Midlands National Young Bird Portsmouth

It’s Simply too Close to Call

When the decision was made to alter the race dates for the two young bird races this season it certainly upset a good number. The motives may have been honourable but with many having holidays booked and birds starting to fall apart in the moult quite a lot of people have decided to shut up the loft for the season. Quite a number also queried the price but it would have been very difficult to alter the price for the substitute event which could have caused mayhem with many sending in the original birdage prices. One thing we do guarantee is that the entry fee profits will all be used as prizemoney which judging by the understandably low entry figure and the holdover will certainly be much needed. 

 So after the originally planned release date on the Saturday being called of very early due to the dark damp rainy conditions the strings were cut and the birds liberated at 9.00am in the morning into sunny conditions and a light South Westerly breeze. Obviously the conditions favoured the more Easterly sections and this proved to be the correct call as the East South East section looks likely to lead the way home though it is too soon to call Mick Godfrey of Walsoken looking likely to be the main beneficiary as he has the Provisional velocity of 1913.4 but Kings Lynn’s Perry Brothers and Son are just .2 of a yard behind according to the leaderboard so until the full details are checked out it would be foolhardy to make any declarations at this present time.

  Hours of Darkness Change for Falaise Race

 Before I leave members to study the leaderboard I have been instructed to inform members sending to the final Falaise race that the hours of darkness which may well come into force for the longer flyers especially if the race turns out to be a tough one have now been changed : The race will now close at 19.14pm and re-open at 6.58am next morning.

                                                                                          Mike Lakin

Another new starter

The success of the Homing Pigeon Starter Pack. This is part of the 'Flying Back to Naure' project set up by the MNFC. The following video has been produced by Tommy and his family. Apart from the free loft, birds, corn and equipment to get started, there are a number of small fun educational projects to complete as part of the package. Tommy is currently breeding his first pair of birds and generating a presentation to document the life cycle of the birds. This provides a fantastic educational experince which he will be able to use in his English and science lessons. It also helps us display to parents the benefits of having an active hobby based on safe nature in the back garden.  We are currently dealing with several new starters with late breds being sent out to get them up and flying pigeons. Our Secret Messages project in schools has had excellent feedback from staff and it generates lots of interest by young people. I'll add an update of this year's school visits and the responses from schools. The usual response is that pigeons are cool and where can we get some from?  More details of the project can be viewed at http://www.secretmessages.org.uk/untitled/rpra-display-materials/the-homing-pigeon-starter/