Life in St Arnaud

[Murray]

It's been a week of cold windy wet weather. It's called winter
The birds have been going out for a fly when it's not raining and back in again, the loft has been all closed up against the cold but it's still damp on the floor from me walking in with wet feet.
So it is a nice change this morning, the cloud has gone and the sun is streaming in the front of the shed. I've left the shed open and the birds are out in the sputnik or inside the wire enjoying the solar. If the cold wind picks up I'll have to shut it up but it's a nice change for them.

[Murray]

The first race for my club, the Bendigo Invitation Club is on Saturday from St Arnaud. It will be interesting.
Obviously since the liberation at the racecourse is 3 miles away from me I shan't be in this week.
I'm going to watch with interest. Bendigo is about 100 kilometres (62 miles) almost due east of me. There is a new member at a place called Boort, which is 42 miles north east of me and 55 miles north of Bendigo.
There is another member lives at Kyneton, 80 miles south east of me and 33 miles south of Bendigo.
So there is a 75 mile spread across the flyers on a 62 mile race.
I think they're planning to bring next week's race back to Minyip, 60km (37 miles) to me, instead of Pimpinio, 60 miles. That'll be pretty hopeless I think. Mine have been right out there and the race line goes straight over St Arnaud on a line to David Cox's in Bendigo. I can see mine getting in with his, which are well educated too, and going straight over at 100 miles an hour and ending up in Bendigo.
I'll just have to see what happens this week and what they decide to do next week.

[Murray]

It's been a week since I trained the youngsters. Their last toss they stepped out on a different road, where they went very well for a small team of 10 young pigeons. I've been reluctant to go again, you can only fly under the radar so many times.
But they are like any athlete, too long without a fast workout and they go off the boil. So I ignored the dark clouds and went back to the 22 mile corner on the Minyip road.
Beat them home, 10/10 on the board

[Devo1956]

The surronding area of Minyip road, looks like this. But then again where Murray lives is all the same. Apart from the small towns.

[Murray]

And that looks exactly like where I tossed them from this afternoon.
On the way out I saw a hawk on a fence post, and half a mile further on another one, and half a mile later another one , then two falcons, a big one and a smaller one, just dropping onto a gum tree.
That's just along the road, and just the few that spring to mind. I went 22 miles, and that's just over a strip of land 100 yards wide, either side of the road.
If you worked it out, 22 miles by 22 miles, there are thousands of hawks.
And my ten zoomed home, unaware of how tenuous their lives are.

[Trev]

Good to see all is still going ok mate, no shortage of suitable liberation sites then Muzza, we have trouble finding anywhere without houses around here these days

How did the first race go ??
Good luck nest week with yours.

[Murray]

The first race for my club, the Bendigo Invitation Club is on Saturday from St Arnaud. It will be interesting.
Obviously since the liberation at the racecourse is 3 miles away from me I shan't be in this week.
I'm going to watch with interest. Bendigo is about 100 kilometres (62 miles) almost due east of me. There is a new member at a place called Boort, which is 42 miles north east of me and 55 miles north of Bendigo.
There is another member lives at Kyneton, 80 miles south east of me and 33 miles south of Bendigo.
So there is a 75 mile spread across the flyers on a 62 mile race.
I think they're planning to bring next week's race back to Minyip, 60km (37 miles) to me, instead of Pimpinio, 60 miles. That'll be pretty hopeless I think. Mine have been right out there and the race line goes straight over St Arnaud on a line to David Cox's in Bendigo. I can see mine getting in with his, which are well educated too, and going straight over at 100 miles an hour and ending up in Bendigo.
I'll just have to see what happens this week and what they decide to do next week.

I'd like to report that the first race from St Arnaud went very well, all the members that sent got their pigeons quickly and it was a tight result.
That's what I'd like to say. What happened was it was a disaster.
I'm not sure what's going on but it seems that some members have few pigeons to continue with after some, shall we say, disappointing tosses.
So only 4 flyers sent 71 pigeons to the first race.
Two got pigeons, the first was 2 hours in front of the the other.
From 60 miles.
I'm buggered if I know what's wrong.

[Murray]

There are some people who are quite unhappy with me.
Of course there are always people who are unhappy with me.
I've only got a small team of young birds, and after adding a few and taking out a few there are 10 good young birds in the 'Youngstars'.
That's it. They go good, too.
I've trained my young birds lots of times. Next year I shall keep a record.
One bloke I was talking to has lost 80.
I told him I have lost two.
I did just wonder if he was going to hit me

[Devo1956]

It looks like it was a very hard race Murray, I must say i have traveled from Bendingo to St Arnaud with yourself. It is one hell of a journey for the birds I would say, even on a very good day.
Hope all the birds arrived home safe and well.

[Murray]

It's been a rough, cold June, and July is starting in a similar fashion.
I took the young birds out for a fly after lunch. I didn't get 10 miles up the road and stopped and got out. It was a howling wind. So I turned around and came back.
I let them go at the football field two streets over from my place.
I wasn't keen about letting them go in that, they fly very low in strong head winds and I could see something garroting itself on a wire.
It's been the coldest June in Canberra, the Capital, since 1939, possibly ever.