John only the deluded would disagree that the lads up North are up against it from Liege, the section C winner St Finnan Grace was the pigeon you refer to and was actually flying into the west of Fife. Yes pigeon racing is not a fair sport and yes some lads pat themselves on the back and blow their trumpet even when they are aware they live in an area with a great advantage. However we all love the feeling of elation in our own backyard when timing from the S.N.F.C. races regardless of distance or location that's how it should be. These pigeons display qualities evolved over the years from recent ancestors who have raced and passed down better overall physical features etc than average, features which we are unable to see, yes the characteristics of the champion pigeon evades the human eye. Even in the hand there are certain features we are unable to grasp or agree on. This of course is a big attraction to the sport nothing is simple if it was we would lose interest. Most would agree a superior immune system, the ability of accuracy in navigation a must have for long distance pigeons, This is where Genetics come into play, top distance racers are never ill a day in their lives, if this transpires we then should have a long hard look in the mirror. The genetic package that these birds have is thanks to generation upon generation of pigeons raced from 500 to 775 miles. We have had gruelling races in the past but this is the pruning of the rose as it were,pigeons have to tough it out. A racing pigeon with the ideal body contours is described as pear shaped not too deep or shallow and should taper down gradually towards the tail attachment which looks like one tail feather whilst in flight. When a pigeon is in motion, the air should pass over it with the least resistance possible,hence the importance of feather quality, try flicking a piece of paper along a dull table then one highly polished. The pigeons ability to control the body during motion, through wind and rain is what helps to define the elite birds, particularly at national level. The ability to maintain postural stability and orientation while the body is in motion for long hours a test only the elite will regularly accomplish.This I think of as akin to a swimmer swimming upstream and navigating between obstacles how courageous are those who fly like this all day and then the next if need be and still do good velocities. Year after year we see pigeons with those advantageous traits derived from genetic predisposition survive and procreate, passing along those genes, as a form of evolutionary natural selection. Within the SNFC we have these families of distance pigeons let us not endanger their progression by curtailing real distance racing in Scotland rather embrace the challenge as the greats of the past. The Scottish National Flying Club has been a great platform to enable the creation of distance birds evolved over the years and we must not consider any trend that would endanger this. Things like advances in nutrition, environment are all to the benefit of our pigeons,if we truly want long distance racing in the future we can't afford to lose years of hard work by the stalwarts of long distance racing into Scotland. Oslo why not.
