Novice

Don't be tardy Stevie. The offer might not be open too long.

That hen would go fine with Roland Janssen Cock I have. We could half the youngsters.

He has already posted on your thread on another site. I never see it as my function to issue personal details. I left that to the gentleman in question.

You would not be speaking of the articles written by Atomique by any chance. He wrote about Busschaerts but I don't remember the name of his column. He may be found online but not as Atomique

You probably have a point. Working at both ends would be even better but difficult to organise. There is no doubt that we have the power to change the situation but firstly we need to convince fanciers that they need to change. Some discussion and even guidance at union level would be a start.

Yes we have a chance. Stop racing youngsters in August and confine them to the loft. The raptors will decimate the songbirds as the situation will be completely out of balance if we remove the easy meals. The RSPB will then need to address the imbalance they have caused.

Being absolutely serious it becomes more obvious to me each year that we should not be racing youngsters during the month of August. We need to start young bird racing earlier and also shorthen the season by having mid week races. This may mean having youngbird races during the National season but it needs to be done. Think about this carefully. We supply prime food in abundance exactly when required. If there are no racers available Percy will decimate the song bird population forcing a rethink by the RSPB.

Check that your router is not overheating. If something is restricting the airflow around it this can cause this problem. Switch it off for a while abd see if the speed is any better when you restart with a cool router.

I think Louella crossed them with Black Kruths (spelling). Have a look at the map it's a fair water jump frpm Faroes to (I think Wales) was where the original Mealy cock raced to.

Unfortunately this is Lanarkshire philosophy which is not even 20th centuary thinking never mind 21st centuary. Race programs now need to be as flexible as possible for the good of the pigeons. If this means cancelling, postponing or even bringing race dates forward than I welcome that. Further increased flexibility would be gained if the controller had the discretion to select an alternative race point on the opposite side of the country to suit the weather. Occasionally everything may not go according to plan but what is important is that the birds are not sacrificed. Didn't mean to offend by this response.

YES I knew the source and agree with you. That wasn't the point I was making though.

Well done Frannie. Good to see you breaking your novice status with an Ayrshire rung doo.

Well said always acting with the best interests of the birds at heart. Being honest it wasn't really a bad decision as all Midlothian youngsters are there to fight another day.

Thunder and heavy showers in Ayrshire most of the afternoon. This should explain the absence of racers.

You won't get an arguement from me on that one. However I will wait to see what other's returns are like at clock checking. Mine are all out for a bath now so difficult to count them. Less than half the convoy home at clockcheck. Some fanciers are only 15-20% returns. Clashing may have played a part but that can't be the full story.

So do I because I sent 59. Maybe it's time for plan B now. Whatever that might be.

Ayrshire fed from Hawick looks like a poor race for me only 25% home an hour after my first.

Ayrshire liberated approximately 3,400 pigeons at Hawick at 07:30

Thanks for the web address very interesting.

That helps to explain why Google Earth takes me to WW1 photos in Surrey. Good though our birds may be we have not reached that distance yet.

Just wondering I can never locate Stobs camp on Google Earth. Can someone tell me a larger town it is close to or describe the location.? The reason I am interested is that we (Ayrshire Federation )are at Hawick this week and next.

Well done indeed. You can't get a better start than that. Now the tricky part is to keep that form going.

Very sorry to read this. I fully expected a few back on Saturday. No such luck. In the past we occasionally experienced this while training in the Nith Valley. When these jets go pass when low it really scares the birds witless.

Happy Birthday Harry. I know you are not a bampot---well not all of the time.

They took lottery money which should have been allocated to charities to finance this shambles.