peter pandy

According to "WILEY" we aint getting enough basket training in..

Oh Dear, So I lift my birds from the loft dump them into a basket and send them 65 miles with no training and I am to blame for other peoples losses !!. If you believe you have to show your team every lamp post from the Race Point to your loft then that is your prerogative, However I am not training due to Bassa strikes as we are polluted with them up here, Local fanciers have been training and their teams have been decimated with every toss and just to-day from a 30 mile toss, 6 hours later he had 1 home from 30 sent and that was his fourth trainer starting with 60 birds, another had 10 missing from 5 miles and I could go on but it would be pointless.

I had to stop training from Newbigging into Falkirk area due to losses every occasion, even when lib times were changed.

All the Hens down and cosy including 2 that went together and the 2 Willie Woofters which are now sitting a pair of china's, I will decide over the next day or two whether to go with the local transporter for a 35 miler although I doubt it and will jump all the Late Breeds possible straight into 65 miles, There is safety in numbers to a certain extent so will never train them myself. With the colony on open bole to come and go as they please from 08.00 till 20.00 they are putting in a fair bit of flying time and has been comical at times with Cocks attempting to tread Hens when zipping around the sky "Mile High Club" comes to mind !!.. Temps now into the Teens has made a difference with a bit of warmth in the air and we can only hope it remains so for the next 6 Months. ""Wishful Thinking""..

SU 16 R 245 Cheq hit wires

20 Pairs laid and it looks like a couple of Hens are not interested at the moment, The 2 Willie Woofter Cocks are still together and hanging about their nest bowl so I have put a dummy egg in tonight and will see the response tomorrow, Hopefully they will take to it and I will have a bit of fun and games with them when racing starts next week. For those racing this week-end, good Luck to all and hope the forecast is correct and returns are acceptable. Now that most of my colony are sitting eggs, rations have been reduced to 1oz per bird as we all know fat birds don't win sprints.

Red Grizzle Cock, SU17M 853.. Only picked him out because I went down the list with ""Eeny Meeny Miny Mo"" etc.. Just so happens he is the only Red in the Loft.

Sorry, Aye there is but defo nae song birds..

Keep the Cocks at home and send the Hens.

When working for C.J.Williams all the droppings were put in a separate manure pile from the previous year and the previous years pile was spread over the flower beds in November. They were award winning gardens and the only fertiliser they received. My flower bed once it has died back is covered with a Bale of straw then all the droppings are placed on top which when rain or snow arrives it washes through and not only fertilises but stops the Tubers and Bulbs getting frosted and the straw is only lifted off after the Spring Daffodils have withered, My Agapanthas last year had 80 heads on each and the Plate Dahlias had 9 ins heads. Best fertiliser going and cheapest.. If you wish to water vegetables then half fill a 40 gallon open drum with droppings and top up with water, Replace water removed with fresh or if you are up in Scotia you wont have to as it rains damn near every day..

Another auld pal gone, R.I.P. John frae a Faw Kirk Bairn.

Zero Swallows on the Forth and Clyde in fact Zero everything apart from Starlings, Crows, Rooks and Jackdaws. Seagulls don't count..

Sorry about the content of the last post as it was a little boredom setting in with nothing happening in the Loft, However with 4 laying last night and another 17 hopefully going down this evening all is well since pairing 10 days ago. I thought Spring has finally sprung yesterday with the Daffodils all flowering in the 14c sunshine but are looking a bit downhearted to-day with an Easterly wind and 4c. Racing is the last thing on my mind at the moment and if the weather does not improve then I will be missing the early ones having destroyed my birds in the past with racing into cold easterlies as I had no patience. Aye auld age has its compensations.. In reply to training ?? Why feed the Bassa's through the week..

Aye Alf the good auld days and if truth be told I can remember 67 years ago pushing a wheelbarrow as we were flitting house and following the Co-Op bakery horse to gather its manure in a bucket for my Grandfathers roses, can even remember car spotting as there were so few of them.. Now my Grandfather was a real character as he was in the Camel regiment fighting in the Sinai desert in the First World War and on his demob went to Peru as a Gold / Copper prospector and that is where he made his fortune, My Granny was Commandant of the female Prisoner of War camp in Argyle and Falkirk Independent Councillor for many years maybe that is why I took an interest in politics then changed my mind with all the back stabbing that takes place in all walks of life. True friends are like Gold dust and are few and far between, getting less as the years go by..

This weather brought back memories of 1961 when the Club used to organise 2 pre racing training tosses. All the members participated in those days and a flat bed coal lorry was hired to take the birds in Club Baskets. Of course being the youngest I was delegated to go with the lorry sitting between the baskets on the back and snow falling, Geez it was cauld and nae balaclava to keep your head warm on the trip down to Beatock Summit where the birds were liberated regardless of the weather and losses were hardly heard of. Definitely hardier Doos in them days..Aye and Boys too.. LOL.

With the entire family involved Andy it was a good Public Relation exercise.

You must have taped Channel 4 "The Supervet" at 20.00 hrs, instead of Channel 5 "The Yorkshire Vet Casebook" at 19.00 hrs and it was an excellent "Doo" programme..

The colony was given the freedom of the sky to-day after three days confinement due to weather, Sleet and bitingly cold North Easterly has kept them relatively quiet inside but it was all change to-day as they chased each other all over the sky and roof tops, At this time of year "pairing" I hardly venture into the loft apart from feeding time and all looks ok with nests built up with straw and very little squabbling going on so all appears well and their condition is excellent..

Anyone noticed that when Daily Newspapers print an adverse story regarding raptors !! The RSPB have retractions and misinformation printed en mass for days after. Daily Newspapers rely not only on sales but advertisement and one of the largest purchase of advertisements is the RSPB.. Letters I have sent to the Editor for inclusion in there Letters Page have so far been unsuccessful and appears to be a waste of time and effort.

Yesterday and the colony are or appear to be happy in the joining of the sexes with a beautiful blue sky and wee Mary and I sitting in the garden for the first time in 6 months and temps at 16c, Today after feeding I trundled back into the house covered in snow and temps ZERO, Aye there is a lot to be said for global warming.. Countryfile had the usual claptrap regarding loss of habitat and songbirds and I wonder who their Scriptwriters are employed by on the side.

12.00 Hrs and dividing door opened to mayhem BUT a happy mayhem. At 15.00 Hrs 20 from 25 pairs were ensconced in a box and curried down in the nest bowl SO happiness pervades the Loft and no doubt they will all find a partner they will be happy with. With a North East wind, Snow on the Ochil Hills, more forecasted for the next day or two and racing in 3 Weeks !! it wont be for me unless their is a change in temps as I shall not require any training with the shifts they have put in over the Winter which has its retractors, All to there own thoughts say's I.. In answer to "Blue Pied" my birds are not being chased away from the loft. They are off picking up knowledge of the surrounding countryside in a happy manner and when I want them in the loft I only have to show their yellow feed bucket and with the dog whistle being blown they are quite happy to land on the Petron trap with me standing adjacent to it and 25 birds will be in in less than 25 seconds.. Happy Campers is the name of the game..

With the colony out on intermittent days the Hens are more agile than the Cocks and zig zag about the skies for an age, Nest boxes have been hovered and pans with straw placed inside for pairing to-morrow, More straw laid down on the floor completes the necessary requirement of chores and they will be left in peace to get on with what they have to do, Mind you their are a pair of willie woofter Cocks treading each other and can only hope they become more heterosexual with the introduction of a Hen to stop that nonsense.

Many Happy Returns Andy :emoticon-0123-party:

Aye Steve, it was high fats Peanuts then But now its the opposite with no fats Barley.

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