magpie

Was really looking forward to racing from Nantes tomorrow with the NFC after not going to that race point for quite a number of years, then on the day of marking it suddenly transpires that the race has been switched to Cholet because "the French authorities won't allow a liberation from Nantes" Can't find anything on the NFC website to add anything further but surely these problems should have been anticipated ! I know most of the posters on here appear to be north of the border - but can anyone throw any more light on the subject ?

Velocity just under 1500 to South Coast from Fougeres with NFC but with the wind picking up from the SSW after fog cleared, I reckon we needed to be 20 minutes earlier and the Bristol boys will dominate the open result again. Still we got all ten in an hour and with such a big spread of birds along the coast that's pretty unusual for us shorter NFC flyers and bodes well for the future.

Messac with the British Barcelona Club, l80 miles

British Barcelona club up at 11.05 at Carentan in NE wind. Timed just over three hours for little over 100 miles.

Saw a most unusual scrap when taking my terrier for a walk in the woods tonight. Heard a commotion in the treetops and looked up to see a sparrowhawk attacking a grey squirrel which eventually beat a hasty retreat. Can only imagine the squirrel was after the sparrowhawks eggs - never thought I would be on the side of a tree rat.

Presuming you are talking about this year's young birds I would say don't be in too much of a hurry until they have been flying for at least an hour around the loft at a time and preferably disappearing for long periods (called ranging). Even then it will be a long time before young bird racing starts so you need to be careful not to tire them of the basket before you want them at their peak. Best of luck !

Sparrowhawks usually swoop in when the pigeons are on the loft etc, the birds try to take off but are knocked down before they get up to full speed, pinned to the ground and eaten alive. As a result most sparrowhawk victims will be found fairly close to the loft. Peregrines are a different proposition and can catch their prey in full flight and are strong enough to carry them off. Very much doubt if a cock or hen sparrowhawk could carry a fully grown racing pigeon very far.

Kept our birds in all winter because of raptor problems and only started letting the stock birds and some latebreds have open loft a month ago after pairing up. Since then seven have gone missing. Only found a few piles of feathers in the fields around the loft until earlier this week when another went missing and was found dead (partly eaten) in the garden with classic signs of hawk attack. Today another cock which had flown Tarbes disappeared and its body was found not far from the loft in similar circumstances. We haven't seen a sparrowhawk but everything points to that being the culprit. It's just soul destroying and makes you wonder whether it's worth continuing after over 50 years in the sport. The widowhood team have been paired up for a week now and ideally we would like to start letting them out to get a good hatch and to let them fly themselves fit for the season - but until the attacks stop that would surely result in more losses. Mark my words, this problem will be the death of pigeon racing if we don't find an answer to it quickly !

Looks like another terrible race into the West Country from across the Channel with the NFC. Any north in the wind seems to stop many of the youngsters from crossing the water and the west just pushes them along the French coast. Even the old hens have struggled today with Mike Staddon of Crewkerne doing well to win the section again at under 800 ypm.

Seven ybs and 5 old hens to Fourgeres with the BBC. South East wind forecast in the Channel so hopefully better returns than last two Channel races with the NFC and CSCFC when the West Coumntry birds really struggled into the strong NW wind

Basketed 10 today for the NFC race from Carentan and hoping for better weather along the coast than we had last week with the CSCFC from the same racepoint. Forecast says NW wind over the channel so it won't be easy for ybs.

Sometimes the weather beats even the best birds. In the local specialist club, which boasts a number of previous national and classic winning fanciers, only 26 birds were timed in from CSCFC Carentan out of 140 which for a race of around 100 miles is little short of a disaster. Also on Saturday I gather one club flying from Littlehampton with the West of England SR Combine, whose line of flight should have taken them through our area, had just six back out of 100 - a clear indication to me that the rain and fog along this section of the South Coast was the reason for the poor returns locally.

Very wise decision. It's been pouring with rain here in Weymouth/Dorchester area since about noon and the forecast is dire. Hope you get better luck at Kingsdown.

Not a lot better in Dorset this morning I am afraid. Very grey, some slight drizzle, visibility a little better than yesterday but no wind at all to move the cloud.

Glad to hear some people had a good race - you couldn't have had the weather we did today. Perhaps you'll get it wet and foggy next week and it will be finer over to the west - and then of course they'll be held over !