Alfred Hitchcock Moment

Some of you may remember the movie “Birds” by Alfred H, where birds got organized and attacked people. I just had a waypoint flight where my Mini 2 was buzzed numerous times by a flock of some 15 big white birds (maybe gulls). Then I got a warning on my iPad screen that the GPS signal was lost (took off with some 20 satellites and near-perfect drone location on the screen). The drone came to a hover. I switched to Sport Mode then back to Normal, and I regained manual control. I flew back to Home manually with continued buzzing by the birds, and they got really, really close on one occasion. So, three questions:
(1) Has anyone else lost GPS signal during a waypoint mission?
(2) Has anyone else had a flock of birds follow and buzz their drone?
(3) Anyone out there think there’s a connection between (1) and (2)?

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I’ve had magpies provide my Mavic Pro 1 with an escort for over 100 yards of travel. They swooped all around the drone, and came within a couple of feet of the props, without making contact at any point. I’ve got a few still photos somewhere of the feathered bandits in full cry circling my drone.

A strobe light on the rear of a drone is a good way to keep birds at bay. I have Firehouse brand strobes on all my drones, and they’re affordable at $40 each. Regarding the loss of GPS signal that you experienced, I can’t hazard a guess as to what was afoot there, but you did the right thing by switching to sports mode to regain control.

My drone slammed on the brakes twice during Litchi missions, and I only learned later that it is a good idea to switch off the obstacle avoidance sensors because they can trigger a sudden halt due to being falsely triggered by the sun of all things, causing the drone to stop dead and ignore all pilot inputs until sports mode is selected.

I once had a drone go into ATTI mode and start drifting with the wind while executing a waypoint mission.

Yes, often enough. Watch the first minute of this video:

The birds don’t bump into each other so I didn’t think they would bump into my drone.

I do not.

Hi Jack,
Yes, birds of all types and sizes are curious and make Cameo appearances in many of my missions. Especially when flying over or near water.