The Concord Bridge is doing an article on Conantum, the neighborhood in which we live. I was asked to provide several aerial photographs, including an overview showing its full extent, as well as shots of our common lands and Carl Koch-designed homes. I had nearly completed the assignment, having just finished shooting the community dock, when my drone experienced a mid-air failure and crashed. The last transmitted GPS location before radio contact was lost puts it right in the middle of the Sudbury River. The last video transmission, shown above, suggests it may have landed on the riverbank. I took out a kayak to search the shorelines to no avail. I have reviewed the video a hundred times, and my best theory at this point is that the drone was overcome by high winds. It did not seem windy at the time, but when I was paddling on the river, I encountered several powerful gusts. In the video, we see the drone recover from a 90-degree roll, ascend for a few more seconds, and then start to veer to the right, and then do a 360-degree flip before it stumbles to the earth. This is consist with a gust of wind followed by an even more powerful one, strong enough to cause one or more motors to over-current and shut down. My second theory, much less likely, is that the drone was attacked by a bird protecting its territory. I am careful not to disturb wildlife with my drone, and I saw no birds present during my flight or in the final video. An even more remote possibility is that the drone experienced a motor failure, but it is fairly new, and I have found this brand to be quite reliable. This makes three drones I have lost. The first two were pilot error. This one feels more like bad luck. Fortunately, I have a backup drone and hope to complete my assignment tomorrow. I also ordered a replacement drone, which is a much larger model capable of flying in substantially higher winds.