peter pandy

Happy Birthday Derek

Stevie, I thought we agreed to only say nice things about each other after our tete-a-tete on Sunday ! I have to say you done well,, 3 flippin days ya sod !.. I do believe I speak for most when I say without us losers their are no winners ya BAM. LOL. For those who have my cramp problems I was instructed by my Doctor in Wales to take "tonic water" and if need be dilute with Gin and as he said their is no other way to take it,. Now that was my kind of Doc :emoticon-0136-giggle:

Alf, There is a theory which I read in a book { dont ask which } that unraced youngsters or late breds are easily lost in a stiff race if they still have their nest bodies !!. Which equates to, that they must replace the birth muscle with new muscle that has been worked, which is more robust, and why late breds go down much easier against yearlings which have went running. The nest muscle is weak and after an hour or two of flight there is nothing left in the tank..Theory or fact ??.

Well sent 27 to Selby 190 miles with most still tending to big young with a North wind I felt a bit apprehensive and sure enough it was too much for them with 10 lost mostly unraced as young birds. Frank Sinatra's song ""I did it my way"" kept springing to mind especially the lyrics "REGRETS I've HAD A FEW" etc,. Biggest regret was perhaps pairing a month too late resulting in the moult being retarded so form is being held back however it might help over the next few weeks and only time will tell as ""I've DONE IT MY WAY"". All the nest boxes have been cleaned and sprayed with 14 pairs left which will go down on their second round of eggs over the next couple of days but will miss this week's race. Having most of them doing 8-10 hours last Saturday they have bounced back well and will benefit not being sent ""racing"". Cheese and Linseed will now commence in my endeavour to bring the best out of them over the next six weeks..

Mine returned hawked at first race.

Stevie, I was intending to be in Edinburgh's South Clerk Street on Sunday at no particular time and could have met up to collect said pigeon with a bit of renumeration for Billy and yourself to cover out of pocket expenses. Their is no point in adding to the stray population in Princess Street Castle Park.

:emoticon-0140-rofl: :emoticon-0140-rofl:

Did not catch last weeks velocity so will try 1056 if it is a North Wester.

Muscle cramp Derek and naw I did'nt know this man but I do now.

For those on the night shift I am sitting here doubled up with cramp waiting for the Swcheppes tonic water to kick in and as I write this post the relief is beyond belief..............

Done well to-day !! Around twelvish a bird dropped in from Appleby after 12 days flying "Bred for lasting the pace" and when the postie arrived there was one reported in Gretna from the same race so now down to 5 still AWOL. The Gretna bird is in with Mr Van Nuil and we had a lovely chat when I phoned him. Thanks to Dal2 I wont have to run down to collect it as I would be awful tempted to take a basket of birds for a toss but remembering the last race I participated in from Gretna hardly any birds made it home..

Mr W.F.Van Nuil.. Steve I do believe you know him and can I leave the arrangements to you MATE.

It is always in the back of your mind Steve if the birds are suited to flying Natural and will certain ones respond to a given criteria, ie, Eggs, small young, Big young and if you dont or cannot find out what they will respond to then you have to look elsewhere. It could be the distance as they are not sprinters and perhaps will come better further down the road !. Perhaps it is due to their immaturity and will have to wait till they are older but in the present climate the chances of them getting to old age would appear to be slim. Its obvious roundabout suits many if not all the present day winners and with it being an eight week cycle the reason pairing up to Natural for the distance is a must or so it is alleged.. I hope my answer is to your satisfaction and are you heading up to Central Scotland as I have a bird reported in Gretna requiring a lift up the road that went AWOL 12 days ago.

My good lady Mary and I send our deepest sympathy on the loss of your son. Rest in Peace David. Peter Mackintosh

Well thats OK then Andy after all you know what they say about leekies !!! Baaaa. LOL :emoticon-0136-giggle:

Well thats her lifted off her eggs and in the past when they abandon the nest its usually goodnight Vienna. With 40 youngsters still to get weaned and only one parent its been a shifting around job in the loft making sure they are getting enough grub and so far everything is ok on that front and they should be shifted in a couple of days maybe !. I wont be doing any training this week and will perhaps give them the week-end off as well.. Although they handle and look well they are no where near coming into form, Lack of excercise round the loft is obviously not helping and it is quite annoying watching the other local lads birds roaming the skies at speed has me wondering if I too am a dinosaur and going backwards to Natural is not the answer to going forwards when I remember what and how the birds behaved prior to pairing.. Its lovely watching their antics when out to-gether but its not getting them physically fit and having some hairy training tosses may be detrimental to their mental welfare. I will just have to sleep on it before conclusion making decisions.

Hope you have'nt got me down as one !!.

I would have thought you would have queried the rumour Del, with it being the breeding season and gamekeepers or land owners would be cutting their own throats by allowing anyone walking across grouse moors far less shooting their bread and butter at this time of the year, and I never suggested or even thought for a minute you would tell porkies.

C'Mon Del the grouse season only goes from August to December. No landowner is going to let a party shoot outside the season..

Sent a message.

Aye the Hen he has been paired to the last three years is still sitting their eggs so, mibies aye, mibies naw.

Davie, Was that some Midland baskets went on both transporters and joint liberated ?. I do know that the 5 Cocks I lost were all in the same basket with no hessian on the base and was covered in shavings on the top. Anyway Dave you can sleep easily from now on as I wont be "skelpin yer bum" in the Ancencis race as ""The Grand"" went down on Sunday and I am in mourning for him hence the way I have been posting since Sunday.

Whaur was the hot day Del ! Were you runnin aboot wi shorts an "T" shirt cos I wisnae, Temp in the Metropolis wis 16c and Hygrometer reading 85 am quite sure it wis caulder than that comin ower the hills in the Borders fur goad sake when ah wis wurkin in London the burds wir fleein at 0800 in 26c an 65 % moisture an niver went fur a drink like they did yisterday. Naebody likes critisizen convoyers and am NO !! whit am goin oan aboot is the baskets the Midland ur gone in an they ur yased wi the Nat !! thur dark an a wee 12ins drinker stuck oan the end is nae use tae naebudy ah dinnae think al be gaun wi them again.

16 from 22 and not had a feather since 1800 last night so I am looking to myself as to why I have dropped 13 birds the past two weeks going with the Midland Fed while not losing any when going with Almond Valley. I cannot go along with the theory that East winds dehydrate the birds in a blow home from 150 miles which was only three hours to the winners and they are incapable of flying that time on the wing without returning to the loft and dying of thirst. Disorientation can take place when dehydration is present however I am of the belief the birds were never presented with water in the race basket which has nothing to do with the wind as we have experienced Easterlies before and never sustained those losses plus I dropped 7 the week before in a West wind with the same transporter as yesterday and I am not alone in the club where the members have suffered about 20% losses weekly.

I picked out 22 for this week-end and decided to go to Ripon with the Midland Fed at 159 miles liberated to-day at 12.30 in a North East wind turning South East and reckoned about 3.1/2 Hrs and clocked 3hrs 10 mts. Thinking I am going to top the Fed the day says I to wee Mary who was sitting by my side, and got a knee buckler when my B in Law clocked 15 mts in front of me. So it was congratulations to him. Last last week, First this week, is'nt this Doo game a great leveller !!. So now its gripe time.. In all my years in this game I have never experienced this sight. When my second bird came screaming out of the heavens she hit the landing board and could not put her legs down and pushed herself with her wings through the trap into the veranda where she dragged herself along to the drinker and stuck her head in and stayed with her head in the drinker for a minute or so until she was able to stand whereupon she had another long drink. Dehydration is one thing but every bird that made it home headed straight for the drinker.. If somebody tells me the birds in our baskets were given water then I will be very surprised with all the club members saying they were experiencing the same on their returns with terrible losses for some. I have 6 still to come all very experienced and they know what a f*^%in basket drinker is. :emoticon-0179-headbang: