May be impossible to race

[Guest Owen]

I have two yearling hens spare and unpaired. Over the last week I have taken to letting them out for a bit of exercise.

No-one else in this area is letting birds out just now. I can tell when they have landed that they have been chased by a peregrine, but I still carried on, thinking that they would get used to it and take whatever action they need to so, that they can avoid being caught. Besides they are very fit. Well, I was wrong, the peregrine was at it again and I think he has got one of the hens. I saw him dive down after her into a thicket. The bit I don't understand is that there are two differant groups of feral pigeons less than a mile from here. And there are a bunch of, what used to be garden doves, but now well crossed, a matter of a few hundred yards from here. Yet the peregrine targets racing pigeons. All the ferals can be seen flying high, soaring and clapping, but never seem to attract the perigrine. The town of Pontypool, about three miles away, has a large number of ferel pigeon of all colours constantly in the air above the town almost all day every day. I have never seen a peregrine attack there either. At this moment I can not see how it will be possible to release birds for exercise and training anywhere near here in the near future. I am wondering if pigeon racing is over for us in this valley.

[Guest Thunder Birds]

If you had the choice between a succulent, well muscled, well reared, well fed chicken or a scrawny, skinny, disease ridden, streetwise chicken which would you choose?! It's the same difference - for the same (or probably less) effort the peregrine can select a much better meal. Something the denialists in the RSPB don't seem to understand!

 

In peregrine infested areas if folks have kept their birds in over the winter I wonder if the peregrine numbers have been thinned out with the bad weather?

[pjc]

If you had the choice between a succulent, well muscled, well reared, well fed chicken or a scrawny, skinny, disease ridden, streetwise chicken which would you choose?! It's the same difference - for the same (or probably less) effort the peregrine can select a much better meal. Something the denialists in the RSPB don't seem to understand!

 

In peregrine infested areas if folks have kept their birds in over the winter I wonder if the peregrine numbers have been thinned out with the bad weather?

 

They moved away but have moved back now ready for breeding season!

[Guest Owen]

I can answer that for you. No, the numbers are just the same as before or probably higher. Just about every possible nesting site is now occupied these days. And there are plenty of rock ledges around here. There is always plenty of food for them in the form of jackdaws, crows and smaller birds like starlings. These valleys were always home to birds such as skylarks, plovers and grouse. The peregines have seen them off quite a while ago. And before the RSPB tries to argue that it is to do with modern farming, I can assure you it is not. The Welsh Hills are farmed in much the same way that they have always been. About the only thing that has changed is the fact that there is far less stock grazed there now.

I don't know if you are right about peregrines prefering to eat succulent, well muscled racing pigeons over the scrawny street pigeons but I know that you can not let your racing pigeons out any more. Besides, the street pigeons living near here are in very good condition. Well fed and looked after by various local people. Unlike the out and out ferals that live in the town of Cwmbran. They are awful looking things. Skinny, missing toes, dirty and diseased. Awful.  

[Robert Hyde]

Its the same in Merthyr Tydfil,3rd time out last Friday,biggest peregrine hen ive seen.She chased them all over the place. They all come back 1 at a time. No losses this time,kept in since.

[Guest bakes]

i no were you coming from owen around my way with in a short walking distance you have 8 flyers to name a few good flyers smith & wheeler evans and woods,mr and mrs butler and son dave woods,mark aston,martin douglas + more all haveing problems with pob they have always been a high number of pergrines around my way and even if we dont let our birds out they are still around the area see them takeing starlings and most times there a pair of them up hunting what ever we do to try to stop the attacks it still happens the pergrine numbers around my way are past the joke with breeding pairs in quarry to the side of my house a pair in quarry a  mile away and 3 pairs been recorded out towards atherstone and follongly way direct line of flight for our birds comeing back from training as well as raceing

 

all the best

k.baker

[soapy]

hi owen  the only way to get rid of your problem is to go to all the quarries and cliff faces within 5 miles of you , the rest is up to you

[Guest strapper]

i wait till all others have had their birds out ;D ;D ;D..joking ??)

 

i havent had many attacks as other club m8s...although my best m8 gets an attack most every other day...and lives 3 streets above me..higher up.

we have a mountain directly above us...we are on the foot of it.

 

ive had no attacks that ive witnessed..although i wouldnt count out the ones that was attacked out of my sight.

but ive had numerous near mises ive witnessed.

my best m8 lost 13 youngbirds last year in one attack...some went through pylon wires (9)dead in the field next to his house and others were never seen again...the peregrine never caught any.

[adam owen]

it will die down owen

[BIGK]

dont for 1 minute imagine the perigrine thinks like a human it catches whatever it can to survive and our birds are easiest because they home to 1 place and its a ready made food source, liberated at the same time every day and returning to the same spot every time, just like the bears do in canada year in year out feast on the salmon the perigrine is feasting on our birds! There is no legal answer at the moment to the rapter problem, the RSPB will tell you there are only a 1/4 of the pairs that there actually are and continue to release both perigrines and sparrow hawks, not for the good of the bird population only the raptor! WHY DO WE NEED RAPTORS ANYWAY???? WHAT GOOD ARE THEY??? AND WHAT CONTROLS THERE NUMBERS???  Sparrow hawks have got to be the biggest single killer of small garden and songbirds ever seen, they are far superior to pesticides and cats! but still they continue to release them. The only answer open to us at the moment is too have the RPRA and other unions lobby parliment, our local mp's should this year bend over backwards to help anyone who asks them being an election year, its the only way at the moment.

[Guest Davy Fleming]

THEY ALWAYS SEEM TO WATCH THE DOOS AND SAY TO THEMSELVES OH THERE IS A BIRD THAT COST £100 AND THERE IS ANOTHER ONE THAT IS ONLY £20 so I know which I will have cause if I'm going to eat I might as well have the sirloin rather than that bit of cheap steak.  hey . Bandits seem to do it all the time .

[kev01293]

i gotta take my hat off to you guys cos i dont know how i would cope being hit by peregrines on a regular basis its bad enough having to deal with sparrowhawks hitting my birds but then saying that we,ve got peregrines in brighton which the rspb put boxes up for a few years back > and brighton is only 20 miles south of me so prob wont be long b4 i see a peregrine as theyve been breeding there for a few years now and their young will prob be looking to find their own territories   as most of you know they are nesting in london as well which is only 30 miles up the road from me, come to think of it where aint they now? the future looks bleak for us  we all need to get our heads together re the bop problem and take some action but what?   kev

[kev01293]

well it seems that most of us have accepted the bop situation  im only a novice but i can see that 5 ys down the line it will be too late

[OLDYELLOW]

Well i realy feel for those having bop attacks , as most will know i have had attacks last year and the year before , glorious day today thought id let birds out and yup you can guess losted a red hen gutted , its not happened around loft otherwise i'd of seen it however two birds were missing for some time only one returning i've looked all way around so it must of been a peragrine or female sparrow no feather nothing  gutted

[Guest bigda]

thats why we should have a national  pigeon day  at the end of this month,  that  would help loads  of pigeon fanciers, all over the uk .     Even you  had a special young bird,  kept in  long enough for the cause   libed at  the same time 7am   20 mile out  about  6,000 special birds to commemorate  pigeon day  all over  the UK  flying about there  lines of flights not a care in the world

[willow]

Morning again the same story BOP , we can all manage to raise a lot of money for a charity on here and all pull together for a cause , but somehow can't all get together to do something about BOP . The SHU tried 10 years ago to get pigeons status changed to livestock so that fanciers could protect their birds legaly by killing them if they were attacking their birds livestock .I am still reading up on Parlimentary issues on this subject and will keep at it as i said already last night i will do what i can to help but i can't do it single handed . We should all join together to do something and form a club to identify the elusive BOP sites in the country . It will only get changed with action from fanciers wanting to get rid of the BOP and making people aware of what they are doing to all birds .

[greenlands]

Morning again the same story BOP , we can all manage to raise a lot of money for a charity on here and all pull together for a cause , but somehow can't all get together to do something about BOP . The SHU tried 10 years ago to get pigeons status changed to livestock so that fanciers could protect their birds legaly by killing them if they were attacking their birds livestock .I am still reading up on Parlimentary issues on this subject and will keep at it as i said already last night i will do what i can to help but i can't do it single handed . We should all join together to do something and form a club to identify the elusive BOP sites in the country . It will only get changed with action from fanciers wanting to get rid of the BOP and making people aware of what they are doing to all birds .

 

Good Post

 

Lindsay