As most of you know, me and seagulls have history, but they’re unpredictable. Except for that one occasion, they have been present for most of my flights and not taken any notice at all of the whirly whizzy thing, From what I’m told, Oystercatchers are predictable; they will attack by default, and mob-handed.
Red Kites are big raptors easily capable of destroying a hobby drone, and my instinct would be to fly away from them rather than trying to film them, but it should be possible to film them in flight. You’d need a finger hovering on the left stick ready to push it forward for a fast escape climb just in case, though.
I was flying Caerphilly Castle recently, not bothered by the large number of gulls present but there were plenty of geese on the moat and the surrounding greens as well. I was a little concerned about being attacked on the ground; they can be pretty ferocious on the ground, as can swans, but none of them was interested. Felt safe enough once I was airborne; they need a lot of room to take off and can’t climb especially quickly, nor are they especially manoeverable, best at flying in straight lines in formation like bombers.
Nesting season is a different kettle of fish, because the birds are more aware of anything they might interpret as a threat either to their territory or the egge/chicke, and nobody wants to upset the raising of the chicks (unless they’re seagull chicks, in which case I favour napalm, or Agent Orange), A hovering drone even quite high up could look to groundnesters like skylarks or curlews like a Kestrel looking for breakfast, and if the parents stay on the nest the chicks’ll go hungry. There are some winter migratory feeding grounds I’d stay clear of as well. The birds have been there since the end of the Cretaceous, and IMHO have grandad rights…
Wind should be fairly predictable. Your drone is rated for a ‘wind level’, which is the Beaufort Force it can handle, and should not be flown in winds in excess of the rating; you might want to factor in a safety margin. My new Mini4K is rated for ‘level 5’, which equates to a wind speed of about 24mph, or 37kph, so I tend not to fly in forecast winds of more than 20mph. Bear in mind that wind speeds will increase with height, and may be higher than forecast in locations where it is funnelled between hills or buildings. High wind warnings at high altitudes can usually be dealt with by flying lower, but if you get them at lower altitudes it’s probably best to land and call it a day.
If it’s windy, it’s good sense to fly into the wind during the early stages of the flight, so that when you are coming home and the battery is getting low the wind is behind you and helping. If you are fighting the wind, battery life and flying performance will be affected, and you’ll have to make allowances for this.
