Novice

Weather at the home end has changed and it's raining heavily in Ayrshire. The cloud is very low and the air feels thundery. Pigeons due home in about 1.5 hours.

I recently spoke to a guy who has a female Eagle Owl which lays 2 clutches of eggs each year. I had almost talked him into letting me give it a new home then let it slip I had pigeons. He ignored my mails from then on. On the basis of his laying female I think they would be reasonably easy to breed.

We were due to meet in Hurlford with the "field worker" and the meeting was cancelled on the Friday 2 days previous.

I am one of the people whose loft was due to be monitored for Sparrowhawk attacks. When the project was cancelled it really was last minute.

Ayrshire liberated at 10:45 in no wind from Tow Law. Ayrshire birds cross over early and come up a westerly route. Where are Lanarkshire racing from? It's as if we are almost trying to clash.

There may be something else causing your birds to be wild and you only notice this when you attempt to basket them. Check for mice hawk and cat visitors and if ok then that's good. You can always basket in the dark or use the trap door method.

I agree that if this cash is available we should capitilise on it. However I feel that Federations and not clubs should have been applying for this cash. Federations could then use the grants to purchase State of the Art transportation thereby giving the welfare of the birds priority. This would benefit both the pigeons and the image of the sport.

I will post this hoping to clarify this discussion. 1 For reasons we all know about the SNFC decided to expell some members approximately 4 years ago. By virtue of this restriction of membership the SNFC lost the right to call itself a National. 2 To continue racing from 500 miles + these expelled fanciers formed their own club. 3 This club has the right to call itself a National club as it is the only club in the country open to all fanciers with lofts situated in this country. This club is the SNRPC. 4 The SHU attempted to have approximately 180 fanciers banned from racing pigeons. I am happy to say this bid failed. 5 During the split many fanciers were treated in a despicable manner which means the split will be very difficult to reverse. Hopefully the above has established the right of the SNRPC to call itself a National club being the only club in Scotland open to all lofts situated in Scotland. During the last 2 seasons there was a desire expressed by some of the members to compete in an extreme distance race. This was organised and we now will be racing from Saintes convoyed by the NFC. The initial intention was to make this a National race (open to all lofts in Scotland) This would have been a stand alone race. Now we have a representative on the NFC committee and we are competing as Section M of the NFC for all those who wish to join that organisation. That means we have a National race but also duplicated into the NFC for all who wish to compete at this level. It would be unlikely that we would rival fanciers on the South coast but there are always pigeons which give that supreme effort and it would be good to see that recognised. Yes---there is a concern that the birds could be liberated with favourable weather conditions in England and unfavourable north of the border. This is the main reason why we are convoying to the Gold Medal Race in our own transport. During seasons 2006 and 2007 the SNRPC did have a marking station at Beith for both the Inland National and Gold Medal National (open to all fanciers with lofts in Scotland). This marking station was a success in 2006 but a complete failure in 2007. The main reason for this was the fact that Ayrshire fanciers are only interested in competing for a Mickey Mouse Average Trophy (only open to members of Ayrshire Federation and therefore not a National competition). Ayrshire fanciers seem happy to be a big fish in a small pond rather than a small fish in a big pond. Yes this marking station was an effort to encourage Ayrshire fanciers to move out of their comfort zone. I know as I organised and ran the Station. Incidentally I have also won the Average Trophy on more occasions than I care to mention. I hope the above clarifies the discussion.

It may be a parlour tumbler

There is a possibility this could be Paramixo. This disease is still around and any birds which are not vaccinated are vulnerable. The virus has changed since first discovered in that the birds don't always show the twisting of the neck symptom. I know I had it last year from a stray entering the loft. Birds die within 3 days of showing symptoms. I don't know the phone number but the best advice available is from Tom Pennicoat. He may be contacted at the Scottish Agricultural College, Auchincruive,Ayr. I don't have a phone number at the moment but I can find one if required.

Hills are still cloudy/misty in Ayrshire but it will brighten soon

Might be worthwhile looking to see if they are retaining excessive water in their crops.

Lennut I don't like them much either. I'm difficult to motivate in the early part of the year. Both my birds amd I like a bit of heat in the ait. I always enjoy your posts.

The final herdles seem to have been overcome and competition with SNRPC and NFC from Saintes is on schedule.

Maybe more to the point do we think there is a colour which predators are more likely to ignore in preference for a another colour? Sorry I may not have worded that very well but I am sure you know what I mean.

Good for you mate. An acquired taste I think. I think I would struggle a bit with that.

Hi Carlsberg--typing error it's getting late. You don't actually like that stuff do you?

Hi Lemmut--looks like I need to amaze myself and do some of these :) and ;D ;D ;D things. 11 mile tosses would suite me fine if it were going to work. I might try it with home exercise if I think it will work. The only highlight of a training toss for me is calling into a resturant for some quality food. ;) . Your pigeon is a true champion. For interest did he produce any quality off spring.

Hi Patsy and welcome. Not welcome back from me as I am also new. Lennut flagging is always an option. I'll see how the season goes but most of my yearlings have limited experience so they will need some roadwork.

Lennut--when the racing season starts in earnest I hope that I can drag my *expletive removed* into the loft all day every day and spend less time on here. That will be my best and that I will enjoy. Goodness knows what that will lead to. I only wish I had some enthusiasm for driving to train the birds.

Lennut I'll do my best and I am sure that with some coaching from Rembrandt and Doo who are at opposite ends of the spectrum I will get there.

He's not a bad bloke really. You can tak the boy out of Hurlford but you can't take Hurlford out of the boy

Rembrandt I'll take Doo under my wing if you excuse the pun.

A fancier is only as good as his last season and mine was a disaster so I doubt if I am in a position to offer wisdom. Perhaps the lessons of last season might be considered as wisdom. That would be ensure you vaccinate against Para before the youngsters are weaned. Doing that ensures they are protected against whatever strays bring into the loft. :) There you go I have even mastered the happy smiley faces.

I see Doo as a future SNRPC stalwart