First race safely under our belt!

The birds were liberated early this morning at 7.45am. 109 birds were sent in the club by 7 members. Ours arrived doing 1215 ypm. The two birds come together '78' and '88'. The other hen has not arrived and is currently missing. I hope she works back this evening or tomorrow. The first two birds are bred for longer distance, so hopefully will come into their own further down the road. I am pleased with today and now move on to next week from Basingstoke. In these shorter races, we are always going to be behind as the drag of the birds just takes ours into the valleys of South Wales and they have to work back with us being the most northern loft in the federation. The further the distance the less the drag will have an effect on the race birds.

Conclusion of race:- The lack of a south wind, longer distance pigeons and a short race meant we realistically were never going to be in the races today. However, pleased the 2 race birds who were my most consistent last year arrived safely and they will get better as the distance increases. Hope the the other hen works back by tomorrow. Looking forward to next weeks race.