NEWS FROM SCOTLAND
Reports by Joe Murphy
Had my first babies hatch this week, which helps kindle the light within oneself and you know then that the new season is ahead. The birds seem to be a lot calmer and I don’t know if it is because I’m slowing down but they just sit and look at me when I enter the loft. I can even scape the v perches and they sit and watch me, which is a good sign as it shows they are happy and contented. I went and cut another couple of bags of heather (nesting material) for when they require it for their second nest. I will not be taking all the eggs this time as Kevin is not racing youngsters this year so we only need a certain amount of young birds.
Fauldhouse Talent
Received a letter from Eddie Callaghan from Fauldhouse, who tells me that along with his friends Alistair Mackie and Clark Smith he organises a yearly talent contest with all proceeds going to the local Old Age Pensioners Society. This year 340 people turned up to the local miners welfare and they had a great night. Eddie has included a photograph of himself presenting a cheque for £800 to the president of the OAP club. He informs me that he has had the privilege to do this for the past 32 years and they have raised over £27,000 for the local pensioners. This money has gone a long way in keeping the good name of Fauldhouse pigeon club held in high esteem within the village. The talent show is run in the local miners club and ALL the surrounding villages are invited to put in a singer into the talent contest which is judged by a panel. Britain’s Got Talent and X Factor are the two biggest shows in Europe where over 150,000 people apply to enter these shows every year. Eddie is proud to say that their show has had a finalist in Britain’s Got Talent this being Andrew Muir (Eddie’s grandson) and Page Turley who got to the semi-final stage. There is also Gary Grieg, a young lad who reached the ‘Boot Camp’ stage in the X Factor. Eddie says: ‘Like our pigeons here in Fauldhouse Joe, they will compare with anything in the British Isles’. We wish Eddie, Alistair and Clark all the best for the future and well done on helping the OAP club in their area.
Eddie Callaghan presenting the cheque for £800
Bird Scaring Rockets
My article of 7th March regarding the above triggered a bit of debate among fanciers as I had a few phone calls regarding this subject. People who have tried these say that they ‘definitely’ keep the peregrines and hawks away from their birds and lofts. However in one instance it caused a problem as it alerted the local volunteers of the coast guard who all went running to the harbour. The police were called to another fancier but found no problem. The feedback seems to be that any local agricultural supplier has these rockets and they can be purchased from £13 for 10. One fancier I spoke to was telling me of his deterrent against sparrowhawks attacking his birds and since he and others in his area have used the ‘flashing light’ system they have not been attacked. He is going to send me some more information on these and once I have received them I will highlight in the column. Anything that helps pigeon fanciers from being attacked by these killers is a bonus.
Drugs/Performance Enhancing Substances
Received an email from my good friend John Tyerman who sent the following: ‘Hi Joe, hope you and the family are all well. As you know, we were scheduled to hold the Drugs/Performance Enhancing Substances meeting at Cherwell Valley Services on the M40 last Wednesday and it turned into a very interesting and successful day. We had around 20 persons in attendance with numerous delegates representing the majority of UK National and Specialist Clubs. Top International Vet Dr Henk De Weerd had flown over from Holland that morning and he had earlier been collected at Stanstead Airport by RP Editor Lee Fribbins and David Coward Talbot who both work closely with Henk at his laboratory at the Seedbed Centre in Essex. This testing facility is now widely used by many UK fanciers. The meeting was conducted informally but was chaired by Albi Deacon from the BICC. The main topic for discussion was of course the use of Performance Enhancing Substances by 'would be cheats’ in pigeon racing. There was considerable discussion and delegates asked Henk many questions about drugs and PES and he was able to give his advice and opinions, all of which was well received. He was concerned that there had been very little research done on the subject and this was something that the SNFC’s Dr Phil Lynch had earlier raised with me. Henk kindly agreed to conduct further tests under controlled research conditions in his laboratory and keep us informed of his findings, which was excellent from our point of view. The dossier of 'banned substances' was discussed but with literally hundreds of listings it was agreed that in reality only a few obvious ones could be tested for. However, as you also probably know, Eugene Fitzgerald, President of the IHU, is in contact with a Belfast laboratory that can detect most forms of drugs from feather samples, so that will be of great interest for the future. At present the Club delegates know we are restricted to taking faeces samples under the current RPRA rules and guidelines and for 2014 some Clubs will test birds at Marking whilst others prefer to test winning birds. The RPRA will fund 4 tests for each organisation and any more will be charged at £90. One interesting point raised by Gary Daykin (MNFC) was that manufacturers of pigeon supplements could consider the use of a 'kite mark' to indicate that the product was approved and did not contain any banned substances. Delegates agreed that this would indeed be helpful to any concerned fanciers. The meeting closed around 3-30pm and all those present agreed it had indeed been a very interesting and informative day. Those present were very grateful to Henk for taking the time to come and talk to us and after a sincere 'vote of thanks' he had to leave for the airport and his flight home. Also at this meeting the 'Alliance of Specialist Club' was taken out of 'mothballs' and all those present re-joined as they all believe we need to show a united front and work together to deter and detect 'would be cheats' in our sport. The new secretary is ex-BHW Editor Mr David Glover and he will work closely with Mike Lakin who took on the role as Press Officer for the 'Alliance'. Since the meeting I have also been in email contact with Dr Lynch and it seems very likely that the SNFC will also join the Alliance in due course. I met up with Ian and Nigel at the farm last week and they were weaning off a number of young birds, some destined for various one loft races, including 10 for John and Lou's French Young Bird Derby. I enquired about the Euro Diamond pigeons for you and they do have birds from that line, so I suggest a phone call to Ian. He is keeping well and has now developed a great liking for the 'scotch pies' which he sampled on Douglas's recent visit to me, indeed so much so, that a mail order has now been dispatched from a well-known butcher in Dumfries! (Hope you enjoyed the Scotch pie’s Ian Joe). Kind regards, John.’
Sick Call
John Tyerman has just informed me that Gail Hodgson, the wife of SNFC record national holder John, has had an accident in their home and has ended up in hospital. We wish her a speedy recovery and send our best wishes to Gail and John at his worrying time.
Joe’s Joke
From a disgruntled pensioner - Yesterday I was at my local TESCO store buying a large bag of Winalot dog food for my loyal pet and was in the checkout queue when a woman behind me asked if I had a dog. What did she think I had, an elephant? So, since I'm retired and have little to do, on impulse I told her that no, I didn't have a dog, I was starting the Winalot Diet again. I added that I probably shouldn’t because I ended up in hospital last time, but I'd lost 2 stone before I woke up in intensive care with tubes coming out of most of my orifices and IVs in both arms. I told her that it was essentially a perfect diet and that the way that it works is to load your pockets with Winalot nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry. The food is nutritionally complete so it works well and I was going to try it again. (I have to mention here that practically everyone in the queue was now enthralled with my story.) Horrified, she asked me if I ended up in intensive care because the dog food poisoned me. I told her no, I stepped off the kerb to sniff an Irish setter’s arse and a car hit me. I thought the guy behind her was going to have a heart attack, he was laughing so hard. By the way, I'm now banned from TESCO. Better watch what you ask retired people. They have all the time in the world to think of daft things to say.
And finally...
The new aviary on Sheldon Leonard's YB loft
Sheldon's new traps
Please continue to keep the news flowing; to Joe Murphy Mystical Rose Cottage 2 Flutorum Avenue Thornton by Kirkcaldy KY1 4BD or phone 01592 770331 or to my NEW EMAIL ADDRESS at;
© Compiled by Joe Murphy
