magpie

Awful morning in Dorset. Rain, low cloud and mist and no sign of any breaks in the grey skies at all. They're promising it will clear from the west later - but how much later ?

It just gets worse. Yesterday we sent took our 70 YBs to Salisbury for a 40 mile toss. All had been to 20 miles about four times and some had successfully completed their first races last weekend. Released at 10-45 into sunny skies with just the odd shower around, the first one didn't return for three hours and we knew we were in trouble. During the afternoon and evening we had another 26 - all singly - and so far only another 5 have returned today. Most of them had so many hours on the wing that racing them this weekend is out of the question. Really makes you wonder why we bother !

National Flying Club liberated at Saintes at 7am in no wind

Saintes with the NFC and first young bird races from Exeter tomorrow and Mangotsfield on Sunday.

If they've been ranging, short tosses are a waste of time and money. Ours go straight in at 20 miles and go there a few times before the first race/trainer at around 45 miles. So far this year both teams of early and later-bred young birds have managed it with only two dropped out of 70. In fact our worst loss was a couple of weeks ago before training began when the younger team were hit by a peregrine shortly after leaving the loft. They scattered and 25 disappeared, only one reported about 80 miles away.

Kev, it's clear from your description of how you look after your birds that you are a dedicated fancier who deserves to do better. But have you ever thought that perhaps you spend too much time fussing over them ? I know it's slightly different with widowhood cocks - which we mainly fly with some success at National, BBC and CSCFC level - but they are shut up and left quiet from morning exercise at 7am, when they usually fly for at least an hour, until evening exercise at 6pm when they generally fly of their own accord for another hour or are shut out for an hour if they don't . The loft is only cleaned while they are exercising and they only have about three training tosses from around 20 miles before racing starts and never see the inside of the training basket again all season, even if they miss a few weeks racing. I know that on the natural system, which we also use for a few distance hens, the odd training toss is necessary - but I would suggest that 50-60 miles every day of the week is completely pointless and might well explain why your birds are a few minutes behind every week - they are just sick of being sent down the road when all they want is a bit of peace at home with their mates, nest and eggs.! If everything else is right they don't need that amount of work - especially if you want them for the longer races. Incidentally we don't use anything other than good corn, grit and minerals and rely on our birds natural immunity to keep them healthy. If any look off colour they stay in the loft and heal themselves. If they show no sign of doing that after a reasonable length of time, they are disposed off. The same also goes for young birds. Of course in our 50 years in the sport we have doctored pigeons when they were sick - but I can't think of one which actually achieved anything later in life either as a breeder or racer.

Wet and windy here on the South Coast of Dorset. Been raining most of the night and apart from an hour or so around breakfast time when it eased off, it's been the same ever since.

I should point out that is about 100 miles away, so it just goes to show what happens when they are panicked.

You're doing well Pete - we had our 70 young birds attacked by a peregrine when we let them out for exercise two weeks ago and 25 of them were still missing at dark. The only one we have heard of since was reported in London !

We never used to even let our YBs out on Saturdays in case they were picked up by race birds - but now we figure the odds on them ending up as Percy's supper are decreased if they go out when there are lots of other birds about. Providing they have been ranging for a while, we reckon the ones with any brains will sort themselves out.

It was nice and sunny here in Dorset earlier on this morning but the cloud has now increased and there are a few spots of rain in the brisk West South West wind. Still much better than it was yesterday though.

Not much improvement at all in Dorset. Drizzle has eased a bit but it is still completely overcast with poor visibility due to low cloud and mist. Wind fresh south west.

Wouldn't want birds liberated over the Channel today. Since first light here in South Dorset it's been completely overcast with intermittent heavy drizzle and poor visibility. Only thing in their favour is that the wind has gone from north-west to south west since yesterday.

Had a similar attack on Sunday when a peregrine chased our kit of 70 young birds almost as soon as they left the loft. Like yours they were terrified and disappeared into the distance with the peregrine in pursuit. Four came back almost immediately and more returned in ones and twos throughout the day. Sadly we are still 25 missing and as they had not been trained and only just started ranging I doubt if many more will be back. This happened the day after we won our section from NFC Tarbes and had all three of our entries on the winning day - talk about the ups and downs of pigeon racing !!!

No birds on the day in Central Southern Classic FC from Tarbes. Guess the North in the wind over the whole distance was just too much. Probably means the leaders are having a night out in Northern France or the Channel Islands. Just hope the weather is ok tomorrow and there might be some back around breakfast time.

Sun has disappeared now in Dorset and we've got high cloud cover but no rain. BBC have been doing live broadcasts from the Isle of Wight round the island yacht race and it looks as though the sunny slot we had earlier has now moved across to them !

Sunny with some high broken cloud in Dorset. NNW breeze will make it a real test of the fittest from Messac and Tarbes.

'Phoned the lib-line at 9.15 to discover the British Barcelona Club were liberated at Poitiers at 7.20am - even though their website still says they are waiting for an hour and next update will be at 7.45. What's the point of having a website if it's not updated !

We are at Poitiers with the British Barcelona Club and although the usually reliable XC Weather site gives full sun and light winds at the racepoint and reasonably sunny weather along the South Coast after a dull start it also shows the Channel Islands and French coast shrouded in mist for most of the day, so it could be touch and go for Channel racing.

There might be blue sky in Alencon but here in Dorchester, Dorset it's cold, grey and misty. Just hope it improves quickly or we could be struggling to get them and the questionable decision to hold yesterday and switch from St Nazaire when it was ideal along the South Coast could prove to have been a big mistake.

Agree with you Rose that central is the fairest all round and for me that is still as it used to be ie Rennes, Nantes, Saintes, Pau. If you draw a North-South line down through the Cherbourg Peninsula that is about as fair to everyone as you can get. I don't like St Nazaire and some fanciers around here won't send there, but I still think Alencon is not a good alternative. Couple of weeks ago with the CSCFC there was an east wind when we were at St Nazaire and we had a very difficult race with patchy returns and not many doing over 1,000 ypm while on the same morning the BICC winner from Saran was here in Dorchester doing 1600ypm. That must tell us something about the racepoint. My guess is the CSCFC birds were pushed out over the sea and went west of Lands End because one of ours - a three year old hen which scored twice from 500 miles last season - was reported in North Wales. Fortunately a very kind Welsh fancier gave her a couple of days to recover, took her to South Wales to release her and she made it home under her own steam in a couple of hours to race another day.

We're disappointed with the NFC switch to Alencon which won't do us much good in Dorset unless there is east in the wind again. It's way too far east for us - although I'm sure the fanciers in the London section will be rubbing their hands together after having to put up with east winds for most of the big races so far. The last time we flew Alencon we had a decent bird locally but still didn't get in the first thousand in the NFC Open result. But look on the bright side Albear - if there is much west in the wind tomorrow (that's assuming they go up because the forecast still doesn't look that good) our birds will get a good few hours flying under their belts for the longer ones !

Heavy overnight rain has cleared and it's sunny, plenty of blue sky with high broken shower clouds and a westerly wind in Dorset. Looks ideal for Channel racing here.

Cold, grey but so far dry with brisk ESE in Dorchester, Dorset. Hope it pours down all day now that the NFC birds are held over - the veg plot could certainly do with it.

It's nothing for us to have six or seven buzzards circling above our loft in Dorset and, although they make the birds a bit edgy, I have never seen them actually attack any pigeons. But like ally mac said, they don't stop the sparrowhawks and peregrines from playing havoc at various times of the year.