So I was taking pictures on the edge of a salt water river and a seagull attacked the drone and eventually brought it down to the water. Never thought they were stone cold killers.
I've been experimenting with blue strobes after reading this article: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/04/blue-lights-could-prevent-bird-strikes They seem to be keeping the swallows at bay that were getting aggressive during my dusk flights.
Not sure how well they work during the day -- in bright sunlight blue doesn't show up too well to my eyes, but maybe the birds can see it?
Do you have any plans on flying during daylight hours to test the effectiveness?
I do. I have some more lights on order (for daytime you need to cover a lot more area to be visible). We'll see!
I've been experimenting with blue strobes after reading this article: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/04/blue-lights-could-prevent-bird-strikes They seem to be keeping the swallows at bay that were getting aggressive during my dusk flights.
Not sure how well they work during the day -- in bright sunlight blue doesn't show up too well to my eyes, but maybe the birds can see it?
The experiment was based on a totally different theory than what you are wanting to use it for. The research work was conducted to see if we could give birds more warning of an oncoming aircraft. Bird strikes occur not because birds are attacking 767's but rather because jet planes travel at such speeds that birds don't have time to notice it and move out of the way. It has nothing to do with "frightening" birds as a way to keep birds away from airplanes. Just trying to make them (aircraft) more conspicuous and lengthen the time they (birds) have to take evasive action.
I doubt that you're flying your Mavic at such speeds that you're striking birds before they can maneuver out of the way. There is little sound scientific evidence that lights or any particular colored lights are effective at scaring birds away, though Airbus claims they have some magic formula for this (color combination, flash rate, etc.) and they refuse to share the science on it with others so it can be peer reviewed. I highly doubt it is valid (as do most others in the scientific community) but until they share their "trade secret", it will remain an unproven anecdotal claim.
Thanks for all that. Sounds like this is a great area to experiment and do some research in.
Maybe something to try. If i buy another drone maybe Mavic Air, I'm going to be looking for solutions.I've been experimenting with blue strobes after reading this article: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/04/blue-lights-could-prevent-bird-strikes They seem to be keeping the swallows at bay that were getting aggressive during my dusk flights.
Not sure how well they work during the day -- in bright sunlight blue doesn't show up too well to my eyes, but maybe the birds can see it?
I had a bright yellow skin during the attack, I never had seagulls pay any attention to it as evident above. I might try the eyes on my next drone. It was approached by an eagle when it was still grey....-->Now there is no concrete evidence but in my experience birds have completely avoided my mavic I think in part to a bright lime green skin on it as opposed to the grey which could be confused for a bird based on the color.
I have a friend down here (Cancun) who was filming some surfers about 100 meters from shore and about 3 meters above the water. A frigate (the bird) must have thought the drone was something to eat because we saw it do a dive bomber attack from about 20 meters up and whack the drone knocking it into the water. The drone was gone forever. So the lesson that was learned by those of us watching was watch out for birds, especially during their feed times (mornings and late afternoons.)So I was taking pictures on the edge of a salt water river and a seagull attacked the drone and eventually brought it down to the water. Never thought they were stone cold killers.
So I was taking pictures on the edge of a salt water river and a seagull attacked the drone and eventually brought it down to the water. Never thought they were stone cold killers.