Mr Yorkie

Thanks, your support is much appreciated and I will do my upmost best to get the RPRA to have a Facebook site!

Up to 10!

Sadly as we all know this great sport of ours is slowly dwindling in numbers. I have recently been in contact with the powers to be as I feel they could be doing more to attract new fanciers to the sport, especially younger members. Working in Marketing and PR I think the powers of social media (i.e Facebook, Twitter, You Tube etc.) are tools which we should all be tapping into and utilising to try get more people on board. They cost nothing but time and postings allow friends of friends to be able to see what's going on thus potentially allowing new fanciers to be reached. I have been invited to put my thoughts forward to my local Union when they next meet at the end of the year although the clock is constantly ticking - by the Autumn fancier numbers will have dropped more. I have therefore started a Facebook group for my Federaion - the Yorkshire North Road Fed - as I am keen to see who joins and if a humble organisation like ours can get a following online. Even if we don't, at least we have tried. Therefore, if anyone would like to join you'd be more than welcome - look us up http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=102539349792072 - it truly is a working project but more will be added each night as time allows!

It's show racer I meant!

Does anyone have the contact details please for Dennis? The reason I ask is that the company that I work for are organising an event in Thirsk in July called the Fresh Air Festival. I have contacted David Higgins and would also like to contact the fancy show pigeons and as fancier I'm keen to get some pigeons at the show. Th event is about encouraging people to get outside and we are showcasing lots of different things people can do in the open air. For me there's nothing better than sitting with the pigeons on a quiet Sunday morning and I'm keen to do my bit to encourage more people to get involved in this great sport of ours.

Yorkshire North Road birds still sat waiting at Dunbar.....

Blue skies at Thirsk although misty looking to the West. Imagine it may be bad on the coast too. Not so warm yet either!

Hey, what about things the other way round?! Female fancier with a husband who is a non-fancier! Just had a disagreement when I found out that Man U were playing at 1pm next Sunday meaning we can't go out Sunday daytime. He replied saying what about the fact that it's the first race on Saturday so I can't do anything then!!!!

With another season dawning on us I cannot help but wonder how many more years racing will last? At 29 years old I'd like to think I have many racing years in front of me but will I out live the sport? I have sent the letter below to the RPRA in complete frustration..... ---------------------------------- Dear David, Firstly, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Katie Awdas and I am a 29 year old female pigeon fancier. I have been brought up in the sport of racing pigeons with my father having kept them since the 1960s and my Mother having being Secretary of various clubs since the early 1980s. I race pigeons in my own right and last year was proud to win the Queen's Cup from Lerwick racing in the Lerwick Championship Club. The reason for emailing you is somewhat through frustration. This year I have been appointed Secretary of my local club; a club that is made up of around 10 fanciers, each of whom are at least 15 years older than me. On Sunday I attended our local Federation Squeaker Sale and again, the lack of people under 30 was somewhat noticeable. I appreciate it is a hard task encouraging more people to get involved in this great sport of ours but I cannot help but feel frustrated about the lack of effort that seems to be done. I am an avid user of Facebook and other social media websites (I am a Communications Manager for a Marketing and PR company so use these in my day-to-day work and appreciate the importance and usefulness of them) and tonight have joined various 'Racing Pigeon' fan pages including one for the American Racing Pigeon Union. On reading this the differences between this organisation and the RPRA are very notable; working with schools to build lofts and actively encouraging youngsters to get involved in the sport. The Facebook site and a 'Blog' are proving great tools at getting the message out there at no cost, except time, to the organisation and it looks to be working. It is certainly raising the profile of the sport; the site has 560 fans. This prompted me to look at the RPRA site; no sign of any social media sites. I would have thought 'Twitter' was very fitting for Racing Pigeons! I was pleased to see a new young fanciers section but then dismayed to click through and find simply three text links on what looked a very boring page. If I was a young fancier I don't think this would have 'called me to action' and made me want to become a fancier. I appreciate the task is hard and sometimes thankless but I do believe the Union could do more to attract more people to get involved. Using Social Media can cost nothing but time and can, as the succesfulness of Facebook indicates, can be an invaluable tool. This could be advertised in the British Homing World and perhaps a few stations could be set up at Blackpool next year allowing people to go online and join the group and make postings. Not only was I once a young fancier but also a female young fancier so I know the resistance many face when getting involved with pigeons. I truly believe unless the Union do something soon that come 10 years time the sport will be nothing but part of the history of the UK so action is needed now, before it's too late. Yours in Sport, Katie Awdas

Tomorrow night, Good Friday, 7pm penning, 8pm sale at Cons Club Thirsk. Breeder Buyer prize money to be won. Get yourself there for some cracking young birds.

Hope I have added these correctly! Katie Awdas aka Mr(s) Yorkie!

It probably went the wrong way from Perth on Saturday!

YNRF 7am from Perth in a light West.

Glad to hear you are sorted; I guess you managed to speak to a local fancier and get the bird on board.

Both cocks and hens cause problems for us....

Sparrowhawks are the big problem in North Yorkshire.

This weekend it was a westerly so Redcheqhen I would expect the birds to clash but the previous week there was definately southerly in the wind and at Thirsk the birds going over us both north and south were at two very different heights.

I cant understand the birds clashing... it was a strong wind that day so the north and south roaders were at two very different heights.

Dad has had pigeons since the 1960s and in that time has never had a bird killed by a cat but has had hundreds killed or injured by hawks. Makes you wonder where the RSPB get their stats from? As fanciers we can take action against cats; sonars, dusting powder, having a dog or a cat of your own etc. but we can't do anything which proves effective against hawks. Pot models of owls, mirrors, cds, balloons and so on, we've tried them all to no avail. It's heartbreaking knowing what the pigeon must go through when it is attacked by a hawk; perhaps some graphic details in the papers may get some further action.....

I know fanciers who live within a couple of miles of both Menwith Hill at Harrogate and Fylingdales on the North Yorkshire Moors and have no problems. The YNRF and East Yorks Fed pigeons pass by these stations every week so I genuinely believe that if it was these radar stations that were causing the problems we would have seen more impact down here.

The fife birds will have a cracking start to the race down here in North Yorkshire.

Thanks, I'll let you know if I hear of any. This last week has shown how many true gentlemen (and ladies!) that there are in the sport. We often just hear about the rants and raves of fanciers but everyone has pulled together to help each other which is a credit to the sport. At the end of the day it's not the poor pigeons fault that something went wrong and we should always remember to put the birds wellbeing at the forefront of everything we do. I hope the three basket fulls which went up with Tony this week have made some fanciers smile this morning seeing a few more perches being filled. Long may this attitude, of doing all we can to help each other, last.

It's glorious sunshine here in Thirsk without a cloud in the sky. With the gusty wind showers could easily blow in off the coast later so I think it's a wise decision to go early.

Three baskets were taken up and have been collected by the Lanarkshire lads this morning. The YNRF is racing from Perth next week so the same applies; take all birds to YNRF marking stations and we will get them back to Scotland on the wagon next Friday. Please can you spread the word....

Yorkshire North Road Fed 8am Fresh WNW from Dunbar