Pompey Mick

Good selection of photos, Dave. I see you like a splash of colour in the loft, what breed are the Red Grizzles? Mick

I also think Dave Allen's 'The Widowhood Year' is a real interesting read and also for a pigeon related book I think 'The Public Life of the Street Pigeon' is full of facts and photos of Domestic Pigeons and is worth a read. But the best read of all must be 'Winning Naturally' by the Late, Great, Alf Baker

I have tried to access the RPRA website for the last two days but keep getting 'page unavailable' has any one else tried lately?

It would seem from Tammy's report that that Fanciers in Scotland are moving toward ETS rather than away from it. What is the general opinion North of the Border on this subject, what are the main concerns, cost or traditionalism, or a fear of anything to do with computers.

My Club maps are 1:10000 which gives blocks of houses and gardens, I would think that 1:50000 gives nowhere near enough clarity of detail for the purpose of pin p****ing. To cover Portsea Island about 3mls wide and 2.5 mls deep we have four maps. I did use a greater scale map once but it was more guesswork in the first place and the RPRA rejected it anyway. I've attached an A4 scan of a part of one of our maps if you enlarge it to full size you can see the detail available. (Southsea Common is the Portsmouth Lib Site)

Sorry about the'expletive deleted' it would seem that a common English word used correctly has obviously upset an American based checklist. I think you can all guess the 'expletive deleted', but if you dont, here it is ' p***k.

Hi North Wales Novice, What website do you use for your Loft Location? I thinka 5-7 yds difference is as accurate as you would want , an awful lot of loft set ups spread over an entire garden which can be anything up to 10 yds X 30 yds. How many fanciers have a different loft location for each loft? In my instance with small city back gardens I normally *expletive removed* the centre of the garden, it is quite easy with a decent map to get an accurate location. As I said before,due to a Club rule, all new members have to have their lofts re-pricked on our maps and I have found the new distances in all cases to be within 5yds of the originals.

With the RPRA I have to send to them an Ordnance Survey map of suitable size on which the required loft location has been marked by pricking the map at the required position. They then calculate the Lat & Long, and from that calculate the required measurements. The Latitude & Longtitude is then entered against your RPRA Code No and any future measurements are calculated by quoting the Members Code No. GPS was used 4 or 5 years ago by some members but the RPRA in their wisdom decided not to use it because of possible errors of use. The Map does give a permanent record of the loft location.

It is imperative that all distances for any organisation are calculated in the same manner. GPS is accurate for calculating a loft location as long as it is used correctly, the contour of the surrounding land can affect it, i.e. hills close by that can bend a satellite signal also security aspects can affect readings. I don't know the reason behind your discrepancy RedCheqHen, are you in a built up area? Is it easy to locate your loft ? I have relocated several new members to my Club (Club Rule) and the relocated distances have always compared favourably with existing ones, but my members live in built up areas which make loft location relatively easy. Who calculated your new distances, because the RPRA has banned the use of GPS in recent years only accepting maps and they changed their method of calculation in 2003 making all earlier distances defunct.

In 1984 I bought two Reds from Grimsby, bred a round of YB,s as prisoners then I had to move them to my address because of my Dad's untimely death. While I was breaking my own birds one of the Reds got out and away he went. The next morning he was sat on the loft, so I thought ,if one can do it , so, I let the other one out, he went up like a dot , two circles and was gone. Goodbye I said, next morning he was on the loft. Amazing, I broke them quicker than my own birds. I think this ability to fix a loft/ food position instantly when they want to,is the reason behind a pigeons fantastic homing ability. I my opinion pigeons have developed this ability over the ages in order to locate feeding areas, they can and do travel many miles in search of food, watch the ferals in the morning, and have developed this ability so that they can return easily to a food source without wasting time ,and more importantly energy, having to look for it. The crop enables them to travel many miles to collect food for themselves and their young and carry enough food to make the exercise worthwhile. How many strays have you had, that with one feed are bonded for life. You can take them anywhere in all weathers and still they return.

I use Stalosan F, I use it on the perches once a week, very good but also a bit expensive. It leaves the loft nice & fresh and is a very reliable disinfectant, but difficult to get hold of locally.

It's to the West of Halesowen, check it out on www.multimap.com

What to do, I was determined to leave the NFC after the (in my eyes) Chale debacle, but having been a member for over 40 yrs it's proving more difficult than I thought. To me, the National Flying Club is THE National . Not a Club or Combine purporting to be one. I also belong to the BBC which is a great National organisation but doesn't seem to like being called a National, preferring to be the British Barcelona Club, we also have the BICC which is a true National also,but doesn't seem to have the same pedigree as the NFC. So I think I will do my bit to keep this great institution alive by sending off my fees and hope for a fairer deal from DEFRA next year.( I will vote for the £20.00 fee)

I've come to believe that one of the reasons for the increase of Pigeon Fanciers Lung over the last 20-30 yrs is the fact that the number of smokers in the Fancy has dropped considerably. It is a fact that smokers do not readily suffer from PFL because their lungs have been desensitived by the tobacco smoke. I suffered myself from PFL symptons, always in the Winter when contact with the birds was confined to the weekends due to work. I always wear a mask & coat now when in the loft and the problems seem to have disappeared.

That's a good format to display your Photos Redcheqhen. Very well presented, and a good night was had by one and all by the look of it. Can your members purchase photos from the site, is it similar to the Yahoo photo site?

I read a while ago that they were training animals and birds to spot the orange life rafts on the ocean from a plane and pigeons were by far the best at spotting them. They were placed in small domes on the underside of the plane and were taught to peck at a sensor plate when they spotted anything orange in the water.

My first ever prize giving, the Hilses Invitation Club 1963, held in the Oakwood Pub (Club Headquarters) Portsmouth. There is still a club operating from that Pub now, 'The Parade.' The members were at that time, Back row standing L-R Dave Brooks, Johnie Elliott, Ronnie Byng, John Morgan, Vic Morgan, Les Betteridge, Harry Harman, Jimmy Mellis, John Byng & Reg Betteridge Front Row seated L-R Jock Hutchinson, Roy Johnson (My Dad) Yours Truly, Mick Johnson, Albie Fleet, Joe Hopkins, & Teddy Wells? Of that group there are only four fanciers still flying today.

Here are Kevin & John Zerafa with their 2006 haul of trophies (see Milton HS Club site for more details

Tony, It depends on the Club's rules, When my Club flew in two Feds our rule was that Members ' CAN compete in either Fed' giving members a choice, in another local Club their rules state that members 'MUST' belong to both Feds. The RPRA state that the Club is the member of a Fed, but then the Fed levies fees on a membership basis to the Club, thereby making individual members the 'Members', very confusing.

Well done Rick, what show was it and what were the classes.

Perhaps he might be making some Pigeonbasics conference badges available so we can recognise each other.

Look for someone who performs regularly, races regularly, flies a decent competive youngster, don't have to be a world beater, just Mr Consistent, good health is usually mirrored by consistent flying. Pigeons from a fancier like that should start you off on the right track. Look local so you can visit the loft, if you put your area on the thread I am sure a forum member will poiny you in the right direction.

I would think it best if you completely restarted after thoroughly disinfecting the loft and use a blow torch if necessary. Salmonella is one of the worst diseases you can have in a pigeon loft, and yours seem to have it bad. Pigeons can recover, but they also can remain carriers whilst looking apparently healthy. This disease can & will wreck any chance you have of producing a top quality, healthy team of pigeons. Deal with it now.

Hi Speck, We will be holding our Club Shows, but due to lack of space we can only cater for Club members. We are starting with Young Hens this Friday, you can always come down for a look and a chat. Fifer, thanks for the congrats, have you had a look at the old Eastney Barracks on http://local.live.com Use the Birds Eye view it's very good. The old Gunnery Towers will be going soon to build yet more flats,as if we need them here.

This photo is of the 'Fantastic Five' Milton HS members who have won between them five NFC and BBC sections this season. L-R Mick Betteridge, John Zerafa, Lee Willett, Kevin Zerafa & Bomber Mellis. IN THE CLASSICS AND NATIONALS MILTON MEMBERS PERFORMED VERY WELL WITH KEVIN & JOHN ZERAFA HAVING AN EXCELLENT YEAR WINNING ; 1ST Sec, 8th Open BBC INGLETON, 2nd Sec St NAZAIRE NFC. 1St Sec SAINTES NFC, & 2nd Sec BORDEAUX NFC. BOMBER MELLIS ALSO HAD A VERY GOOD SEASON WITH 1st Sec, 8th Open BORDEAX NFC & 3rd Sec BERGERAC CSCFC. LEE WILLETT PERFORMED WELL IN THE NFC YB RACE FROM CHALE WINNING THE SECTION. THE BEST SINGLE RACE PERFORMANCE MUST GO TO MICK & SUE BETTERIDGE WHO HAD A FANTASTIC RACE FROM BORDEAUX WITH THE BRITISH BARCELONA CLUB WINNING 1St, 2nd, & 11th Sec: 4th, 10th & 30th Open.