Novice

Andy , please don’t distract from the fact that this was a deliberate ploy in 2017 to further deplete the Federation funds by an outgoing office bearer. As far as your excess rings are concerned you need to order more prudently. There will always be rings available from the SHU for those who require them should there be none available at Federation level.

Graham, I can name at least one member in my club who didn’t accept the 2017 rings. Although approved by the SHU to race as youngsters in 2018 this member was afraid that they would be ineligible for showing as youngsters in 2018. He enjoys his shows so refused the 2017 rings.

We weren’t forced in Dalry Graham. We all volunteered to take our share as the outgoing Federation Secretary decided to leave us with yet another expense by ordering 2000 rings the Federation didn’t need. It was a responsible action to take a proportionate share and help the Federation financially.

Winter visiting Whooper Swans have been in Ayrshire for about 2 weeks now. I regularly see a flock of about 20. This week they were accompanied by several grey geese.

I believe a proposal has been submitted for our Federation AGM to start racing youngsters slightly earlier in an attempt to miss the peak peregrine killing period.

I am but a simple man trying to simplify matters for others. Now I ask myself does a rubbered pigeon have an advantage over an ETS pigeon as the rubber is lighter. Not much of a burden at 100 miles but it could be disadvantageous to a tired bird at 500 miles trying to overcome gravity. I don’t have scales accurate enough to weigh these but it would be interesting.

The best site to ask your question on would be Pigeon Chat.

Not in Section H, F , E or whatever we are. Ayrshire men mark at Kilmarnock, Renfrewshire in Kilmarnock or Lanarkshire, Lanarkshire mark in Lanarkshire but some come to Kilmarnock, Glasgow members travel to Lanarkshire. Clocks are returned to the original marking station as far as I am aware. By checking at local level I mean club level for inland races and, perhaps federation level for channel races. This would be a big plus for many members but especially Glasgow and Renfrewshire guys who would check at “local†level.

How about larger sections with one marking station in each section. Clock checking should be done at local level to avoid excessive travelling. I believe this is possible is it not?

From my point of view I would rather see the section returned to its former status. Everyone needs competition to help them raise their game.

Andy, on the contrary there are many benefits to breeding early youngsters. 1 they are smarter and more able to think their way home when split from the batch by a falcon or other circumstance. 2 They will have developed a greater love of home. 3 their early birth provides more opportunities to train them for those who wish to educate them. 4 as natural darkness they will have completed a body moult and be well feathered for racing. 5 sexual maturity gives a guide to which bird should be nominated for competitions such as the Dalry H S Challenge. 6 last but by no means least they will have had the opportunity to develop an adult immune system before being subjected to the rigours of mass transportation and all the nasties that involves. I do know that , in my own Federation, there was a proposal to bring young bird racing forward by 2 weeks in an effort to avoid peAk peregrine killing times. This was defeated because,i assume, it was contrary to how our grandfathers had raced pigeons. Enough said from me.

Frankly I want to give my birds the best chance of returning home from racing and if breeding a couple of weeks early helps them to do so because their thought process is more mature then I’m happy to breed a few weeks early. Forget about all the moral high ground about not racing in the year of their birth we should be thinking about the birds welfare. Another thought on breeding early is that it gives the flexibility to bring young bird racing forward avoiding the peak peregrine killing season. Oh and on a purely personal note it gives me a focus during the long winter months.

The facts are well known to those affected by them. It would be inappropriate to state facts on here. However a few hints to start people thinking about the security of these races can never be a bad thing.

Just wait till you become a victim then see how you feel. Don’t belittle comments when you don’t know the facts.

absolutely. Its a really good assist to those who would choose to cheat. There are people who would cheat in this game and the publication of arrival times helps this to happen. Personally I like to feel I have timed a good pigeon till the result is published.

An absolute disaster on a day when birds shouldn’t have been allowed to fly round the loft far less 160 miles into a strong wind. I have 2/15 and another club mate has 1/15. Most fanciers failed to time by clock check at 20:30 last night.

Perhaps when an organisation publishes one result for 2 liberation’s 15 minutes apart from the same transporter then we need to look very carefully.

I had a still sent to me today but my limited IT skills mean I would struggle to share it.

98 birds that figure was taken from the official web site although I have just been informed this number is open to interpretation.

Happy birthday Peter!

The wind at liberation was marginally more than the moderate quoted by official sources. Approximately 50% of the convoy are home. That’s being positive about the situation. The pigeon which was leading the field last night has now mysteriously disappeared from the result

Correct!

That inflexible attitude is the reason why we are now in the position we are in. We need to stop feeding falcons at this time of year. Young birds should be bred earlier and raced earlier before the killing season starts. Our transporters are taxed and insured and lying idle during the National season we need to utilise them at this time. Condense the racing season and starve the falcons for the rest of the year.

The guy in question is a feather merchant who exports birds to Europe so his definition of shipping might be different from ours.

Hi the pigeon is mine. It should be a blue cock. It’s actually a 2017 latebred. When I trained it late in 2017 the batch was attacked by a hawk and he went AWOL. This year his training went well till I released him at Livingston along with about 40others. He has gone in completely the wrong direction so I assume he encountered a peregrine again. He is rather a unique pigeon as his ring number is not registered to me or any other fancier and he has been reported on Pigeon Basics previously. As long as you are prepared to feed him for a few days we will see how he recovers and I’ll arrange to bring him home. Thanks for reporting him. Checking my records he was actually lost from a Federation comeback race. Robert Reid