Never In Forty Years

[yeboah]

Don't quite no where to start,Have been getting up early morning and working two sections of widowhood cocks ,22 in total also working them at night and what fantastic condition they were in a joy to watch so early in the year,basketed them for there first toss tonight from 10 miles,liberated them all together and they cleared well as i travelled straight of after them spotted them 6 miles from home and going really well,only to reach home with zero on the loft,waited 15 minutes and got 4 from high out of the south which is a bad sign when they have been split so close to home ,got another 2 ten minutes later ,stood till dark and never got another feather we are talking of raced birds here 1x 4 year old and 1 x 3 year old the rest raced and trained as yb's ,I no the last few miles into Moffat are the worst but this is now getting beyond a joke I would have honestly have been better just keeping them going at home and jumping them into a race trying to get my head round the situation to say i'm sick is a huge understatement

[geordie1234]

Sorry to hear this man

[Leroy]

I'm sure they'll work back for you mate. Good luck with them

[THE FIFER]

It is sickening m8, we can just hope things are going to get better, as it's getting out of hand,so the powers that be must notice it ,

[Guest stb-]

Don't quite no where to start,Have been getting up early morning and working two sections of widowhood cocks ,22 in total also working them at night and what fantastic condition they were in a joy to watch so early in the year,basketed them for there first toss tonight from 10 miles,liberated them all together and they cleared well as i travelled straight of after them spotted them 6 miles from home and going really well,only to reach home with zero on the loft,waited 15 minutes and got 4 from high out of the south which is a bad sign when they have been split so close to home ,got another 2 ten minutes later ,stood till dark and never got another feather we are talking of raced birds here 1x 4 year old and 1 x 3 year old the rest raced and trained as yb's ,I no the last few miles into Moffat are the worst but this is now getting beyond a joke I would have honestly have been better just keeping them going at home and jumping them into a race trying to get my head round the situation to say i'm sick is a huge understatement

mick i had the same twice last week first toss 15 miles percie hammered them , still 8 birds missing not late breed either but birds thats raced , the first bird took 3 hrs . then one at a time all night . gave them a short trainer 6 miles on friday luch time just to try and build there confidence , bloody percie attaked them again expletive remove , all scattered all over the country , 2 still amiss now but prob been nailed . it seems to be epedemic now , your birds will prob have went to grond like some of mine do . hope you get em in morning

 

cheers Rab

[victorious]

Don't quite no where to start,Have been getting up early morning and working two sections of widowhood cocks ,22 in total also working them at night and what fantastic condition they were in a joy to watch so early in the year,basketed them for there first toss tonight from 10 miles,liberated them all together and they cleared well as i travelled straight of after them spotted them 6 miles from home and going really well,only to reach home with zero on the loft,waited 15 minutes and got 4 from high out of the south which is a bad sign when they have been split so close to home ,got another 2 ten minutes later ,stood till dark and never got another feather we are talking of raced birds here 1x 4 year old and 1 x 3 year old the rest raced and trained as yb's ,I no the last few miles into Moffat are the worst but this is now getting beyond a joke I would have honestly have been better just keeping them going at home and jumping them into a race trying to get my head round the situation to say i'm sick is a huge understatement

[victorious]

sorry to here all this from fellow site members,scotland must be hiving with the b..tards my heart goes out to you boys.

[john cumming]

yes its a joke now, all the time n effort getting the birds ready then send them for a toss and they are decimated. put the birds 20 odd mile today missing a good 2 year old grizzle cock?? lost a 3 year old cock on a toss a couple of days ago to, starting to wonder if its worth it

 

 

 

john

 

 

 

:emoticon-0179-headbang:

[andy Burgess]

ouch , sorry to hear that ,its heart braking ,heres hoping most work back for you Mick. i feel its almost reached a peak ,this year i believe will be worse than ever , even the die-hards who swear never to give up may bite the bullet .

[yeboah]

Thanks everyone for your concerns, I no everyone else is going through the same ,Deep down i no at present all we are doing is supplying a food chain for the raptors but like most on here who have raced the doos for so long it is hard to accept not having them ,but with all the related costs nowadays i can accept the fact of fellow fanciers calling it a day,one lousy toss from 10 miles and the team goes from 22 to 6,never lost that many old birds in one race in the forty years i've raced them .

[billt]

Thanks everyone for your concerns, I no everyone else is going through the same ,Deep down i no at present all we are doing is supplying a food chain for the raptors but like most on here who have raced the doos for so long it is hard to accept not having them ,but with all the related costs nowadays i can accept the fact of fellow fanciers calling it a day,one lousy toss from 10 miles and the team goes from 22 to 6,never lost that many old birds in one race in the forty years i've raced them .

 

Yes mate you are right, we are feeding the buggers, 50yrs with them for me and I'm on shut down, first time ever, just can't let them out they are getting hammered, It's been getting worse year by year but this year is exceptional, where are we going from here

[alec guinness]

Thanks everyone for your concerns, I no everyone else is going through the same ,Deep down i no at present all we are doing is supplying a food chain for the raptors but like most on here who have raced the doos for so long it is hard to accept not having them ,but with all the related costs nowadays i can accept the fact of fellow fanciers calling it a day,one lousy toss from 10 miles and the team goes from 22 to 6,never lost that many old birds in one race in the forty years i've raced them .

 

sorry to hear this mike and hope they are about in the morning.

[yeboah]

Yes mate you are right, we are feeding the buggers, 50yrs with them for me and I'm on shut down, first time ever, just can't let them out they are getting hammered, It's been getting worse year by year but this year is exceptional, where are we going from here

Very difficult to see it improving as legislation to change from grade one European protection would take years ,believe it took them 9 years to get it in place ,If a falcon site has a poor hatch they just introduce others that they have reared as the falcon will feed them no problems ,the number of sites in this area has just went out of control in the last few years not counting the one's that have not paired,god only no's the true count in the UK at present,one thing is certain my friend they have all to eat each day to survive .Someone whom i no ,he rings the falcons and has admitted that he does not even no all occupied sites at present .

[Walter swanston]

Like Michael I also try to race pigeons from Moffat and it is becoming soul destroying to try and train them,I keep losing pigeons to falcons and my loft is under constant attack by sparrow hawks, I keep wondering why I am doing this but I am beginning to think about getting them as fit as I can and sending them to race without training if I am goung to lose pigeons I would rather lose them from a race than from training.

[Novice]

Without doubt this year, to date, has been the worst in history for attacks and losses particularly aroung the loft.

I wonder what the reason is.

Have the BOP increased so dramatically over the last year?

Has the mild winter helped their increase?

Have we reached a stage that the numbers of native birds such as the Starling (reported 80% decrease in numbers) have been depleated so much that we have insufficient numbers to make a significant contribution to the diet of BOP?

Did the migratory birds leave these shores for home early because of the fine weather we had earlier?

 

Personally I would be grateful for answers to these questions from any informed source.

However what this illustrates to me is that while we campaign for a change in the law which will take years if ever we really need to rethink our breeding and racing schedules and stop feeding these BOP when they are really dependant on a staple diet of prime pigeon.

For example should we be racing youngsters in August?

Most definately not.

 

I really feel for anyone losing birds at the moment due to predation.

[Guest Tooshy Boy]

KEEP DONKING.//

[Guest stb-]

novice , being interested in most avian life this year in prticular i have noticed that the starlings flying back and forth for grass and straw from the housing schemes a bit up from my own house have only numberd 5 or 6 at a time this year , in previous years they would have landed in the feilds for grass in there 100.s and 1000s at one time , picking there grass and lifting of in a massive swarm .

 

Will be interesting to see if there are many come for slugs worms etc this year as this was a major feeding ground here , with the feilds on the hills only having cattle and sheep . when the young take to the ing they come here in 1000s with the whole family feedingon the plentifull worms and insects . Looks ominus at the moment to say the least

[Novice]

Yes I feel that we are rapidly reaching the point when the songbird population is insufficient to feed the number of predators we currently have.

I include birds such as Magpies and Carrion Crows as predators.

No doubt the corvids will be blamed for the decline in numbers in the song bird population by the RSPB.

If we can restrict the amount of pigeon available we will see a change in the overall situation.

[Guest stb-]

Yes I feel that we are rapidly reaching the point when the songbird population is insufficient to feed the number of predators we currently have.

I include birds such as Magpies and Carrion Crows as predators.

No doubt the corvids will be blamed for the decline in numbers in the song bird population by the RSPB.

If we can restrict the amount of pigeon available we will see a change in the overall situation.

a few weeks back i counted 17 of the black and whites all cackling and hopping about in the woods and feild . Noticed the only pair of blackbirds going mad the otherday and the magpies were offing with there 10 day old babies , you see them hunting the hedges looking for nests but they seldom take the eggs choosing to waite untill the babies are near fledging . Obviously a bigger feed by then ,

[Guest Tooshy Boy]

[yeboah]

With the terrible start this morning with the torrential rain did not get a doo till 6-45 they then worked all day till 4-30,have ended up six down one of which is a four year old ,weather tonight has been heavy rain again with the hills now white up tops with snow .

[billt]

Glad you had most back, let's hope you get the rest, the weather up there is not great though

[Guest stb-]

Mick one good thing about it is thats them trained now they wont need another toss after that , a few days rest for them and they will be 10 times better for it . some good exercise round the loft will suffice from now on

all the best Rab , you will prob still get a few more , itd amazing how far they go and how long they can hide out in trees etc 2 or 3 days at times

Edited April 17, 2012 by stb-

[yeboah]

Glad you had most back, let's hope you get the rest, the weather up there is not great though

No change in weather for next 5 days temp not rising into double figures rain and sleet about will now wrap them up till temp shows an improvement Bloody Global warming my A--

[Guest Tooshy Boy]