The frontal cam shot was his initial threat action only. I paused the drone while I switched to sport mode before he hit me from behind. I did edit the finished video down to show the attack, the purpose of the vid was to showcase Dana Point, not about attacking birds.

Wow.

I've seen Ospreys snatch two-pound fish from the water and fly off with them. I'm glad that your drone didn't suffer the same fate.

Was there any damage to the props? I can't see how a bird could hit a drone without coming in contact with them. Presumably there would be some damage to the bird as well. It would be interesting to see if the flight data showed substantial motor speed changes.

 

[macfawlty]

Those pics are really cool. Not that you were trying, but you couldn’t have gotten better shots if you were. Major bonus. Who knew there were so many amateur ornithologists on the forum correcting every aspect of your casual suppositions. I’ve had a number of instances with swarming ravens and other birds checking out my drone. I consider it a lucky occurrence to capture the footage, a major bonus to any shot. I’m no expert, but in my experience, the birds are very agile in flight and have never made contact.

 

[Jackh]

Wow.

I've seen Ospreys snatch two-pound fish from the water and fly off with them. I'm glad that your drone didn't suffer the same fate.

Was there any damage to the props? I can't see how a bird could hit a drone without coming in contact with them. Presumably there would be some damage to the bird as well. It would be interesting to see if the flight data showed substantial motor speed changes.

I looked at the flight data record. It did not list motor speed changes. It did list the drone error messages which correspond to the strike and other data (speed,alt,gps,etc). Playback shows stick positions as well.

 

[MS Coast]

I looked at the flight data record. It did not list motor speed changes. It did list the drone error messages which correspond to the strike and other data (speed,alt,gps,etc). Playback shows stick positions as well.

Interesting. So maybe the Osprey managed to whack the drone without contacting the props?

Again, it seems like you were very lucky. An adult Osprey can weigh 2 to 4 pounds or more. Even at 3 pounds they're about six times the mass of a Mini2. Not exactly a fair match-up.

 

[MS Coast]

If you watch my vid of Laguna Beach, at the 4:14 mark I flew over a large formation of birds. I was about 50' above them and didn't even see them until I edited the vid. That happened a few days before the hawk attack vid.

It's hard to tell, but by the overall shape and the echelon formation I'd speculate that they're White Pelicans.

I've flown around perched and flying Brown Pelicans on the Gulf coast and they don't seem to pay much attention to the drone.