pj1001

Hi Paul not from Dublin but from just outside Newcastle ( beside the Mourne Mountains) in Northern Ireland. I know a few of the lads from the south though.

RPRA Report on 'Birds or Prey and Racing Pigeons' http://www.rpra.org/raptors1.html http://www.rpra.org/raptors2.html

Interesting Menu these peregrines and then they say they don't eat small birds http://www.ummz.umich.edu/birds/UM_Peregrines.html

Peregrine Watch .......Devon with webcam http://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/have_your_say/peregrines.shtml

Peregrine Nest Cam in San Francisco http://www2.ucsc.edu/scpbrg/falconcamera2.htm

Paddy the Pigeon - Irish Dickens Medal winner http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/yourplaceandmine/topics/war/dday_news.shtml Click on his picture to view a short video clip on him

To all those who had a bad race at the weekend sorry to hear about your losses, I hope some more of the birds work their way back in the incoming weeks. I can only imagine how gutted all the fanciers who had birds in the race must be. All that time and effort spent by everyone pairing up their birds at the beginning of the season, weaning the youngetsr, medicating and treating them against ailments when required, carefully training them in suitable weather and then having someone throw them away due to not being bothered to check the weather forecast on the line of flight and surrounding area thoroughly. Its sad after a race like this that some members r trying to take cheap shots at those unfortanate to have birds in the race in question. How would they have felt if it was their birds that where missing still I wonder? In the past I have experienced races like this one also, both in old and young bird racing, and I know it make u think 'Whats the point of continuing?' Why throw good money and all ur spare time into something when a lot of the people at the top don't care about the pigeons' welfare, only the bank balance at the end of the year. The only way things can change though is by the fanciers voting with their feet and attending the AGM and expressing their feelings. Some will laugh at u, some will dismiss what u say, but if what u have to say is what most of the true fanciers feel they will back u. The committees don't seem to realise that having a disaster race like this doesn't just affect their fanciers this year but for maybe 2-3 years afterwards. As fanciers now will have very few yearlings for next year, 2 year olds for the year after etc. Resulting in the Fed's birdage and income falling as a result. I feel that what committees need to do is to appoint a genuine pigeon person as convoyer and then provide them with all the tools and technology avaliable to do their job to the best of their ability. If u want a wooden fence made for ur house and all u have to work with is a hammer and a hatchet ur fence won't look too good. If u give the same person all the tools they need i.e. hammer, saws, planes etc then u should get a much improved fence, if the person making the fence is at all competent at their job. The same applies to the convoyer, if they r only allowed to make X phone calls per race or they r only allowed to spend a fixed budget on weather phone calls, then the fanciers will not be guaranteed a decent race each week. Therefore the committee should do all in their powers to provide the convoyer with a list of contacts on the line of flight for each racepoint that they can contact by phone on race day, provide them access to up to date weather forecasts as well as access to Internet weather websites and any other media deemed beneficial. With all the information provided from these sources a better overall picture of the weather for that particular day will be present thus minimising the chances of a bad liberation. Convoyers will always get caught out by the weather, because even the weather forecast people can't read it at times, but what committees should try and do is provide the convoyer with all the facilities necessary for them to do the best job they can. If they do everything they could to the best of their ability then in most causes if the fanciers see this they can accept it , knowing that everything that could be done was done (although at times its not easy to accept). Also improved communication between conveyors of different organisations would also be beneficial in both getting a better overview of the weather throughout the country but also in minimising clashing etc.

Congratulations and very well done John, on a great start to ur young bird season and to cap it all off ur first 1st prize in a hard race. Keep up the good work and all the best for the remainder to ur young bird season. Regards PJ

Happy 70th birthady Jack and many more off them Hope you have a great day. PJ

Bird collected today by owner who actually lived 15 miles from me. Him and his wife where in Scotland on holiday and seen this youngster in a loft. They liked and so its owner gave them it. When they got home they put it in young bird loft but forgot about it the next day and it got out, and ended up here. PJ

Many thanks Henrik will get on to secretary in morning. PJ

Came into loft last night young ash chequer hen SU 06 SW 68. Can anyone help tracing its owner? Many thanks PJ

Seems a strange decision LANARKSHIRE LIBERATED AT FALAISE AT 8.45 IN A LIGHT S/W WIND after the BICC quote from the same race point: Quoted Text The birds have not been liberated yet as there is rain at the race point. Brian said that it is not good enough conditions to liberate at the moment and he does not think that they will be liberated before 11.00 a.m. Good luck everyone involved hope you all have a good race. PJ

Approx 153 birds timed on day winner not confirmed yet, Early birds times ranging from shortly after 3-00pm in Southern Ireland to between 5-00 and 6-00 pm in the North

INFC Old Bird National Vannes 480- 540 mls depending on location, Friday liberation weather permitting. Good luck to all racing tomorrow and weekend. PJ

GB 05 K 46801 – 47000 SW80 PORTISHEAD D S R F C Mr R May, 24 Polden Road, West Hill, Portishead, Somerset BS20 6DL. Tel: 01275 845763 Hope this is of help. PJ

Links on 'Paddy the Pigeon' http://pigeonnetwork.com/articles/paddy.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/yourplaceandmine/topics/war/dday_news.shtml

A 4 year old blue hen from Southampton and a yearling chequer cock from Ipswich came in with birds this morning. Have contacted owners and hope to get them across to Sennen Cove this weekend. The 4 year old hen has flown from France 8 times owner can't work out why she ended up here. I'd say must have got caught up with Irish birds liberated in Bude at 7-00am and 7-30am and caught up in south east winds. Some fanciers experienced heavy losses here yesterday also both on channel and inland, in some case over 50% losses.

Well done Kenny and all the other prizewinners. Also hope anyone missing birds will have a few more arrivals back with them soon. PJ

Glad your back out again Jimmy. Hope the results from your tests are favourable and you will be back to good health again soon. PJ

Some Scottish and English birds here in Ireland today so some may have crossed with our birds from Talbenny. PJ

I hope everything goes well at hospital jimmy and you are back to full health and on the forum again soon. God bless mate and best wishes for a speedy recovery. PJ

Nice youngsters Maddy, wish you all the best with them. PJ

What I suggest people having problems with sparrowhawks should do is to make a Larson style trap to catch them in. I have included a few links for details on how to make one. http://www.landcare.co.nz/policies/files/Magpie_trap_four_banger.pdf http://www.angelfire.com/tv/remotecontrols/Larson/Plans_1.htm http://www.ew.govt.nz/enviroinfo/pests/animals/magpie/Larsentraps.htm A few fanciers in my club have made these this year and have caught 8 sparrowhawks between them since the beginning of March. A lot will depend on the area you live in however if you are in the countryside these traps are excellent, if on the otherhand you live in town /city and have neighbours from hell this type of trap might not be the answer. Hope this will be of some help to someone. PJ

Take care Bill and god bless hope your feeling a bit better soon. Look after yourself now and hope to see you back online soon. PJ