sapper756

Top racing from a loft on form. Well done Dyke

The Joe Murphy Column I start this week’s column by highlighting some interesting statistics on some of the winning pigeons from the national races flown this year. The Port Seton partnership of Sinclair Thompson & son Sinclair timed in their blue bar hen ‘Seton Bluebelle’ who raced to Newark as a young bird. Then last year as a yearling she flew the club race programme on roundabout, and she was then sent to the SNFC Brighton race sitting 8- day eggs and she won 1 st region B; 1 st east section 1 st open SNFC from an entry of 1480 birds flying 272 miles. This year she once again flew the federation programme on roundabout and she was sent to the Upper Heyford race after spending the whole afternoon with her cock, and she won 1 st region B 1 st east section B 22 nd open flying a distance of 287 miles. Breeding of ‘Seton Bluebelle’ is as follows her sire is an Albrecht direct from Taylor Brothers of Newbiggin by Sea. Dam of ‘Bluebelle’ is a Van Drop a daughter out of Bob Donaldson’s ‘Good Hen’ who bred a lot of UNC winners. While talking to Sinclair he looked like he was going to win 2 nd open in the SNRPC race from Eastbourne this weekend 1 st July 2023 when he timed 9 ½ hours on the wing. Sire is a Geerdix (Whiten Sylvester) and the dam of this 2 nd open Eastbourne winner is ‘Seton Queen’ the (Scottish Homing Union Bird of the Year 2016) she also won the SHU Dewar Trophy for (Scotland’s Bird of the Year 2016) this wonderful hen won 286 th open SNFC Buckingham from an entry of 4328 birds; 45 th open SNFC Littlehampton 4482 birds; 45 th open SNFC Ypres 2324 birds and 2 nd open SNFC Roye from an entry of 1135 birds. HOW MANY OF US WOULD LOVE TO OWN A PIGEON THAT WON 4 TIMES IN NATIONAL RACING IN THE SAME SEASON. See Picture of this wonderful hen. SNFC Alencon This year’s SNFC Gold Cup race from Alencon was flown on Sunday 2 nd July with the convoy of 801 birds entered by 177 members liberated at 06-30am into a very light south west wind. The leading pigeons timed into the south section were W V Nuil from Gretna, Billy Jamieson from Annan and Dennis Anderson of Annan who won 2 nd open last year. These 3 birds were timed between 20-30 and 20-50pm. Dennis and Junior timed in a bird each. Dennis chequer cock was sent to SNFC Upper Heyford on widowerhood and won 144 th open. He then went to the SNFC Brighton and was 19 th section 49 th open he was then repaired and sent to Alencon sitting 11 days on eggs at basketing, his 2 nd flight had burst well through and I’ve sent you a photo of his wing. He was never trained after Brighton and was out for exercise morning and night and all the cocks were allowed to do what they wanted around the lofts with no pressure; with Junior and I enjoying sitting watching them for hours cracking around the lofts. Then on handling my 2 entries for Alencon we both agreed the chequer cock just edged the condition. He now wins a SNFC Silver award this year for winning his 3 rd channel prize. His performances are as follows; 2020 he won 1 st section & 21 st open Reims; 2021 he won 12 th section 17 th open Guernsey and now in 2023 he is 3 rd section & should be in the top 10 in the open from Alencon 2023. Joe in the past 13 SNFC races have won 7 section positions in the TOP 10 in national races; these are as follows; 1 st 2 nd 3 rd , 5 th , 5 th , 7 th , 8 th all in the top 10 positions; Please see details of mine and Junior’s timers from Alencon. ‘Cipo’ Chequer Pied Cock SU19 S 2225; winner of the following positions; 8 th sect 188 th open SNFC Young Bird National 2019; In 2021 won 12 th section 178 th open SNFC Maidstone- 2021 won 5 th section 23 rd open SNFC Yeovil; 2021 won 17 th section 23 rd open SNFC Guernsey; 2022 won 38 th section 156 th open SNFC Upper Hayford; 38 th section 70 th open SNFC Yeovil; 2 nd section 2 nd open SNFC Alencon; 5 th section 13 th open SNFC Carentan; This same season he won 6 th Titan Games Long Distance Category & Scottish Homing Union Ogilvie Trophy. ‘Bonnyrigg Lion Heart’ chequer cock SU18 S 3182; winner of the following positions; 1 st section 21 st open SNFC Reims 2020; then in 2021 won the following; 37 th section 239 th open SNFC Huntington; 7 th section 147 th open SNFC Maidstone; 12 th section 17 th open SNFC Guernsey & in 2022 won 5 th section 34 th open SNFC Brighton 2022. Both cocks bred and raced by Dennis Anderson Snr of Annan. ‘Super Ally’ blue cock SU 20 S 6420 won the following position in 2022; 27 th section 44 th open SNFC Alencon; he was bred by Dennis Anderson Senior and raced by grandson Dennis Anderson Junior. SNFC Alencon 2023 Then I heard of 2 cracking pigeons into East Lothian to the loft of W McCormack & son of Tranent at 21.00 who are probable winners of 1 st region B 1 st open well done. My dear friends Sinclair Thomson & son 2 Sinclair of Port Seton are probable 2 nd region and Open, They are also probable 2 nd open SNRPC Eastbourne national flown this same weekend, (but I have not seen the probable result as yet as it is not out) However it is great flying and well done to both Sinclair’s. Fife had 2 outstanding pigeons from the Alencon race that crossed over the Firth of Forth about 22-00 hours to the lofts of R Cook of Rosyth at 22-22pm who wins 1 st region C 4 th open and Hugh Gormley of Valleyfield timed at 22-28 to win 2 nd region C 5 th open. I remember going to verify Hugh’s national winner from Dorchester (3) in 1983 which was quite a while ago. As many of you know you have to let the pigeon out and after it’s fly must land on the loft and go in through the trap. Well Hugh’s hen flew and flew and, in the end, we went into the house and had a cup of tea while waiting on her to land and I watched her go into the loft. Great memories and well done to you both with your 2 outstanding pigeons. Another household name within the pigeon sport is Billy Jamieson of Annan who probably wins 1 st region A 1 st south section 6 th open. My dear old friend Derek Hay of Kirkintilloch timed at 05-28am the following morning and is the probable winner of 1 st region E 1 st west region 10 th open with his little hen ‘Kirksyde Kendall’. Derek and I were both on the SNFC management committee away back in 2005 when I was the clubs press officer. I have highlighted Derek’s birds and performances over the years with loft reports; and his birds have put up some outstanding open results when you consider that he does not live in a favourable part of the country. His winner is Kirksyde Kendall, is a direct daughter of his ‘Little Owl’ who I’m led to believe is the only bird in the history of the West Region to win a Silver Award for winning 3 times flying over 600 miles. The Kendall part of the name is after Derek & Linda’s first granddaughter. Derek sent me a photo he had taken of the pigeon was within 5 minutes of her being timed in. Well done my old mate. My dear friends Charlie & Glen Cameron of Arbroath are 4 th region C 12 th open; more importantly for Margaret and I is they are the Probable winners of 1 st bird north of the River Tay and therefore will y win the Kevin J Murphy Memorial trophy for 1 st bird north of the Tay, well done lads. As a matter of interest last years winner of Kevin’s Memorial trophy was Donald McPherson of Aberdeen. Donald once again wins 1 st region G 1 st North section & 131 st open flying a distance of 610 miles, this time with the pigeon who won 2 nd region G from Carentan in 2022 flying 544 miles. The ever-consistent Davie Jamieson of Linlithgow wins 1 st region D 17 th open with another very consistent fancier Liam Byrne of Glasgow winning 1 st region F 42 nd open. Congratulation to all the fanciers who made the result and once again a vote of ‘WELL DONE’ to the club secretary Donna Thomson and her partner Scott McEwen on having the probable result out so quick. The race did not finish until after 4pm yesterday in the north of Scotland and today Tuesday at 2pm I received a phone call from Charlie Cameron telling me the result was out and he and Glen look probable winners of Kevin’s trophy. They were club mates of Kevin and swapped birds with each other. Their probable 12 th open winner (see photo Charlie sent me) sire was bred from their good cock ‘Bobby’ who won the north section twice. He was mated to ‘My Little Rachel’, Kevin’s winner of 2 nd region C 4 th open SNFC Alencon flying 573 miles. As a matter of interest, she was a granddaughter of Gilmour Brothers 1 st open SNFC Falaise winner ‘Robbie’s Boy’. The dam of Charlie & Glens winning hen is bred from a son of ‘Branch’ winner of 2 nd region 3 rd open SNFC Roye and the following year won 1 st region C 1 st open SNFC Roye when he was mated to a ‘Malfait Hen’. So, to say that all 4 of us, Charlie & Glen and Margaret and I are over the moon that our dear friends have won the Kevin J Murphy Trophy in the SNFC WELL DONE LADS. I have just received a phone call from Michael Main of Portlethen in the north section of the SNFC, Michael has 6 birds at the race and does not have one home today 3 days after liberation. The race in the north section does not close until 4pm this afternoon. Mike told me it has rained cats and dogs all day. While Michael sitting in the kitchen looking out of the window at his loft; he saw a pigeon land on the board and go right into the loft. The ETS did not register the bird so he went out and believe it or not the bird was not one of his entries. It had an F registered ring on its leg, so he contacted the SHU and the bird belongs to J Proctor of Kirkcaldy who purchased it from Jock King. He sent 9 birds to the Alencon race and only has one home and now hears about this pigeon away in the north section. Michael thinks the bird has come over the north sea as he did not think it would have overshot it loft. He is going to look after the bird and send it down in the transporter this week when it goes down to Fife for the Brighton 2 race which is to be flown on the 8 th July. I also saw on the lib line that Donald McPherson is the only north 3 section fancier to time in from the race. Donald won the Kevin J Murphy Memorial Trophy last year for being the first bird north of the River Tay on the open result, and I was wondering if it was the same pigeon. However, Michael Main informs me that Donald lost the blue cock during the racing season; which was a pity. SNRPC Eastbourne Race was flown this weekend 1 st July with an entry of 244 birds, the wind was a strong west wind and the convoy would be blown up the east side of the country. I noticed that my dear friend Sinclair Thomson of Port Seton had a good bird in probable 2 nd open with others in 8 th 15 th 35 th open. They are having a very good season as they have timed in another good bird in the SNFC Gold Cup race from Alencon mentioned above. Many Thanks News from Ron Fewings whom I wrote about a couple of weeks ago, Ron wrote, ‘Hi Joe, I have to write to say your article about ‘Joe’s Joy’ was impressive and I thank you for giving her a great home coming. I have a lovely sister in my young bird team as I obviously left her parent together so I’ll keep you posted specially if they as good as ‘Joe’s Joy’. Once again, all the best your friend Ron’. Dewar Trophy Winners Many of you will know that I’m in the process of compiling a book on the SHU Dewar Trophy Winners. This week I have been proof reading the stories on the winning birds, however I would like the fancier who assisted me with some information on George Wilson of Wilson Brothers of Edinburgh who won the Dewar Trophy in 1977 to please contact me. I’m sorry I cannot remember this person’s name and I don’t have a phone number or email address to assist me contact them. Results North of Scotland Federation News from George Duthie who informs us that 39 members sent 400 birds to Strathkinness (2) race on 1 st July with the convoy liberated into a light west wind. The East Section took the first 30 open positions with Peterhead’s Neil Holt taking the top honours by winning the first 2 places plus 6 th open. His club mates Maskame & Cordiner are 3 rd & 4 th with G Findlay of the same club winning 5 th & 7 th spots. Colin McRae of Fraserburgh & District wins 7 th 8 th 9 th & 10 th east section and open. The West section had 18 membe rs s en di ng 166 bi rds with Buckie & District J Cumming taking the top honour in the west section who had 18 members sending 166 birds; he also won 31 st open, with Fulton & Ritchie Loft 1 of Devern Valley club win 2 nd west section 32 nd open; Ryan Hay & Family of the same club won 3 rd 4h & 5 th west section 34 th 35 th & 36 th open, with A Milne again from Devern Valley club wins 7 th & 8 th section 37 th & 38 th open with club mate G Wilson winning 9 th section 39 th open and Keith’s A J Reid wins 10 th west section 40 th open. Clubs First Bird N HOLT wins Peterhead & District doing a velocity of 1536. Colin McRae of Fraserburgh & District club velocity 1459. J S Robertson wins Inverurie with a velocity of 1436. A Higgins of Fraserburgh West End recorded a velocity of 1412. J Cumming wins Buckie & District on 1261. Fulton & Ritchie Loft 1 win Devern Valley with a velocity of 1209. Keith club winner is A J Reid on 1148 & Elgin & District winner is J Jack on 1016. Congratulations go to N Holt on topping the federation and well done to J Cumming on winning the West Section. Almond Valley Federation News from secretary Lynn Stewart regarding the Billericay race flown on 24 th of June with the 185 birds being liberated at 06:15 hours. Taking 1 st west section 1 st open are Thomson Brothers & I Thomson of Carnwath club, they were doing a velocity of 1266. John Bird of West Calder club won 2 nd 5 th 6 th & 9 th west section 2 nd 5 th 6 th & 10 th open positions. John Hadfield of the same club won 3 rd 4 th 7 th 8 th & 9 th west section winning 3 rd 4 th 8 th 9 th & 10 th open. J Fairley of Balerno won 1 st 2 nd 3 rd & 4 th EA & 7 th 15 th 22 nd & 26 th open. T Gavin of Fauldhouse wins 1 st 2 nd & 3 rd club 13 th 14 th & 16 th open. Law & Brady of Bonnybridge wins 1 st NO 4 & 17 th open. Prize money J Bird of West Calder wins £20.00; Burnside & Drysdale win East Calder £20.00. Summary list of money winners; J Bird West Calder £87.20. J Fairley Balerno £ 59.10; J Hadfield West Calder £ 34.20; Thomson Bros & I Thomson £ 20.00; T Gavin Fauldhouse £ 20.00; Law & Brady Bonnybridge £ 20.00; Burnside & Drysdale East Calder £ 4.50 and C Ross of Balerno £ 0.90 Total payout £245.90. Space Weather News 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table Issued 03-07-2023 UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2023 Jul 03 170 5 2 2023 Jul 04 170 10 3 2023 Jul 05 165 8 3 2023 Jul 06 155 5 2 2023 Jul 07 155 5 2 2023 Jul 08 155 5 2 2023 Jul 09 155 15 4 2023 Jul 10 155 10 3 2023 Jul 11 160 5 2 2023 Jul 12 165 20 5 2023 Jul 13 170 30 5 2023 Jul 14 175 8 3 2023 Jul 15 175 8 3 2023 Jul 16 175 8 3 2023 Jul 17 175 8 3 2023 Jul 18 175 8 3 2023 Jul 19 170 8 3 2023 Jul 20 170 8 3 2023 Jul 21 170 8 3 2023 Jul 22 160 8 3 2023 Jul 23 160 5 2 2023 Jul 24 155 5 2 2023 Jul 25 155 5 2 2023 Jul 26 160 5 2 2023 Jul 27 160 5 2 2023 Jul 28 165 5 2 2023 Jul 29 165 5 2 Please continue to keep the news flowing; to Joe Murphy Mystical Rose Cottage 2 Flutorum Avenue Thornton by Kirkcaldy KY1 4BD or phone 01592 770331 or Email to joejmurphy1@gmail.com REMEMBER THE J IN THE MIDDLE or log onto www.elimarpigeons.com www.fancierchat.co.uk www.pigeon-chat.co.uk who wish my weekly contribution portfolio on pigeon topics from Scotland

Copied from Facebook

How are Returns from today's races?

Please post your club/Federation/Organisation liberation time on this topic Good luck

Please post your club/Federation/Organisation liberation time on this topic Good luck

Copied from Facebook

Where are you racing from this weekend, and with which club/federation/Organisation?

The Joe Murphy Column I start this week’s column by highlighting another two fanciers who have won with Murphy pigeons; this time it is the partnership of Colin Nicol and his brother John who live in Ayrshire. The brothers lost their father John (senior) in February this year, who was 85 years old (see photo) and had pigeons from 1945 when his father returned for WW2, so the brothers are 3 rd generation fanciers. Thankfully they decided to continue with the birds after their father’s passing. They purchased 4 birds at our son Kevin’s obituary sale and 2 of these birds are responsible for breeding them a pair of mealy cocks, with one of these as yearlings putting up outstanding results this year. The mealy cock was paired to a barren hen and was driving her hard to the nest when sent to the Melton Mowbray race and he was the brothers 3 rd pigeon home after being 10 1⁄2 hours on the wing. Colin told me; ‘Joe he was as ‘Fresh as Paint’ when he arrived home. He was then given an open bowl, and was soon back on the drive; chasing the barren hen all over the sky. He was then sent to the Federation Billericay open race a distance of 352 miles with a convoy of 120 birds (which was convoyed by Lanarkshire federation). He came up trumps and won 1 st club 1 st north section 1 st federation doing a velocity of 1253 ypm. He was once again given the open bowl and was soon back in the drive with the barren hen. Colin revealed that his dad would have stopped the mealy cock, as he had flown to the coast, as he liked to stopping yearlings then. However, the mealy cock’s brother had a couple of broken flights so Colin decided to stop him for the year and he continued to keep an eye on the Billericay winner to see if the race had taken anything out of him. As the ‘baren hen’ had been put in beside the youngsters and the cock was given a few tosses from Ardrossan; he was then repaired to the barren hen and slipped dummy eggs under them 10 days prior to going to the Guernsey Federation open race. The mealy cock was given a training toss from Livingstone on the Wednesday prior to going to the Guernsey open race which is a distance of 438 miles. The mealy cock was timed after being 9 hours 8 minutes on the wing and he won the federation by a clear 50 minutes from this Guernsey open race. So, for this cock to top the federation from their 2 open races was truly fantastic and needless to say they are over the moon with the mealy cocks’ achievements. As I have previously mentioned the partnership purchased the parents at Kevin’s obituary sale. Sire of the mealy cock was also a mealy cock bred in my stock loft from a Gareth Rankin cock; who was from the last son of Gareth’s No 1 sock cock, and the dam was a double granddaughter of ‘22299’. The Rankin cock was mated to a hen bred down from Jock King’s famous ‘Mary’ who won 10 times from National races and was a Gold Award winner. The dam of the mealy cock was a stock hen; her sire was bred by my good friends Tom & Scott McEwen of Elphinstone, being a direct son of their famous ‘TMAC’ a SNFC Silver Award winner his national positions were as follows; 21st region B 85th open Clermont 506 miles; 3 rd region B 5 th open Alencon Gold Cup 533 miles (Kevin won 4 th open SNFC in this race with My Little Rachel) 17 th region B 82nd open Clermont to win his Silver Award and he went on to win 13th region B 47th open Alencon. You may remember that I wrote about Karl Murphy from Ireland who won with these same lines in my article of 7 th of July Joe M. ‘TMAC’ was paired to a Mark Gilbert hen who was bred down from a son of Euro Diamond when mated to a daughter of ‘Minstral’ so you can see both parents have excellent breeding in their bloodlines. Needless to say, both Tom; Marlene & Scott are happy for the success Colin and John have accomplished, and I send my heartfelt congratulations on their excellent success and I’m happy to know that my breeding programme continues to breed good winning pigeons, and I thank them and the other fanciers who have notified me of their success with my bloodlines, and I wish Colin and John all the best for the future. I have added a few photographs of the brothers with their winning mealy cock. Dad John and a group one at the federation presentation with their dad’s brothers John & Barry (who races on his own) at Irvine with Ian Cameron and his wife presenting the prizes. I thank Colin and John for sending me the above information and the photographs to go with this report, and I wish them all the best in the future with their team of pigeon’s. Marvellous Achievement I’m also looking forward with interest to read about the fantastic pigeon that was timed at 21-51-27 on the day from a 06-00 liberation being the ONLY BIRD ON THE DAY INTO THE UK from the Barcelona International race this past weekend. What an achievement this is and I send my congratulations to Mark, Nigel and Troy; The Gilbert Team. What a pigeon!!!!! You have to take your hat off to this wonderful fancier when you see that he won 1 st open BICC & 6 th open International Pau from an entry of 12631 birds, truly outstanding; A GREAT FANCIER, and I’m pleased to remember that I took our late son Kevin down to meet him and the Crammond & Langstaff partnership. He was over the moon to meet them and spoke about it to everyone he met, Great Memories!!! Stray On Sunday the 9 th of July as we drove into our driveway, I noticed a blue bar racing pigeon walking about our neighbours across the road from our house. The bird was looking for something to drink and as I approached it; it was not frightened and my neighbour Christine came out, she thought it was one of my own birds. I explained it was a race bird and asked if she or her husband would open their garage door and I would walk the bird into the garage which was quite dark. The did son and I managed to get the bird into the garage and closed the door, then I went round the back and went into the garage there. I picked the bird up and its number was NEHU2019TN 5341. I reported it to the NEHU and the bird belonged to Derick Porter who contacted me and I have managed to get the pigeon taken down to Gretna and Mick Brennan will collect it and take it down to where Derick lives and release it, it should make it home from there, Many Thanks Received an email from Christopher Tweed of Ireland who wrote; ‘Hi Joe, I trust you are well. Just had a read at your column in the BHW, and we would like to thank you so much for your kind words. It was wonderful to find out about the coincidence with my dad's Rangers shirt & Jock Strang! Dad has said to pass on the following, “Thank you very much for your hard work and kind words Joe. ‘Tommy’s Dream’ will now be kept in the loft until March time next year; just to protect her from any danger. Then we will ‘God Willing’, have her back racing next year and build her up for St Malo race hopefully going ‘GOLD’. You Joe; will be the FIRST to know if we get the Gold! Please keep in touch Joe, and we wish you the best health and strength for many years to come. Best wishes, Chris’. I also received a phone call from my dear friend Jock Strang who was over the moon that the Tweed Family had done so well with pigeons down from his stock. We also had a good laugh about Tommy in his Rangers top. Unfortunately, Jock’s wife Betty is not very well and I know that everyone will wish her all the best. Jock also told me to keep up the articles as he looks forward to my column on a weekly basis. Cheers mate. SNFC Alencon The convoy of 801 birds entered by 177 members was liberated at 06-30 hours into a very light south west wind, with the convoy clearing the site immediately in a north west direction. Dennis Anderson of Annan sent me an email which was as follows; ‘Dear Joe, please see details of mine and junior’s timers from Alencon. My good chequer cock wins 3 rd section A 9 th open this year. He was sent to SNFC Upper Heyford on Widowerhood and was 144th open he was then sent to SNFC Brighton and won 19th section A 49th open. He was then repaired and sent to Alencon sitting 11 days on eggs at basketing, with his 2 nd flight had burst well through and I’ve sent you a photo of his wing. He was never trained after Brighton and was out for exercise morning and night and all the cocks were allowed to do what they wanted around the lofts with no pressure. Me and Jnr enjoyed sitting watching them for hours cracking around the lofts, on handling my 2 entries for Alencon we both agreed the chequer cock ‘Bonnyrigg Lion Heart’ just edged the condition. Of the 9 SNFC races competing he has 8 wining positions including 1 st , 3 rd , 5 th , 7 th , 12 th & 19th section A and he now should win his SNFC Silver Award this year for winning his 3 rd channel prize. These are as follows; 1 st section A 21st open Reims 2020; 12 th section A 17th open Guernsey 2021 and now 3 rd section A 9 th open Alencon 2023. ‘Bonnyrigg Lion Heart’ has also won the following positions; 37th sect 239th open SNFC Huntington 2021; 7th sect 147th open SNFC Maidstone 2021; 5 th sect 34th open SNFC Brighton 2022. Dennis Anderson Snr of Annan bred ‘Super Ally’ blue cock who is raced by Dennis Junior and he has won the following positions; 27th sect 44th open SNFC Alencon 2022 and now wins 6 th section A 36th probable open Alencon 2023. Please find photos of Junior holding ‘Bonnyrigg Lion Heart’ just after we timed him on Sunday night and also a photograph of Juniors blue cock ‘Super Ally’ just after he timed him on Monday morning. My thanks to Dennis for the above information and I anticipate both birds going to the last SNFC from Falaise this week. I have spoken to Willie McCormack who won the Alencon race and he is going to get his son to forward me some photographs which I will add to next week’s article as Willie has also supplied me with information on the SNFC Gold Cup winner. Something to look forward too!!!! SNFC Huntingdon There was a delay in the official SNFC result coming out as there are 2 liberations sites at Huntington with some fanciers having different measurements, so the Secretary Donna Thomson had to have these checked out and make sure that everyone was flying the correct distances. Hence the reason the result was not out until Monday after she had checked with the SHU offices. Once again, she has done a wonderful job and the open result was out be teatime. There was an entry of 1679 birds sent by 256 members to the race; these were broken down into the following sections; Section A had 255 birds, Section B 355 birds; Section C 436 birds; Section D 230 birds, Section E 205 birds, Section F 75 birds and Section G 123 birds. The birds were liberated at 08-30 am into a very light south west wind and the convoy cleared the site heading directly north. Winner of 1 st & 4 th region B probable 1 st & 4 th open is Gordon Turnbull of Duns flying a distance of 253 miles and his winner recording a velocity of 1680.9 and his 2 nd pigeon doing 1659 timed 3 1⁄2 minutes later. Michael Robert Gilles of the same Duns is 2 nd region and open with Robert Walker of Eyemouth winning 3 rd region B and open. 1 st region C 5 th open is Ian Scott of Forfar who was flying 317 miles and recorded a velocity of 1653, his club mate David Liddle wins 2 nd region D and 7 th open with another Angus federation loft to the fore in my good friends Charlie & Glen Cameron of Arbroath who had a fantastic race winning 8 th 9 th 10th 11 th 15th 16th 17th 18th 20th 33rd 34th open plus more birds on the open result. Great flying lads and well done, I will be looking out for your name in this week’s race from Falaise. David J Armour of Leven in Fife has the first bird winning 13th open he is also 19th open. J Pedder of Aberdeen wins 1 st region G 25th open flying 343 miles, with N Holt of Peterhead club winning 2 nd region G 26th open flying 359 miles; John Hodgson of Annan flying 221 miles wins 1 st region A 31st open. With my old pal Jock Strang of California winning 1 st region D 96th open flying 294 miles. J Wilkinson of Glen Mavis wins 1 st & 2 nd region E and wins 161st & 164th open flying 289 miles. The winner of 1 st region F but no open position is J Shepherd of Beith in Ayrshire who was flying 296 miles. All the open positions were won by 1⁄4 past 2 in the afternoon, so a great race and a pity about the problem with the measurements and ALL the fanciers having to be remeasured. Which obviously was quite time consuming, and yet the result was still out on the day after this problem was solved, well done to Donna and everyone else who helped out with this problem. You will see from the results below that the Fife Federation winner was doing a faster velocity but I’m led to believe the fancier is not in the national. As I write this column the birds will be race marked tomorrow for the last SNFC old bird race from Falaise, and the 2023 old bird season will be all over; by the time this article comes out, however I wish everyone all the best. The feedback I have received this year from fanciers I have spoken too is that the ‘Buzz’ is now back into the SNFC so let us hope this continues. As I also notice more and more fanciers who broke away and joined the SNRPC are now racing in the SNFC for channel racing. I suppose with having 2 nationals fanciers now have more chances to compete in the inland events hence the upsurge in birdage for these races. Let’s hope this continues as it is good for our sport of pigeon racing up here in Scotland. Results Arbroath Racing Pigeon Club News from Charlie Cameron with the Huntington race flown on Friday 7 th July in conjunction with the SNFC race with 3 members sending 46 birds, these were liberated at 08-30 am into a south west wind. Charlie & son Cameron took the first 2 places with the pigeons split by decimals, Les McKay is 3 rd & 4 th with A & A Shepherd in 5th place. Kingdom Racing Pigeon Association Were also at the Huntingdon race with 8 members sending 60 birds, liberated at 08-30 am into a south west wind. Rosyth’s Lou Mitchell takes the first 3 places, plus 9 th 10th & 11 th with E & E Young of Leuchars club winning 4th open, with Chic Dinsdale in 5th sport and Gary Hall in 6th spot. North of Scotland Federation News from George Duthie with the result of the Maidstone race, with 38 members sending 241 birds these were liberated into a light south east wind. Fraserburgh & District’s Colin McRae tops the federation and east section (21 members sending 153 birds) on 1833 velocity; he is also 6 th & 9 th section and open. J S Robertson of Inverurie club is 2 nd east section and open with Peterhead’s G Findlay winning 3 rd section and open position. A Higgins of Fraserburgh West End club wins 4 th section and open with club mate Robbie Higgins next in 5 th place. R Barclay of the same West End club is 7 th with A W Buchan of Fraserburgh West End club winning 8 th spot and R Bain of Fraserburgh & District winning 10th place. The West Section of the federation had 17 members sending 88 birds; P Thomson of Elgin & District wins 1 st & 2 nd west section 11 th & 12th open. A Wilson of Devern Valley club wins 3 rd 4 th & 6 th west section 16th 17 th & 20th open. A Hay from Devern Valley club wins 5 th 7 th & 10th section 18th 21 st & 35th open. Keith’s A J Reid wins 8 th west section 30th open with A Milne of Devern Valley club wins 9 th west section 34th open. Clubs First Bird Fraserburgh & District winner is Colin McRae with a velocity of 1833. J S Robertson of Inverurie club wins with a velocity of 1831.807. Peterhead & District’s G Findlay wins with a velocity of 1831.554. A Higgins wins Fraserburgh West End with a velocity of 1816. P Thomson wins Elgin & District with a velocity of 1747. A Wilson wins Devern Valley on 1624, and A J Reid of Keith club wins with a velocity of 1545. Well Done to Colin McRae on Topping the Federation and also well done to P Thomson on winning the West Section. Kingdom Racing Pigeon Association News from Pete Penman who writes; ‘Hi Joe, the KRPA held our latest race in conjunction with the SNFC from Huntingdon. The original race was to be from Brighton, but with the adverse weather forecast for the weekend the officials decided to go to Huntingdon for a Friday race. The convoy was liberated at 8-30 am in a light south west wind, with the leaders again making light work of the 280-300 miles. Rosyth's Lou Mitchell had a field day taking the first 3 places, with two birds drop together. First in the clock was a 3-year-old red Jan Teeling hen on roundabout. The dam being a Frank Tasker bred by Dyke Armour of Levin. She was jumped straight into Kettering for her first race of the season. Next was a 2- year-old grizzle bred by club mate Alan Dow from his Welsh grizzle family. In third place was a yearling chequer cock whose sire is a DeWeerdt bred by John Skelton and the dam was another Frank Tasker, also bred by Dyke Armour which has notched up 4 x first prizes in the club. Lou was also 9 th ,10th ,11 th & 14th which was tremendous flying. Fourth place went to Eric & Liz Young of Leuchars with a 3-year-old hen bought from Bob Colvin of the North East of England. She lost her mate earlier in the season and was flying spare, but took up with a cock last weekend. So, to avoid her from becoming eggy Eric put her in beside the youngsters before putting her back with the cock the night before basketing and she came up trumps. Next, we saw Coaltown's Chic Dinsdale with a 3-year-old chequer hen sitting 16-day eggs. Her sire is the Coaltown club legend ‘Black Bob’ who won from 50 miles to 600 miles. Gary Hall took 6 th place with a yearling Vandenabeele chequer cock sitting 8-day eggs. Dave Whyte took the red card at St. Serfs; whilst at Coaltown club saw Pete Penman take 3 rd place with the same red hen that was also 3 rd club from Ramsgate. Once again thank you Joe, for including us in your weekly column yours Pete.’ Fife Federation of Homing Pigeon Societies; News from Geordie Todd with the result of the Huntingdon race flown in conjunction with the SNFC; we had an entry of 227 birds and these were liberated at 08-30am into a light south west wind. Topping the federation is John Harcus of St Andrews with a pigeon doing 1701 ypm; John is also 5 th & 6 th open. J D Armour of Methilhaven club had a good race winning 2 nd 3 rd 8 th 9 th & 10th open; with Kennoway B Chalmers winning 4 th & 7 th positions. The east section had John Harcus winning 1 st 4 th & 5 th places with J D Armour of Methilhaven winning 2 nd 3 rd & 6 th places. Centre Section winner is B Chalmers who also wins 2 nd 3 rd 5 th & 6 th places. The West Section was won by Crossgates R Cook who also won 3 rd place. J Beveridge of Lochgelly club wins 2 nd spot with Eddie McWilliams of Dunfermline club winning 4 th position. Space Weather The 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table Issued 10 July 2023 UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2023 Jul 10 175 8 3 2023 Jul 11 175 8 3 2023 Jul 12 170 5 2 2023 Jul 13 165 15 4 2023 Jul 14 165 10 3 2023 Jul 15 165 5 2 2023 Jul 16 170 5 2 2023 Jul 17 175 5 2 2023 Jul 18 175 5 2 2023 Jul 19 170 5 2 2023 Jul 20 170 5 2 2023 Jul 21 170 5 2 2023 Jul 22 160 5 2 2023 Jul 23 160 5 2 2023 Jul 24 155 5 2 2023 Jul 25 155 5 2 2023 Jul 26 160 5 2 2023 Jul 27 160 5 2 2023 Jul 28 165 5 2 2023 Jul 29 165 5 2 2023 Jul 30 170 5 2 2023 Jul 31 170 5 2 2023 Aug 01 165 5 2 2023 Aug 02 165 5 2 2023 Aug 03 165 10 3 2023 Aug 04 165 8 3 2023 Aug 05 170 5 2 Please continue to keep the news flowing; to Joe Murphy Mystical Rose Cottage 2 Flutorum Avenue Thornton by Kirkcaldy KY1 4BD or phone 01592 770331 or Email to joejmurphy1@gmail.com REMEMBER THE J IN THE MIDDLE or log onto www.elimarpigeons.com www.fancierchat.co.uk

As yesterday was the 1st young bird race of the season for many fanciers, how were your Returns? TIA

Well done Jimmy Mackie

Please post your club/Federation/Organisation liberation time on this topic Good luck