billt

Me

Great result, I'm not surprised you remember them so vividly. Bill

Nice pics. Mick, I was born and still lived in Southampton then, I certainly remember that winter, did we not have gritters in those days? The ice on the roads was murder, I had an Austin 7 ruby at the time, no power, no brakes just about perfect for those conditions

Well done all and well done Mark for all your hard work

I see the Police have arrested two fans for racial abuse, apparently they called them Scottish

I do notice it more this time of year, I think it must be the salt

Must have the best youth squad in the UK, Leon Best, Newcastle goal, Nathan Dyer, Swansea goal, Theo Walcott Arsenal goal and they say what they have there at present are the best ever

Yes I get this all the time with my lot that are on open loft, anyone who comes here and parks on the yard their cars get the same treatment, doesn't seem to do any harm other than a grubby head sometimes

Good picture Mick, makes me feel old, I was married in 1962

No. 1, Very difficult, all top notch

A few pairs of House Martins nest on the front of our house and a few years ago I walked out one morning to see a young one flopping across the floor, when I went around the front a nest had fallen, one was dead another two looked poor plus the one that was lively, I put them in a box on the rack over the rayburn and within an hour they were fine then I was thinking there's no way I'm catching flies for you lot so I made a nest out of a wicker wine boat and screwed it on the soffit board as close as I could to where the nest was and they were feeding the young before I was down the ladder, a couple of weeks later there were 40/50 martins flying about the front and I realised the youngsters couldn't get out, I'd made the hole too small, ladder out and stretched the hole, the youngsters were out straight away, time I got down the ladder they were all on there way, North Africa here we come, amazing

Funny old thing this feeding game, we spend a lot of money on additives and supplements yet the wildlings migrate thousands of miles every year on what they pick up on the fields or in the air, and do I join in, of course I do

? I've got a side by side

The problem is Andy I've got every BOP invented here with me, I have a mob of 50 on open loft and they seem to fare quite well so I go with the flow

Yes they were on lock-up today, first time ever for them

I'm not hopeful Andy, not seeing a thing today

I have 7 dogs so we don't see many cats but strangely enough there was a fox on the field next to the siloh at midday it had a limp and was hunting mice on the field, I did loose one to the hen spar earlier in the week so I knew there was one about

Yesterday had the y/birds, now yearlings out as usual, their loft is in my siloh (hay barn) it works well, it's about 40x20 feet, open front and one side open at the top, when they first go out they can fly around inside and perch on the wall-plate a 6x4 timber around the top, ideal for ventilation as it's dry and out of the wind, it has a ridged roof, I don't put felt or any outer covering on and leave a gap along the whole ridge, They were out yesterday as normal when I went to put them in there were 3 out of 16 in the loft and 10 up on the wall-plate it was getting dark so I knew they must have had a close encounter, I wasn't worried about the ones not in the loft as they are safe inside, It was getting quite dark now so I was looking at the other farm buildings to see if the missing 3 were sitting on them when they appeared still flying, quite high, did a couple of laps and off again, I waited about 15mins. and they came again, another couple of laps and off again so I shut up loft and gave up, although I was thinking if they don't land here where are they going to. Went out first thing this morning to let them in and no sign of them and not seen them today, They are siblings out of the stock loft, unraced, but are well flown and were ranging well earlier, I would have tossed them at 30/40 miles without fear, I think they stayed airborne and ended up gawd knows where, What's your views on this?

Yes your dead right

You know how to hurt a man

Ok Peter, hadn't realised I was so popular

Yep thats what I think, most feeds are good now, probably a bit higher protein when racing, but at the end of the day the best birds will win anyway

Great pic, I've got a terrier that age myself, would hate to be without her

15,000, A few bob's worth there, Looks like they'd go hungry without race pigeons

Good post by Brian about Pandas in Scotland