A wedge-tailed eagle sussing out my DJI FPV, I wish I had used my Phantom 4 Pro V2

Man that's awsome,,looks like cross hawk cross eagle,
I captured a seagull with that pose,this ones name is Steven Seagull, it was not happy lol,,
Again great clip,stay well
Screenshot_20200904-175140_Chrome.jpg
 
Some great footage there. It was trying to take you down. My P4 had a close call with a Wedge-tailed Eagle a few years ago. I'd prefer the maneuverability of an FPV drone in any future encounter.

My record of the event is below...

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The image quality would have been just that bit better.
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THAT WAS AMAZING JOHN ! I THINK I WOULD'VE CRAPPED MY PANTS THOUGH, AFRAID HE MIGHT HAVE TAKEN ME OUT ! LOL GOOD JOB MY FRIEND.
STEVE
 
Some great footage there. It was trying to take you down. My P4 had a close call with a Wedge-tailed Eagle a few years ago. I'd prefer the maneuverability of an FPV drone in any future encounter.

My record of the event is below...

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I don't think it was trying to take me down. I have seen trained eagles take drones down, but it is very rare for a wild bird of prey to take down a drone, at least in my experience. I have come across wedge tailed eagles many times and mostly they just keep their distance. Young males will get territorial and swoop my drones. This is nothing to what I have experienced in the past. Birds are very smart and fast, and a drone looks like it could hurt them. But that is just my experience and opinion you could be right Pygar70.
I think your Eagle spent most of the time looking for prey, occasionally checking you out. With an occasional playful swoop.
I don’t think we should be scared of birds of prey, use the opportunity to get good footage like you did.
But you are dead right about rather being in an FPV! Shoot yeh :)
 
THAT WAS AMAZING JOHN ! I THINK I WOULD'VE CRAPPED MY PANTS THOUGH, AFRAID HE MIGHT HAVE TAKEN ME OUT ! LOL GOOD JOB MY FRIEND.
STEVE
I almost wished I had rubber underwear but thought no, let's take this opportunity to get good footage, shame it did not hang around longer like Pygar70.
So no need to do extra washing. Thanks Steve.
 
I don't think it was trying to take me down. I have seen trained eagles take drones down, but it is very rare for a wild bird of prey to take down a drone, at least in my experience. I have come across wedge tailed eagles many times and mostly they just keep their distance. Young males will get territorial and swoop my drones. This is nothing to what I have experienced in the past. Birds are very smart and fast, and a drone looks like it could hurt them. But that is just my experience and opinion you could be right Pygar70.
I think your Eagle spent most of the time looking for prey, occasionally checking you out. With an occasional playful swoop.
I don’t think we should be scared of birds of prey, use the opportunity to get good footage like you did.
But you are dead right about rather being in an FPV! Shoot yeh
There are a few videos out there of drones being brought down by eagles, but yes, I expect it's pretty unusual. The eagle that approached me made two close passes before coming in for what looked like 'the kill'. Between the second pass and the final approach it was circling to gain height. At the last second I moved upwards, which may have spooked the bird. It's impossible to know what would have happened had I held my position. It's actions appeared purposeful, at the very least intended to scare away the intruder. I'm glad it didn't make contact... I wouldn't have wanted the props to cause injury.
 
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I think it was pure luck. It didn't decide completely to grab the drone. Only at last attack when it stretch the legs down to grab the drone but obviously it changed its mind in the last second. In a situation like that I would not wait to see what the bird is planning to do although I don't know its top speed at horizontal flight.
 
The image quality would have been just that bit better.
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What is wrong with DJI FPV that you've wanted to had a Phanrom?
 
I have a P4P V 2.0. After a few comments I am sticking to my original thought, that I wish I had the Phantom in the air. The Phantom has a much better camera. The thumbnail for the video is somewhat pixelated. Had I taken the pic extracted from the video footage the image would be a lot less pixelated.
Not saying the camera on the DJI FPV is bad, its not, it's amazing especially with the incredible stabilization technology it has. But the P4P is a much better camera.
 
I think it was pure luck. It didn't decide completely to grab the drone. Only at last attack when it stretch the legs down to grab the drone but obviously it changed its mind in the last second. In a situation like that I would not wait to see what the bird is planning to do although I don't know its top speed at horizontal flight.
Andy I can only speak from my experience and some vids I have seen on YT. Some eagles are trained to take down drones. But I have not seen many wild birds of prey take down a drone. My experience has been that, with hundreds of flights with eagles in the area they have never even tried to take my drones down. Now it could happen tomorrow. But it has not happened in my few years of flying, not yet. But you may be right.
 
I agree that P4P have a better camera but in the situation like this the last thing I think about would be a camera quality.
FPV drone has much more chances to escape if the bird wants to grab it.
It's nice to have such good experience with birds but in your video the eagle was pretty decided to do just that.
I'm pretty uncomfort if I see such big bird over my drone and I rather go away than take a chance with it.
But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe birds are just curious?
 
The image quality would have been just that bit better.
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I was flying my P4P 2 last month and was approached by a gal in a pair of small denim shorts. Guess you could say she was a wedge-tailed soccer mom since she had her 9 yr old son with her. The kid was fascinated and I let him push the RTH button. Then my wife drove up and I had to cut the class short. Ya meet the most interesting folks at the soccer fields sometimes....
 
I do not know how many hours I have been in the air, but it's a lot. A good bit of ocd perhaps?
Another thing that is difficult to measure is what percentage of time in the air I have seen wedge tails but let's say 15% of the time.
Not once have they posed any real threat to my drones. So, I am inferring birds of prey do not take down drones, in general. I think it is an urban myth. But it is an opinion held by the great majority of drone flyers.
I accept that I am in a minority of one.
 
I was flying my P4P 2 last month and was approached by a gal in a pair of small denim shorts. Guess you could say she was a wedge-tailed soccer mom since she had her 9 yr old son with her. The kid was fascinated and I let him push the RTH button. Then my wife drove up and I had to cut the class short. Ya meet the most interesting folks at the soccer fields sometimes....
Brilliant! Loved it.
 
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I was flying my P4P 2 last month and was approached by a gal in a pair of small denim shorts. Guess you could say she was a wedge-tailed soccer mom since she had her 9 yr old son with her. The kid was fascinated and I let him push the RTH button. Then my wife drove up and I had to cut the class short. Ya meet the most interesting folks at the soccer fields sometimes....
wonder if Bone4Drone got yellow or red carded when he got home
 
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wonder if Bone4Drone got yellow or red carded when he got home
Well, I thought I was going to luck out and get the couch instead of the garage. My wife wanted to know if I thought that soccer mom was attractive. I had to think fast. I had the perfect response...or so I thought.

I put on my dead-serious face and told her, "Darlin', that girl didn't have anything that you don't have three times more of." Big mistake. At least I got to sleep with my P4P 2.
 
I have lots of hawks around my house. They care the least. I know they are much smaller than an eagle, but that doesn't stop seagulls. Seagulls have harassed me many times. As with many animals, act aggressive and they leave you alone. I have a video where an osprey started towards me. It got quite close, maybe 10 ft. till I started towards him.
Sorry John, we speak different English. I had to look up sussing. Lol.
 

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