Life in Bendigo.

[Andy]

They do look well Murray.

[Trev]

He is only 6 months old.
He is one of those birds that you pass by on first glance. 014.JPG
The white flight Jos Thone' is the one that takes the eye at first, but then you look at the head of the other one.

Cracking looking birds Muzza, you are right, the blue w/f really does hit the eye first I hope you have a successful season mate and look forward to sharing the highs and lows with you. I'd cut the ring off that bird if I was you, you won't get tempted then lol
All the best.

[Trev]

When do you start racing Murray ,we start on the 28 th May ,

Good luck Killer mate I hope it's a good season for you and I look forward to reading your reports
All the best.

[Murray]

The program is for the first race on June 25.
Very unlikely I will be doing that. That is slap bang in the middle of winter and the weather can be very poor down here at that time of year.
Also my pigeons only really get a proper fly at the weekend. I go to work at dawn and it's dark enough to have to put the lights on when I get home most of the time.
No panic. I am happy to wait a month rather than send them half fit to a race that might turn into a slog home if the weather packs up.
I don't have enough pigeons to be throwing them away. They have had enough tosses that they are well educated. I will just let them rest for a while now.

[Andy]

It must be very difficult trying to race during the shortest days of the year. I don’t get mine out during the winter due to it being dark before and after work. Also our birds are generally split up during the winter. What system would you be racing yours too. They don’t get much time to correct any mistakes. What distances would you hope to get in your longest races on the day? As our longest races are around the longest day at end of June we can get them doing 500+ miles on the day.

[killer]

Thanks Trev ,for your kind words ,having a problem health wise ,hoping to race ,only had 2 tosses at 20 k took me 3 hrs to basket 60 old birds ,have locked my babies down 3 months due to constant falcon attack ,not been a good year, alaround ,cheers ,

[Andy]

Thanks Trev ,for your kind words ,having a problem health wise ,hoping to race ,only had 2 tosses at 20 k took me 3 hrs to basket 60 old birds ,have locked my babies down 3 months due to constant falcon attack ,not been a good year, alaround ,cheers ,

Sorry to hear about your problems Killer. Hope your health improves. It’s not nice having problems with anything having a go at the birds and disrupting everything.

[Murray]

Yes, I am sorry to hear that things are a bit difficult at present, killer.
Hopefully things will improve and you can enjoy your racing.
I certainly hope so.
All the best.

[Murray]

It must be very difficult trying to race during the shortest days of the year. I don’t get mine out during the winter due to it being dark before and after work. Also our birds are generally split up during the winter. What system would you be racing yours too. They don’t get much time to correct any mistakes. What distances would you hope to get in your longest races on the day? As our longest races are around the longest day at end of June we can get them doing 500+ miles on the day.

It is not so much difficult as foreign to me.
I raced pigeons in New Zealand, where young birds were in the autumn, and old birds were in the spring. You understand that. Down here, it's all got changed. Obviously to avoid the heat in the summer.
It has created a system of all age racing, ( mostly young birds) in one long season beginning in the winter.
It works, in so much as a transporter full of birds is taken to a place where they are released. The fastest ones fill the result.
The collateral losses simply are not discussed.
It has been an awakening for me, I can tell you. Where I come from you had to review the performances and select which of them had earned a box.
That is not something they have to do here very often.

[Murray]

I am not sure what the longest race is.
I think it is from somewhere over in South Australia.
Doesn't interest me much. Speed and quality has always always been more important to me.
You struggle to win with slow ones, and the high quality ones will have the stamina to go further.
If they are not fast enough to win short ones, you can be fairly certain they are not fast enough to win long ones either.