High Fliers

[Rooster J. Cogburn]

Today was the highest I have seen birds racing for a long time.Had no idea what direction most of them came from as they seemed to just appear,spiraling from the sky.

 

Have heard stories in the past of birds dropping from great heights and appearing ice cold to the touch on trapping.

 

What experiences or memories do you have from birds racing as high as the heavens??Are there any particular weather conditions,racepoints etc you have noticed where flying at such heights is most common??

[JohnQuinn]

Usually on warm days with blue shies is when they'll get up into the heavens. Can't say i've ever paid attention to what they were like (hot/cold) so canny help there. We were getting them like that from the first Appleby race this year and like you i had no idea which direction the first ones came from.

[Wiley]

Only in tail winds and very good weather. I've had some memorable traps when birds have been up like dots. I've noticed they always are on the line when this happens for us the line we want our birds to come is due north west. But we are lucky enough there's two of us and we look in different directions

[Rooster J. Cogburn]

First thing I heard about it that got me thinking was in a conversation with Jim Hannah a few years ago.He told me about his hen "Westsound" and the day she was 1st West Section 4th Open SNFC Rennes.It was in 1984 and one of the nicest days he'd ever raced the Gold Cup on.The pigeon looked as if it came from North of the loft but he thinks thats just where he seen the bird on its spiral down.

Upon clocking the bird he said it was like holding a block of ice but the birds felt normal 10 minutes later.

 

Also heard Eddie Newcombe's 1st,2nd and 3rd Avranches felt frozen to the touch on arrival as well.

 

Whats the difference air wise the further up you go? Could flying at this height be easier for the pigeon on certain days?

[JohnQuinn]

First thing I heard about it that got me thinking was in a conversation with Jim Hannah a few years ago.He told me about his hen "Westsound" and the day she was 1st West Section 4th Open SNFC Rennes.It was in 1984 and one of the nicest days he'd ever raced the Gold Cup on.The pigeon looked as if it came from North of the loft but he thinks thats just where he seen the bird on its spiral down.

Upon clocking the bird he said it was like holding a block of ice but the birds felt normal 10 minutes later.

 

Also heard Eddie Newcombe's 1st,2nd and 3rd Avranches felt frozen to the touch on arrival as well.

 

Whats the difference air wise the further up you go? Could flying at this height be easier for the pigeon on certain days?

 

The wind is definitely colder the higher you go Lewis, so that might explain it.

[Guest LBuddle]

Les polution and more oxygen up high maybe? A higher percentage of oxygen can only help

[Novice]

Les polution and more oxygen up high maybe? A higher percentage of oxygen can only help

 

I could be wrong but I thought that when the Olympics were held in Mexico (high altitude) that the problen for athletes was the lack of oxygen.

They had to train especially to run at altitude.

[scottym7]

Hi Lewis

My birds were dots in the sky on Saturday as well and they came from Carronshore area which was not good for me.

 

Scotty M

[geordie1234]

I could be wrong but I thought that when the Olympics were held in Mexico (high altitude) that the problen for athletes was the lack of oxygen.

They had to train especially to run at altitude.

Yip higher up thinner the air but no sure if doos fly that high to be affected by that

[Rooster J. Cogburn]

Yip higher up thinner the air but no sure if doos fly that high to be affected by that

 

Went to the Clarkston and District presentation night with Davie Elliot as guest.He talked about it a bit and seeing the birds so high on Sunday made me think back to it.

 

Suppose it will all be determined by weather and wind on the day as to the height the birds will choose to fly to make it easiest fro themselves.He was of the belief though that a number of national winning birds in the past were high fliers and touched on the thinner air offering less resistance in flight,being one of the reasons aircrafts fly at the altitude they do.He said he himself has actually witnessed birds flying at these heights through a set of field glasses on a clear day as well as telling a story of a pilot friend of his and Eddie Newcombe who has seen the heights some of the migratory birds fly at first hand.

Was interesting to listen to even if its just theory.

 

I often wonder if wind direction is different with height as well

 

There will be some science to it I'm sure, but its all above my head(quite literally)

[Guest stb-]

they ride on the thermal ceiling if its 500ft they use it if its 2000ft they use it

 

defo less oxygen at height but requires less work to travel a good distance

[dava]

an old mentor of mine that i had a lot of respect for used to say when the bird is superfit and its lungs are functioning to there optimim the higher it can go and stay for longer peirods of time thats the reason they feel freezing to the touch when they put up the super performance and i dont think he was far wrong

[Guest stb-]

they will only go as high as the atmopheric pressure will allow on the given day , on certain days when young birds are out normally clear blue skies they go up till a batch of 60 looks like a small dot and you wonder if they will ever come down , to be honest ive never handled them when they have dropped back down from that height

[maverick]

Went to the Clarkston and District presentation night with Davie Elliot as guest.He talked about it a bit and seeing the birds so high on Sunday made me think back to it.

 

Suppose it will all be determined by weather and wind on the day as to the height the birds will choose to fly to make it easiest fro themselves.He was of the belief though that a number of national winning birds in the past were high fliers and touched on the thinner air offering less resistance in flight,being one of the reasons aircrafts fly at the altitude they do.He said he himself has actually witnessed birds flying at these heights through a set of field glasses on a clear day as well as telling a story of a pilot friend of his and Eddie Newcombe who has seen the heights some of the migratory birds fly at first hand.

Was interesting to listen to even if its just theory.

 

I often wonder if wind direction is different with height as well

 

There will be some science to it I'm sure, but its all above my head(quite literally)

 

The birds the pilot seen were barheaded geese have spoke with eddie and the pilot about this eddie was asking what was the highest he had seen pigeons

[maverick]

WHAT HIGHT CAN PIGEONS MANAGE ABOVE SEA LEVEL

[Guest IB]

I understand that Consett, the point the NW pigeons were liberated from on Sunday 26th August, is 1000 feet above sea level. Maybe some of the folk that live near there can confirm that?

[peter pandy]

Where I worked in the Cotswolds the loft was exactly 1,000 feet above sea level. I have observed Midland National birds travelling Northwards at least 1,000 feet above where I was.

Eddie Newcombe told me many years ago that the winners always are the high fliers and the ones you see at near ground level are the also rans. Good topic Lewis.

[geordie1234]

Heard many stories about how pigeons who were well up in the race or winners dropping out the sky from great height

[Guest Owen]

I think that I under normal conditions there would be less oxygen and more wind up high. Obviously the wind could be a following wind and help the birds to fly quicker. Pigeons are always going to try to protect themselves from preditors and would normally fly in bunches as a way of doing this but there are at least another couple of ways they can do it. The first one is when they fly very low over water even at the risk of being grabbed by a wave and sucked in. The other is to fly at a great hieght. I have always believed that it takes a very fit pigeon to fly at altitude and I always like to see my birds exercise at hieght because I know then that they are fit and enjoying their fly.

[maverick]

First thing I heard about it that got me thinking was in a conversation with Jim Hannah a few years ago.He told me about his hen "Westsound" and the day she was 1st West Section 4th Open SNFC Rennes.It was in 1984 and one of the nicest days he'd ever raced the Gold Cup on.The pigeon looked as if it came from North of the loft but he thinks thats just where he seen the bird on its spiral down.

Upon clocking the bird he said it was like holding a block of ice but the birds felt normal 10 minutes later.

 

Also heard Eddie Newcombe's 1st,2nd and 3rd Avranches felt frozen to the touch on arrival as well.

 

Whats the difference air wise the further up you go? Could flying at this height be easier for the pigeon on certain days?

 

Eddie Newcombe told myself and others the day he won 1st 2nd 3rd national these birds felt cold in the hand and they had dropped from a great height down to the loft, when Ian Henderson won the national he said his bird dropped through a gap in the clouds and this bird felt cold for these birds to be up at the height they were they would have to be super fit and in super health.These bird could be well over a MILE up in the sky

[ovy1255]

when you go on google earth and hover your cursor over a point like consett you can read off at the bottom longditude latitude and height above sea level consett is just below 1000 ft but if you look on derby arona site there is a bit on pigeon gps mapping you will see that birds were liberated on mount tide and flew no problem.some groups would not go through the cloud and flew out to sea at high altitude to area where no clouds before desending and returning to island,and some groups dived through the clouds at a fast pace, worth a look.birds liberated at 25,000ft.

[peter pandy]

Eh !!.