Pompey Mick

Here is the revised programme for the Hampshire two-bird Championship Club open to all members of the Solent Fed. 6th May Stratford 20th May Wetherby 17th June Berwick 14th July More information on the Hampshire 2BCC Club Site

How can birds vaccinated against bird flu be tested for it, when our authorities give one of the main reasons against vaccination is that it hides detection of the disease

This would seem to be one of the strangest diseases known to mankind. It is said to be deadly but the numbers of birds found dead with this disease do not seem to be excessive as is the case with H5 avian flu. There just seem to be isolated cases here, there,and everywhere.It is jumping about from country to country, one here a couple there, if it is as deadly and dangerous as we are led to believe how come it hasn't wiped out entire colonies of birds as other diseases do, where is the reservoir for this disease? It would appear that given the kill rate of this disease, once contracted, it cannot be easily be passed from bird to bird, let alone other species. I think the fear factor has been grossly exaggerated for the financial benefit of certain pharmaceutical companies, as borne out by the previous post where doubt is being cast on the testing procedures, just to keep the pot boiling.

Have you a long hose on your garden vac? The filters are not very fine in these types of cleaners and it could be exposing you to very fine dust being expelled from the machine in a very fine agitated cloud. I suffer from lung problems and when I am doing a lot of work in the loft I wear an Aircap mask which pumps filtered air over your face beneath a visor, bit chilly in Winter though.

If you have a well ventilated loft I would do away with the ionisers. When I had one I found that far from doing away with the dust it just sticks to the nearest surface, To use ionisers correctly you need to wash down all surfaces regularly. The dust seems especially attracted to metal wire mesh forming a layer of fine dust on it which is easily disturbed by touch. With good ventilation the dust will exit the loft with the airflow, with ionisers it will accumulate on all available surfaces.

Down here in Portsmouth it's a case of scattered blustery showers, blue sky in between, still quite cold and breezy. Hoping to get my own birds away for the first toss today, probably about 9.30 as the forecast gives improving conditions.

I emailed my local defra about taking other fanciers birds for training when I am working on various building sites, not mixing them , in their own crates. I asked for a risk assessment, but I was told this still constituted a gathering and I would have to notify Defra of my intentions 14 days in advance of any movements. As this is impossible for me as I dont know that far in advance where I am working I am going to try for an area permit similar to the Falconers have. As for permits to take birds to and from clubs, I believe it should be covered in the race permit as are marking stations as all biosecurity concerns will have been met. The licence is in effect already, it is on the DEFRA website, subject to conditions laid down by defra. In my defra region all I have to do is notify them by phone with the details of where and when I am moving the pigeons. I will be trying this out on Monday and will let you know the response

Panic over, just checked the RPRA website and it would seem that we do not need to contact DEFRA about marking stations after all.

I have just read the View from the Reddings in the pigeon press, and if I read it correctly it would seem that marking nights are deemed a 'gathering' by Defra and this will entail me as Club secretary to inform our local Defra office of this at least 14 days before it happens. All I can say I am glad our first race is three weeks away because I was of the opinion that the RPRA general license covered all aspects of racing. I am constantly reading the DEFRA Q&A pages and there is no mention of 'Marking nights' as a separate issue. Am I correct in my interpretation of this statement in VFTR and if so I feel it should have been made clearer both by the RPRA and DEFRA and received more publicity.

As Rose says the metoffice site is good especially the webcams,but none are sited through the centre of the country. anyone know of any good live webcams up through the Midlands and into Yorkshire.

How about if we had a weekend weather thread where members could ask for weather reports on the forum, lib site weather and line of flight .I am sure all members would co-operate as it would only come into force when the weather was poor and we would be sitting around waiting for lib news. As all messages are timed it would give an accurate picture of weather conditions around the country.

Rose, the Solent Fed starts on the 22nd April so you have another week for it to warm up.

Started in 1963 with some strays and gift birds , received some birds from my Uncle Jack Inch, in 1974 I was lucky enough to work with Jimmy Shepherd who bred me two birds down from J.McLaren's champion Julie 1st NFC Pau. I then blended some birds of Alf Baker strain and in 1982 I purchased a ten year old Alf Baker cock called the Kelly cock with his hen which produced good birds for seven years when I lost him off the loft(another story) I usually bring in the odd pigeon every 3 or 4 years, no particular strain, whatever catches my interest. I do like Grizzles so I bought some 'Bandits' five years ago for a bit of grizzle and I am currently blending them with my existing birds. I was fortunate last year to be given two eggs from Colin Angell's Solent Fed Bergerac winner 2005 which have turned out to be two cracking blue cocks of the de Klak strain which I am sure will fit in well. As you can see I have no 'Plan A' I really just muddle along enjoying my racing .

Do members who have used cat deterrents leave them on all the time or just when the birds are out. The one I have just purchased is a mains powered Catgard. Incidentally my dog hears the noise so I would prefer to turn it off when no birds are out.

Well today Sunday, the first day of British Summer Time and it's still raining on & off. the Isle of Wight had a hosepipe ban introduced yesterday so Mother Nature is helping out and the weather yesterday was too bad for the footballers to get their boots wet ( lucky Arsenal) All I can say is roll on racing ( or training!) Oh I nearly forgot Happy Mothers Day to all the Mums out there.

According to Peter Bryant racing starts today,Sat 24th, anyone had a race to-day? The weather here in Portsmouth is atrocious, continuous rain since lunch time.

that's one for the Club noticeboard, we need a bit of a laugh these days.

Does any one have any information on the use of pigeons to help produce a 'cure' for this particular strain of bird flu. Wouldn't be nice to see headlines proclaiming that pigeons could hold the answers to Avian Flu due to their natural resistance.

Fifer, The Eastern wing of the Barracks is a Museum, was it the Officers Mess? The main block and the Western wing have all been turned into flats, All the lesser buildings behind the main block have been demolished and turned into a housing estate. The radar towers are due to be demolished and two blocks of luxury flats built in their place.

Keep your lofts and garden clean and tidy, keep your birds under control, keep your neighbours sweet, then you can start to enjoy pigeon racing.

Rose, I don't know why Goodwood was closed, it may have something to do with the proximity of Goodwood airfield a popular light aircraft aerodrome. Fifer, as I said before the Barracks are still there but they have been turned into luxury flats, I actually worked on the clock tower turning it flats. I 'm afraid a few of the local pubs have gone but the two opposite the Barrack gates are still there.

Hi Jazza, if you've lost birds from Portsmouth i am sorry, it is a very open site in the centre of Southsea common with no hazards in the vicinity. If birds have ben lost I would say it has happened on route as all the liberation I have witnessed the birds have cleared the lib site with no problem.

If you're having trouble loading the website. it seems to be playing up on this message, go to my reply in the Racing Pigeons section , topic Racing (or not) it works perfectly from there. Take a look at the Spinnaker tower at night in Gunwharf Quays.

As it looks as if there are going to be plenty of libs at Portsmouth this year members might like to log on to a local live web cam site. www.seaportsmouth.co.uk The cameras are looking at the South West corner of Portsmouth from a Westerly direction. The Lib Site is about a mile east of the Harbour entrance in the visible distance. You can get a good idea of prevailing weather conditions as all the cameras are live.

There is a museum still at Eastney barracks but the rest has been refurbished and turned into luxury flats, even the old water tower. The Dockyard is part museum but they have actually started ship building again albeit sections of the Type 45s./ If you log on to www.seaportsmouth.co.uk you can get live webcams of Portsmouth harbour. The Harbour mouth view looks towards the liberation site on Southsea common near trhe War Memorial. Best of luck to you in your racing and I might be seeing your birds at Portsmouth. Gunwharf Quays is built on the HMS Vernon site.