Pompey Mick

I was looking at the early bird list for the NFC and I couldn't help but notice the performances of Sec L pigeons Barber & Hilson of Bury 606 mls and Mr J C. Rigg near Congleton 574 mls. 3 birds in 6 minutes, nearly 15 hrs on the wing. I can only dream of such fantastic performances

You can get them from Lambournes

I use the plastic telephone No rings and they have helped me get back three birds from Non fanciers who would not have bothered if they had been wing stamped. The rings are so easy to spot and this fact helped save these pigeons who were flown out and near the end ( one was my last years 1st Club,4th Fed Bergerac) The public don't know about wing stamps and do not know how to fan a wing and find that a telephone no on a leg ring so much easier.

Portsmouth 09.00, 90% overcast, bright , sun breaking through at times, Lt SW wind. Good flying conditions here.

It's just as bad in Portsmouth 1.00, been raining heavy for 45 mins. I think the Channel racers did well to hold.

Portsmouth, 12.00 Heavy rain showers, thunder nearby, very humid.

This weekend Race points are in the BHW 14th July it just the headline that is wrong.

Portsmouth 08.00, Fine & Sunny, No wind. Overnight showers.

I sent my YB team of 19 to a training toss from Winchester , about 25mls, this morning, a fairly routine toss being their 5th consecutive toss from there this week, when they arrived I discovered I was one short from what was a 'clean' toss. 5 minutes later I received a phone call from a non-fancier who lived at about the half-way stage and he had seen my birds go through a set of pylon wires above his house and my missing bird had hit the wires and landed in his garden and had unfortunately been killed. None of the other birds had shown any signs of a near miss so I would have unfairly thought that the missing pigeon was just not up to scratch and rated it as a non-trier. So far this year I have had two killed and two injured that I know of by wires (out of 24 birds) So if a YB goes missing don't condemn it out of hand , it could be one of the many victims of pylon wires.

Portsmouth 11.00 Hot & Sunny, Very light westerly breeze. 137mls from falaise here so birds should be crossing the coast about now. It looks a good racing day apart from the heat, best of luck to all those who sent.

I've just been reading DEFRA's risk assessment for the use of Parks during an Avian Flu situation. It would seem that the mechanical transfer of this virus is a very low probability as the action of drying will help kill the virus. They are advocating that Parks and recreational areas , even wetlands, should remain open to the public because of the low risk of virus transfer. If drying has such an effect on the virus then's DEFRA's original risk assessment of the mechanical transfer of the virus via the feet of pigeons is severely flawed as any material on a birds feet soon dries whilst in flight.

Here is Bomber Mellis's loft, of Southsea, Portsmouth, the widowhood section is to the left at the bottom and his young bird loft is in the shade on the right hand side. He has raced successfully to this loft in the BBC, NFC & CSCFC as well as being a competitive club member. He was 3rd sec Bergerac in the CSCFC on Sat 15/07,

I had a pigeon walk into an office in Lowestoft ( from Cholet!), they were complete non- fanciers so I contacted Amtrak at 11.00a.m, the bird was collected that afternoon and delivered safely to me the following morning. I thought they did well that time. To date I've had no real complaints, just a couple of late collections.

When DEFRA revokes the current racing permit on 31st July and re-establishes a new permit which we are led to believe will be a' British Isles only' permit, will the Channel Islands be excluded from the British Isles or will it remain (for the purposes of the permit) within the British Isles as it currently does under the present permit. Surely, as France has declared itself A.I. free, DEFRA can have no objection to us racing from the Channel Isles at the very least.

The National should get back to what it used to do best,organising prestigious 'National' races, Forget the short distance chucks, brought in to give give a full race programme to those who do not race in domestic clubs, forget the 'Old Hens race' a gimmick and poorly supported, let's have the three Major Nationals we always had, the Middle distance, the long distance and the Young Bird, races that fanciers would plan for in the Winter months not empty their lofts at every opportunity, also the Racepoints, they are the remnants of the days when we went by boat & rail and the wind was always in the West, the days of the prevailing South Westerlies seem to be long gone and this needs to be addressed. The National should not entertain Self Supporting races, they should be full blown Nationals or leave them to others. The NFC was at it's best when it was supported by the rank & file membership in their hundreds, and it is this support they need to win back if they want to regain their top spot and indeed survive.

Ben I wouldn't call the National Flying Club's Young Bird race mediocre. There are still an awful lot of fanciers who still regard the NFC historically the No 1 English national club. It is worth saving and restoring to it's former glories. I am sure it has within its ranks people capable of pulling this Club round. I sincerely hope so because I can remember the days when the whole seasons pigeon racing was geared to 'The National' and the BEST birds in the loft were earmarked to compete.

Section B, Rose, when I send. I used to be in the old Sec A untill they changed it all a few years back. The section line passes through Langstone Harbour about a mile to the East of me.

You Scots lads were better off when England were in the World Cup, at least you were united then not at each others throats like you are now.

Here is a better view of my loft layout, Widowhood on the right, YB and Natural at the bottom of the garden.

I have been a memberof the NFC for 42 yrs and I don't want to see such a once great club fade away. To maintain it's position in the sport the National Flying Club needs to show it's members that it intends to remain in the forefront when it comes to pigeon racing in the U.K. Since the upsurge in specialist clubs the NFC has seen its monopoly on prestige pigeon racing severely diminished and it can no longer rest on its laurels when it comes to attracting members and pigeons to compete in this great club. It has taken a massive step in acquiring this transporter deal and we can only hope that the quality of care and attention the birds are receiving will serve to attract members to compete. I would like to see the current NFC management pull out all the stops to make the NFC YB/ Old Hens race very attractive to the membership by way of sponsorship at all levels ,especially sectional, so that everybody is in with a chance so that we finish the season on a high We cannot wait until the AGM to resurrect this Club, it will be too late.

The CSCFC has got 42 verified on the day. Mr Newton of Weston-super- Mare had an excellent race having 1st.3rd. & 7th verified pigeons. Check it out on www.cscfc.fsnet.co.uk

Well worth taking a look, the photo of the pigeons going towards the sun is fantastic. I see they were further away from the fence this time.

The view from Portsmouth lib site across the Solent to the Isle of Wight. Clear but with a fresh NE wind blowing at 8.00am this morning. I can vouch for the strength of the wind because I had to cycle into it to get home.

Hi TOMO, I've took photos of two transporters, the first one is carrying the North Thames birds,away at 7.45 into a brisk NE, cleared the site well. and I think the other one must be yours, they were having a nap after seeing to the birds so I couldn't talk to anyone.

Solent up at Messac 05.45, Lt SW? Fresh NE in Channel Force 4 - 6 on the Wind Map