Solar storm activity

[NeilA]

I never said they can’t king
The injuries last year from races of returning birds were BOP related not wire related in the races I referenced

I had wire injuries from a ybs race last year but at one time I had 5 old cocks laid up with BOP injuries and 4 missing
We raced a new line last year slightly east of the normal and having spoke to fanciers in that area I was told it was daft with the amount of BOP that hunt south of the first lib point . You may remember I stopped racing after race 5 or 6 as I couldn’t bring myself to put myself through the upset of having the birds ripped apart . It made Saturdays upsetting
I have had loads hurt on wires from the main pylon lines that runs across the south east north of London 5 babies in one day a few years ago but these old birds were BOP injuries again you may say maybe the missing were wire deaths but I can only go on the ones that returned

[Andy]

BOP population increase, poor quality racing has increased. Don't need to look no further. Anyone who thinks BOP aren't the single biggest problem facing this sport either doesn't race or is wearing blinkers.

100 per cent
Never had birds win that have won before then just fail to arrive from 100 mils the next week
They can’t just become crap in 7 days

Actually has always happened. Had birds that had flown the whole young bird program and won then being lost from the first or second race the following year or birds that had flown 500 miles lost from under 100 miles back in the 80s & 90s.

[NeilA]

BOP population increase, poor quality racing has increased. Don't need to look no further. Anyone who thinks BOP aren't the single biggest problem facing this sport either doesn't race or is wearing blinkers.

100 per cent
Never had birds win that have won before then just fail to arrive from 100 mils the next week
They can’t just become crap in 7 days

Actually has always happened. Had birds that had flown the whole young bird program and won then being lost from the first or second race the following year or birds that had flown 500 miles lost from under 100 miles back in the 80s & 90s.

I don’t think they just go missing Andy or Bop are not taking them with others returning without tails or flights
I do believe wires are also part of it but this period was BOP for me

I raced in the period as a young school boy to 91 I don’t remember losing performance pigeons in sprints during that time I worked with a chap that was very successful winning two cars in back to back years we could start with 24 cocks and end with 22 easily I don’t remember him having any ripped apart by BOP I do remember ybs in particular hitting wires

The pigeons I lost by mid May included one with first fed the week before plus a 3/4/ 6 fed to his name or 28 a 3 year old double fed winner or 57 4 first prizes and 6 top 15 fed cards Andy not just pigeons that went to races there were others 58 my best cock returned with no tail 63 ripped apart arrived home on a Sunday never can race again
All gone in 3 races from under 110 miles not a pigeon with a yb win or flown a programme very different to me these were racers that tried each week

[Andy]

100 per cent
Never had birds win that have won before then just fail to arrive from 100 mils the next week
They can’t just become crap in 7 days

Actually has always happened. Had birds that had flown the whole young bird program and won then being lost from the first or second race the following year or birds that had flown 500 miles lost from under 100 miles back in the 80s & 90s.

I don’t think they just go missing Andy or Bop are not taking them with others returning without tails or flights
I do believe wires are also part of it but this period was BOP for me

I raced in the period as a young school boy to 91 I don’t remember losing performance pigeons in sprints during that time I worked with a chap that was very successful winning two cars in back to back years we could start with 24 cocks and end with 22 easily I don’t remember him having any ripped apart by BOP I do remember ybs in particular hitting wires

The pigeons I lost by mid May included one with first fed the week before plus a 3/4/ 6 fed to his name or 28 a 3 year old double fed winner or 57 4 first prizes and 6 top 15 fed cards Andy not just pigeons that went to races there were others 58 my best cock returned with no tail 63 ripped apart arrived home on a Sunday never can race again
All gone in 3 races from under 110 miles not a pigeon with a yb win or flown a programme very different to me these were racers that tried each week

I’m not disagreeing with you Neil that the BOP is a very big problem now. I was just pointing out that good pigeons have been going missing from short races for years but yes it is much harder to get a team together nowadays. Don’t forget that I lost 2 of my better racing cocks that had had a dozen or so races each just from around the loft. No wires here so can only be BOPS. On top of this I also lost a hen that had flown the channel 5 times, a 9 year old hen that had always flown out, and at least 4 others that had been raced, not including youngsters lost off the loft. All from around home. A couple of years ago I had a hen return in good time from Messac with the BICC, went missing from around the loft 2 days later. I don’t keep a lot of pigeons but probably lose at least half a dozen every year just from around the loft so I do know that BOPS are a real problem.

[NeilA]

Yes it’s not nice but losing very good performance pigeons is a massive hit from 18 cocks
I had some hit here at home my Le Mans winner 1050 ypm the sire of my 3 times Bordeaux on the day hen that had 12th bbc etc was killed by a sparrow hawk he had bred me other good pigeons
it happens but i haven’t had my season destroyed in 4 weeks before from races and that’s the peregrine increase in my mind

[goose1]

There has always been poor races due to bad weather and there will have also been plenty of loses due to wires. But if anyone thinks the poor racing we get now and the massive increase in the number of peregrines don't go hand in hand then they need to give their head a wobble. We've had the massive peregrine problems up here for 30 years now, it was difficult, especially when training young birds but you could live with it. The problem is as the peregrine population has spread across the land the birds are being hit numerous times from the point of lib to home. Convoyers (if being honest) will tell you many libs are hit on site. Some batches are chased back across the lib site after leaving it is destroying races. I don't mean it disrespectfully when I say those who aren't racing anymore will struggle to understand the full impact the bastard things are having. From exercising, to training, to racing it is a non stop battle just about every day.

[NeilA]

There has always been poor races due to bad weather and there will have also been plenty of loses due to wires. But if anyone thinks the poor racing we get now and the massive increase in the number of peregrines don't go hand in hand then they need to give their head a wobble. We've had the massive peregrine problems up here for 30 years now, it was difficult, especially when training young birds but you could live with it. The problem is as the peregrine population has spread across the land the birds are being hit numerous times from the point of lib to home. Convoyers (if being honest) will tell you many libs are hit on site. Some batches are chased back across the lib site after leaving it is destroying races. I don't mean it disrespectfully when I say those who aren't racing anymore will struggle to understand the full impact the bastard things are having. From exercising, to training, to racing it is a non stop battle just about every day.

Totally agree
We over this side are now finding the same where before we were very lucky

This last year we moved east to avoid our A1 line a little due to reports of peregrine on route and at lib points
Unfortunately it was worse than before with the Peregrines hunting in Grantham and to the area south . When I spoke to a local fancier he thought it was odd we moved across and we had gone into a more infested area that local fanciers know about and avoid more than our existing route
There was a claim on a bird watchers web site 7 different peregrines were spotted on the web cam on a single church in that area prior to a pair nesting so I guess these are rung to ID them
I posted the link on our club group at the time

We tried the east coast route 3 years ago for short races and one race from 88 miles 450ypm split the top 15 in the fed I was told that’s bad luck and a hard race like years ago . I thought that’s not a race that’s a smash and it turned out a week later local fanciers reported 2 peregrine smash into the lib at the site

[Winfort Lofts]

I wrote an article on this subject on my website a few months back.

As is said on here, sometimes even we most have a bad race, others will have great races!

I say it could be considered a contributing factor, but not a sole reason!

https://winfort-lofts.co.uk/could-the-k ... g-pigeons/

Do you believe in it? And have you ever not sent when the Index is high?

Personally, I don't know what to think anymore!

I haven't been able to race consistently enough to draw picture.

However, from my own experience, I would say hawks are more a threat now than ever before!

This last year I've had birds that flew Guernsey (198mile) fail to get back from a 15 mile chuck on a clear day! That's definitely not an experience issue!

[NeilA]

I wrote an article on this subject on my website a few months back.

As is said on here, sometimes even we most have a bad race, others will have great races!

I say it could be considered a contributing factor, but not a sole reason!

https://winfort-lofts.co.uk/could-the-k ... g-pigeons/

Do you believe in it? And have you ever not sent when the Index is high?

Personally, I don't know what to think anymore!

I haven't been able to race consistently enough to draw picture.

However, from my own experience, I would say hawks are more a threat now than ever before!

This last year I've had birds that flew Guernsey (198mile) fail to get back from a 15 mile chuck on a clear day! That's definitely not an experience issue!

Agree 100pc