Falconry Meet Disrupted by Drone Enthusiast Who 'Just Wanted Cool Aerial Footage'

A regional falconry field meet was briefly disrupted Saturday when an uninvited drone enthusiast launched a quadcopter over the hunting grounds, where it survived for approximately nine seconds before being struck from the sky by a peregrine falcon traveling at an estimated 80 miles per hour. The drone operator, identified as local videographer Kyle Gimbal, 28, had parked his car at the edge of the field and launched the device without consulting any of the 14 falconers present, each of whom was accompanied by a hunting raptor. 'I heard the buzz and my stomach dropped,' said meet organizer Claire Gauntlet. 'I turned around and there's a DJI Mavic about 40 feet up, right in the middle of our slip. I started yelling for people to hood their birds. I got about three words out.' The peregrine, a tiercel named Ajax belonging to falconer Dennis Mews, had been circling at altitude in a waiting-on position when the drone entered his visual field. Witnesses describe Ajax's subsequent stoop as 'magnificently violent.' 'He folded and hit it like a missile,' said Mews. 'One pass. The drone came apart in midair. Propellers went one direction, the camera went another. Ajax pulled up, circled once, and returned to his pitch like nothing happened.' Gimbal emerged from his car to find the remains of his $1,200 drone distributed across approximately 50 yards of meadow. 'I just wanted some cool B-roll,' he said. Mews immediately examined Ajax and found no injuries, though the falcon appeared, in Mews's words, 'extremely satisfied with himself.' The veterinary check was clear. Gauntlet has since posted signage at all future meet locations reading: 'ACTIVE FALCONRY AREA — NO DRONES — RAPTORS WILL ENFORCE THIS POLICY.' Gimbal has not returned to the field. Ajax was rewarded with a whole quail, which he consumed with what Mews described as 'the energy of a hawk who just won a fight.'