Pompey Mick

keep your birds in Fifer, the Solent Fed,s on its way. We'll be at Stonehaven on 14th July ( Friday), Berwick the week before.

TRy the RPRA website, click on News then Media , there is a press release which may be of some help. Also the defra website Kept birds> pigeons risk assessment might be helpful where it states that pigeons are low risk.

Diamond Dave, Check the DEFRA website www.defra.gov.uk and it will tell you it only wants to be notified if it is one or more dead swans or wildfowl, three birds of a single species or five birds of different species all in the same place. So you can tell your neighbour that as far as DEFRA are concerned there is no concern

To be honest I think Joe Public is getting a bit fed up with the threat of Bird Flu, you can only cry wolf so many times. In my local press a woman asked in the letters page if there is a danger from feeding wild birds in her garden that she could catch Bird Flu. The only reply to date is the suggestion that she puts Night Nurse in the bird bath. Although the Press and their cronies try to keep the pot boiling unless we have deaths from Avian Flu I hope that this line of News reporting will slowly die a death. Remember the furore about Aids and Sars both diseases were the end of Mankind, Well they're still with us but who worries anymore? Hopefully Avian Flu will go the same way, it will always be there but the perceived danger will have vanished.

I am afraid there's too much money to be made from the threat of an Avian Flu pandemic for it to go away. Just look how much money was spent by panicking governments when the spectre of a pandemic was raised. It's no coincidence that when the first human fatalities from this virus occurred over two and a half years ago it didn't merit any meaningful publicity in the Western world. Over half the total fatalities died in that initial outbreak but you hardly heard a whisper. It wasn't until the disease started to encroach in Western Europe that all of a sudden it was the end of the world at nigh and Billions have been spent by governments on various antiviral drugs. This disease is and primarily will be an Avian killer, it can be controlled by basic hygiene precautions. If it ever mutates and I stress the word If, no scientist can tell us it what form it will take, it could reduce in severity, it could remain non-airborne but all the scientists stress are the worst case scenarios to panic populations and governments. It will be interesting to see next years profits from the major pharmacutical companies who make these drugs.

Westy I always put my YB's through the trap at the earliest opportunity. I would normally have them in the basket ,before they are strong on the wing ,outside of and facing the loft for about an hour before feeding time then I would put them through the trap one at a time into the loft for their food. Regular feeding times are a must with YBs

Perhaps it would help if you put the full dimensions of your lofts i.e. width x depth of each section and number of sections. The way it reads is that you have 18 in number sections of 8ft which is a mighty large loft.

I shall place it on the fence opposite my L.shaped loft. The cat normally sits on the rright hand widowhood loft. ( see my loft in members Photos). It's not a major problem but my wife, who exercises my birds during the day, worries about it.

Thanks for all suggestions, I am getting a Cat Gard from Ebay just under £20.00.

If you want Chevita products try www.petconnect.ch I haven't personally used them but the site looks professional enough.

Are your cat repellers Catwatch, Peterpau. if not what kind are they?

What are the members thoughts on ultrasonic cat deterrents. I am bothered by a couple of local cats, more inquisitive than dangerous, that hang around my back garden loft. I am thinking of purchasing a Catwatch from Regency Lofts. Anyone used ultrasonic deterrents ?

getting back to Rose's question on disinfestation of wicker baskets. If you have a closed sided transporter you may be able to use formaldehyde smoke bombs. Bosmolen used to sell them . I don't know if they are still available but they were very effective.

It would seem that the main concern for a lot of organisations is economics, short distance programmes will fill the coffers, but to what end ? There are an awful lot of fanciers who are quite happy with short to middle distance racing, but I fail to see how they can't have a programme with longer distance racing when it is so easily available with the North route. If you are unwilling to risk your better birds on an unfamiliar route you can keep them to the shorter distance races that should be available. Anyone who thinks they are teaching pigeons to home are sadly mistaken, all we can do is teach them to race. If all Feds pick short distance programmes all I hope is that members have enough room to build loft extensions to accomodate next years yearlings because there will be no room in the OB racing lofts.

Gez,The BBC looks like they will be going North and you don't need special rings to race YB's. As to those fanciers who are thinking of wrapping their birds in cotton wool, a year is a long time in a pigeon's racing career and this Avian Flu will not go away overnight. Have faith in your birds ability, I, and many of my fellow club members have regularly turned birds to either route. Here on the coast we fly West, then South. East then South. Young Birds have been raced from the East and the next week we have raced them from Guernsey in the South West, nobody frets, pigeons have got brains it's just a lot of Fanciers don't know it. Line of Flight? try racing across the Channel to Portsmouth every week.

Pigeons are like all wild animals insomuch as they like to be near cover when they are flying. In their mind they are constantly at risk whilst in the air. This is why they fly round bays and harbours keeping to the safety of cover, usually trees, The same thing applies to high ground, they feel more exposed and would rather keep to the valleys where once again they feel safer. Try it yourself, find a nice open field, clear of any obstacles and release the birds, they will fly straight towards the nearest cover, either trees or a building. I've watched many a liberation at Portsmouth on Southsea common which borders the sea and without fail no matter the wind the liberated birds head towards the large hotels on the landward side of the common. It,s nature, it's how the animal mind works and I think that pigeons will always take the safest route home, not the straightest. If you can find a route which gives them a feeling of safety with plenty of available 'cover' you may be successful. If the route you pick is exposed I feel you will have little chance of encouraging the birds to use it. In their minds they would rather be a late pigeon than a dead one.

I agree with you Bruno that we must move towards full scale racing in the future, but we must ride the storm in the short term. We do not want to antagonise public opinion by looking as if all we care about is racing our pigeons at any cost. I think that the racing restrictions placed upon us by DEFRA are ,on the whole, a Public relations exercise and these will remain in force all the time there is a perceived threat by the general public. To Joe Public a pigeon is a bird and is a possible carrier of bird flu. Hopefully the fear of this flu mutating will recede in time and the papers find something else to sensationalise. It would help our cause if we could make the public aware of the fact that pigeons may hold the key to this virus ,due to their natural resistance.

I can't believe that Holland is even an outside chance let alone a good bet. Their own fanciers are not even allowed to race anywhere. We have just got to hold our breath and hope that the Avian Flu stays that side of the water so that we get to keep what racing we have.

How can a local council over- rule DEFRA who don't require a register of pigeons. Just another case of the Environmental guys sitting at their desks wondering what to do next. Point out to them DEFRA's requirements and explain gently that we work with DEFRA through our own registration body which has a register of every pigeon we have and that pigeons are not poultry.

This is my back garden loft, widowhood on the right Naturals and YB (mixed) at the bottom

On reading the report in the Scotsman, it is obvious that the paper is putting its own slant on an Avian Flu press release which talks about ALL birds. The feral pigeon has long been an easy target for the Press knowing that, according to local governments , they are a 'Health Hazard' and carry all diseases known to mankind and it is about time this claim was put into context. All the diseases these birds are supposed to be infected with are diseases that are normally spread by humans themselves. I would like to see scientific evidence that these birds are spreaders of human diseases rather than just a nuisance. All the time Joe Public looks to ferals as health risks they will readily accept that the scruffy street pigeon is the problem rather than pretty ducks and swans.

Does the Peregrine have set feeding patterns, when is it most active? I ask this because I am hoping to train a small team of latebreds next week from a building site I shall be working on. I know that there is an established Peregrine nest on route and I would like to know what would be the least risky times to liberate, I shall be on site all day.

When you print the article could you give us contact details, also pass on details to Peter Bryant of the RPRA who has been busy refuting these inflammatory Press reports. I am beginning to believe that these people all have shares in pharmaceutical companies who are the only winners in this sorry saga.

Nice to see another Southcoaster on board. Up The Cherries. Do you want 'Arry back?

Did anyone read Harambee's notes in the RP last week when he was talking about what is the definition of National Clubs. He stated the RPRA rules on the subject and then mentioned a specialist club that has the word 'National' in its title but has a restricted radius. He must have been referring to the Midland National Flying Club, but I believe that this Club was formed before this rule and were given dispensation to keep the name. However I feel he has a point and that the MNFC should always use their full title when talking about club results and not refer to 'National' racing as they occasionally do in their reports. From what I read it is an excellent club, probably one of the best in the country, but it is not, and never can be, a National club.