Chasing buzzards off cell towers

Might keep in mind one of them big birds might take offense to you buzzing them. (Had a hawk attack mine and destroy a couple of props) and I wasn't hassling it/them.
 
As a serious "birder".....who is also a serious bird hunter at times.....the interaction between the Ph and birds is quite interesting to me. Some species (and in the video those are not "buzzards" but appear to be crows) won't let it near them, while others are less concerned and will allow a close approach....if done in a non-threatening manner. There can be good in this....harassing nuisance birds off golf courses for example....and bad uses....harassing stressed, migrating non-nuisance birds "just for the fun of it"...and that can get you into serious trouble.

I can tell you that birders (and there are a LOT of them....one of the most popular hobbies in the US) are absolutely intolerant and almost violent towards people who "bother" birds to the point of pushing them and making them fly or abandon whatever activity the birds were doing in the first place. This confrontation occurs regularly when a photographer trying to get a close-up approachs some rare or unusual species that other birders are "watching", at that moment or generally for days as other birders come and go, and makes it fly or vacate what had been safe or comfortable territory. Do it a lot an someone is going to get in your face and maybe stomp YOUR bird.

It is also technically illegal to harasss protected species, and sooner or later if malicious or widespread enough police WILL be called. "Protected" species technically includes about everything EXCEPT pigeons, English sparrows, and starlings.

I was given my Ph by my kids who though I might be able to use to photograph or approach nesting birds such as hawks and eagles. As I use it I think that is the LAST thing I would want to do with it, with the likely result an injured/dead hawk and a crashed/damaged Phantom.

I predict that, as we worry about and brace for push-back from the paranoid and others who worry about peeping and spying on their privacy......we will also hear about problems from Ph flyers who chase off birds "for fun".
 
Peter, first of all thank you for posting this. All too often, Phantoms and other quads are in the hands of irresponsible owners who place people, property and wildlife at risk, all in the name of "fun". I seriously do not care if they crash their Phantoms, fly them into the drink or kiss them goodbye in a fly away! Nothing will get us all grounded faster than these jerks who fly high enough to jeopardize civil aircraft or from hotel balconies over crowded streets below them or other such stupidity.
 
Peter Patricelli said:
I was given my Ph by my kids who though I might be able to use to photograph or approach nesting birds such as hawks and eagles. As I use it I think that is the LAST thing I would want to do with it, with the likely result an injured/dead hawk and a crashed/damaged Phantom.

Peter, maybe the kids could get you an S800 that can carry a DSLR and a long lens for "hassle free" images of nesting birds!!
 
Those spiky plastic strips work better to keep birds off. I have had many accidental or intentional interactions with birds now. In summary, stay far away from any raptor, especially nests. They will attack and injure themselves and drop your phantom out of the sky. Oddball reactions from hummingbirds of all things, they seem curious to,the sound and quickly fly away again. And initial surprise and fear then indifference from seagulls and Canada geese, especially the geese. If you've seen my bird control videos trying to move Canada geese off a golf course with the phantom carrying barking dog sounds its amazing how tolerant they become. As a general rule any interaction with any larger wildlife is never seen favorably, be it birds, marine animals, forest creatures etc. my recommendation to the golf course was to use some other method of bird control.
 
Hell, I was flying in windy weather this morning and sizeable oak tree leaves were falling like rain into the area I was flying. Every time one got caught up and chopped by a prop, the craft wobbled substantially due to the reduced RPM's. I can't imagine what would happen if even a small bird, bat or large insect (like a dragonfly) got in there!!! :oops:

Definitely NOT something I want to find out first hand.

PF
 
Kregh,

First, I am acutely aware just how much FUN harassing birds is. Ask me how I know.

There are, in general, a LOT of situations where no one is going to bat an eye...geese off a golf course, crows off a cell tower, seagulls off a football field...for example. However, those are situations chosen carefully with a great deal of bird/people knowledge and common sense behind them. In a nutshell...no one cares. And for all practical purposes...no harm....no....FOWL (!). But common sense is not always commonly found or shared. Someone empowered by watching a video of such "fun" is going to try it on something else...possibly less appropriate or tolerated.

Each of the three situations above ARE technically illegal. If some pi**ed off law enforcement person is looking to make your life miserable and teach you a lesson, he WILL write you up a ticket. To harass geese off a golf course LEGALLY would actually require applying for a federal permit, months of haggling and possible require, if the PITA or Audubon people objected, an Environmental Impact Statement. My point....just because a golf course operator or cell tower repairman suggests or tells you to do it.....the reality it HE KNOWS LEGALLY HE CAN"T and more specifically, if there is some heat, YOU GET IT, and he DOESN'T. Those people have no power to suspend the Migratory Bird Act of 1917!!

I once made a video of myself having fun playing with newly fledged osprey...who were learning to dive-fish. It involved a dead fish, fishing line, and a fishing pole (no hooks). Use your imagination. Amid the howls of laughter when I posted it was the gentle suggestion I should quietly remove it before someone in authority saw it. And he was right.

I had no problem with your video. I was just acutely aware of what a fine line one is walking doing that and what the risks and nuances are....and pointing it out. And, had those actually been "BUZZARDS"....as in Turkey Vultures or Black Vultures..actually anything BUT crows....I would feel differently. I was concerned that you DIDN'T know what they were. That was the scary/dangerous/offensive part.
 

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