Walter swanston

Yes well as far as I can see Delboy, the fancy press each week is full of the details of experienced long time fanciers giving up because of the hawk problem and I can certainly understand why ,if you chose to come onto a site such as this and heap abuse on others for their decision that is a matter for you good luck to you all in your future endeavours

Sent a hen on Saturday got it back OK, it's cock which had been kept back to feed two squeakers was let out for a fly on Sunday and never came back obviously fallen victim to the omnipresent peregrine .I got to tell you I got into this business to give me an interest in my declining years, that was about 20 years ago.Now I am getting seriously discouraged.I would be really grateful to be spared any patronising lectures about doing something myself about the six or seven pairs of falcons around here.

Well as the man said years ago there are many roads to Rome

Most interesting post Walter, a friend of mine sent 17 pigeons to Appleby with the Solway on Saturday and got 15 back, all 17 were in a basket for the first time since September 2013 and 4 were away for their first race ever.Another fellow club member sent two former stock pigeons to France last year and got them both back in good time.Please do not think I am making light of your comments about extensive training as you obviously know what you are talking about but sometimes I wonder.

143 pigeons from Lockerbie

I changed the Unikon system onto a new lap top this week,I used the cd rom which I obtained in I think 2008, so far so good until I tried to assign pigeons for a member and found it would not accept birds after 2010, I took advice and downloaded Unikon Manager from the internet and thus updated from the initial cd rom.I am putting this on basics for the benefit of anyone changing laptops.

Absolutely dreamt Steven,many congratulations to your daughter and you, have a great time.

Well it could be a fox, but the birds wre taken away not eaten on the spot,a Buff Orpington in particular is a big heavy fowl.There are badgers in the vicinity,I have kept chickens here for 20 years and never had a problem with foxes.I lost a scots dumpy cock about two months age when a badger chew through the wall of the hut through the night.This attack this morning was in broad daylight, why is there such a prohibition on ordinary sensible men like me keeping firearms'

Could I ask respected fanciers such as Delboy and Walter Boswell and others if it is not time for a radical look at the whole system of pigeon racing in Scotland there is little doubt that the weather system is changing each year the spring is getting later and colder with strong east wings in mid April at the start of the season.Could there be a case for delaying the start of racing until early May with a consequent rearrangement of programmes.'

We lost two hens a Buff Orpintgton and a Scots Dumpy in the space of twenty minutes this morning,all that was left was a sprinkling of feathers .I think it was a large male badger with young to feed.

Maybe I am missing something here ( very possible)' but pigeons being hit around the loft is the lesser problem down here. The major problem is falcons on every flight path in Cumbria and Dumfriesshire.I have no firm opinion on old bird training but of recent years I have thought that I would rather lose them in a race than on a training flight.Young birds are a different problem entirely.

Could I draw the attention of Basics members to an excellent piece on the falcon problem written by Michael Currie contained within Brian Moorhead 's column in this weeks Racing Pigeon.

You are quite right Derek ,even to let the birds out for a fly after the long winter has become a heart in the mouth experience but still we persevere.

I am talking about legislation against predators attacking racing pigeons,I do not think it is gonna happen

I lost a good racing hen today to a peregrine. I know that living in Moffat you just have to grin and bear it but it is hard not to become discouraged at this game.As far as protective legislation goes anyone who thinks it wil ever happen in Scotland is living in a dream world.

There is a report in one of today's newspapers about a 90% decline of the sparrow population in and around Glasgow. This dramatic fall is most certainly due to the increased numbers of sparrow hawks all over the place,I place no substance in the clams of Better Together that the flocks are leaving Scotland for fear of a yew vote in the referendum.

Michael is quite right even training is fraught with danger, I am always envious when I go to other places and see young pigeons ranging the sky.I am very sad to say it but in this area the peregrines have won, I have seen the whole Lanarkshire convoy split and dispersed by on falcon

Happy St.Patrick's day to all Scots of Irish descentInteresting headline in today's Herald

I usually get a good few strays here in Moffat each season especially with young birds.After many strained phone calls over the years I usually feed and water them for a few days and then drive up toSouth Lanarkshire, probably about Abington and libertate from there.

I agree with most of what you say Roland,however I have experimented the last two years with black pigeons or at least as dark as I can get them (the idea absolutely non scientific) is that the peregrines think the doos are crows.So far the results are mildly encouraging I have more yearlings and two year old birds than I have had for years.

Crow attacks on fledglings are an annual occurrence with me,the crows hear the squeakers in the loft and appear as if from nowhere.

How do I get a you tube thing onto basics!