NEWS FROM DOWN UNDER
by Doug McClary
August 2013
Life in Oz
The weather has been most changeable of late in this, the coldest month of our year. Since the departure of Roland and Julie Thresher, high winds have caused seas which have stripped most of our beach of sand, exposing rocks which are normally covered and also exposing the foundations of the beach huts. As in past years I am sure that the sand will return but for now it looks quite desolate. Many tons of sand have been lost lowering the beach and allowing the waves in much farther on to the beach, hence the beach huts being surrounded by waves. I was accused of setting the Threshers up,(as if I would), when they decided to walk the beach with our dog one afternoon. The beach is about a mile long and little did I think that they would go to the extreme end. What they didn’t know was that the adjoining beach, around a rocky outcrop is one set aside for nudists and our lad from Minehead was confronted by a couple of men with no apparel whatsoever. His face apparently went quite red! Of course, Julie was ribbed about this on the basis of her wanting to return to the beach from time to time!
Tony Baugh
Tony is one of the few letter writers left. Like clockwork I hear from him a couple of times a year but always at Royal Welsh time. Sadly, Tony reported that entries had gone down considerably and he wonders whether the Welsh fanciers really want their show to continue. For the first time for many years Ron McCarthy won’t be showing owing to age and wishing to do less but others could be entering their birds to present the hobby to the general public. Two new trophies are on offer this year in memory of Kath Baugh and of Eddie Gale, adding to an already impressive array of silverware. So come on you Welshmen, support your Royal Welsh show. One steward resigned to the Show Society and didn’t even inform Tony of the fact. A great deal of work and travel goes into presenting such an event and the organisers deserve better.
Dandenong show
I entered a small team for our annual show, and event much later this year than the usual June date. The show racers were judged by Joe Puglia of Cranbourne who awarded my opal bar young cock as being best on the day. The opposition was not great but it gave me a good ending to the season following my successes at the National. It is now time for pairing the birds, so on with the breeding season! The show was a success with just over 400 entries, a really good barbeque and plenty of time for social enjoyment. The club is in good health as was seen by the numbers who turned up to set the show up, and those who stayed to dismantle it and to clear up. I noted fifteen workers there at the end of the clearing and this really does make light work of the task. The clubroom at the Dandenong showground was well decorated with bunting and a number of posters and banners so that there was a general air of something special. It hardly seems possible that the show season is over already for it is a shorter one than the British programme of events. I doubt however that I could undertake the travelling involved in getting to all the British classics any more.
Masks
I have a supply of BHW masks but lately have found that when cleaning out, despite the mask, I have found myself suffering from the curse of dust. I am considering purchasing a face mask involving blown air and would appreciate hearing from anyone who has experience, good or bad of these masks. There are various ones on offer in this country but typical of the ‘rip-off’ nature of Australia, they have large price tags on them and it is a big risk to pay big bucks only to find that they do not suit the purpose. My email is at the end of this report and I really would appreciate hearing details on this subject.
Gannets
Walking the dog this morning along the beach we were provided with a terrific show of gannets diving for fish. They were in large numbers and not far from the shore. The sight of these beautiful birds diving like darts into the sea is one of nature’s truly amazing sights and I felt most privileged to witness such a spectacle. It was a lovely day which allowed us to have coffee and drinks outside on the decking and when one considers that this is winter, the worst month of the year. It makes us realise that life here is pretty good. Our house is designed for the sun in that in winter when it is low in the sky, we get the warmth in through the windows, but when it is high, the overhang of the roof protects us from the worst of the heat. As I write in late afternoon, our lounge area is over 25degrees so no requirement whatsoever for heating. It is good reading that Britain is enjoying a heatwave this year for a pleasant change. Our daughter Joanne was over in Devon a couple of months ago and told us how she enjoyed the countryside in spring.
Breeding
With shows over for another season it is back to the breeding operation again. The first week when pairing the birds is always demanding in time but I find that putting some established pairs together helps greatly. They settle very quickly and the new pairs seem to take their example from this. This year I am returning to some of my older birds and hoping that they will produce for yet another year to prolong the family line, dating from 2003 when most of them were bred. I am using a fertility treatment sold by Dr Colin Walker which involves two injections ten days apart. It will be interesting to see whether this works to allow some of the old boys to produce yet again. When Roland Thresher was across I felt that he was impressed by the older birds, the majority of which still handle extremely well and enjoy wonderful quality of life. He was especially impressed with two blue white flight cocks bred in 2005 and 2006 and told me that had the 2006 one been placed under him, it would likely have won the class, beating the blue cock I won with. These two cocks are full of the old lines including ‘Mr T’ and in fact, ‘Mr T’ is the grandsire of the 2005 cock. I still enjoy keeping my birds for their own sake and of course am not as restricted as when I showed in Britain. For instance, I have always sought to breed a light fronted mealy pied similar to one I owned in 1965. Last year I managed to produce a mealy pied cock of good colour and have paired him to a gay pied powder blue hen. I will await their progeny with interest and enjoyment. Yesterday I received the official show photograph of the BIS winner in the show racer section at our National in Adelaide and will show the readership the bird, which, I feel would give a good account of himself at the British shows. I have also seen Roland’s show report in the BHW but which carries my name at the end of it, almost suggesting that I wrote it. I merely sent in the report using Roland’s handwritten report.
Champion British Show Racer
Flying show racers
In my early days with show racers, every bird was flown out on a daily basis. They flew extremely well and I also raced birds from time to time and have actually won races with show racers. This occurred in the days when raptors were less of a problem than they are now. Peregrine falcons were almost unknown and the sparrowhawks were not around in large numbers. However, it became obvious that hawks and falcons were growing in large numbers so the liberation of the show racers had to be curtailed except for some which were reared with the race team. So, in my last few years in England, few show racers were flown out and aviaries built instead so that they could enjoy the open air without the dangers provided by the aerial murderers. Now, in Australia I have a few flying together with my little kit of rollers and racers and I must say that I still enjoy seeing a powder blue out on the wing. I was therefore interested in the experiences of Ian Glover of Perth who made a positive decision to fly his birds out whenever possible. His birds are bred down from my own imports, including the lovely mealy hen he won best opposite sex with at the Perth National under Dr Colin Walker. Last year, he liberated all 21 young birds bred and found that the rate of losses amounted to almost fifty per cent. He did not think that raptor attention was a factor, merely that some of the homing instinct had been lost over the years. In time he managed to get a core group of thirteen birds flying as a flock at distances of up to 16km, often beating him back to the loft. Occasional losses have reduced numbers to a core of seven which now look good and act more like racers, returning home in good time when trained at distance. Ian intends to persevere with flying his birds because those which are now regularly flown he considers to be well proportioned birds which enjoy their freedom and seem to keep fit as a result. He notes that when returning over distance, they seem extremely thirsty. Of course Ian’s experience is not typical as a non-racing fancier, whereas several show racer fanciers have the added advantage of having a race team. These tend to teach the show racers the ropes and make them more like racers themselves. My advice is to fly young show racers as early in their lives as possible and if they can do so with racers, then so much the better. Our show racers are indeed dual-purpose in nature and can be used accordingly. I get considerable pleasure in seeing mine out on the wing and I know that Ian Glover does also.
Fanciers I have known
In this little part of my column I try to provide a reference to fanciers from all parts of the country, but it will be realised that I know of more from the West Country than other parts. I do not plan the mentions, nor do I do a great deal of research owing to constraints of time. My subject this month is Bill Jackson of Stanmore in Middlesex and later of Ashburton. I became friendly with Bill in the 1970s at the classic shows. Bill was a plain speaking man who did not ‘suffer fools lightly’. He was prepared to travel to obtain good pigeons and over the years visits to the top Welsh lofts provided him with a good winning team of show racers which more than held their own at the top shows. He worked for his local council with regular hours which allowed him to get the the shows and to travel for pigeon viewing. Bill and Nell became good friends to me and Ann, especially after they moved down to Ashburton where they enjoyed walking their dogs on the moors. Bill was happy in retirement and without his pigeons. His team was always a good one, well prepared and in excellent condition. He did not keep large numbers, preferring to keep numbers down and to make work lighter both before and after the shows. His favourite colour was the dark chequer though he carried good red and mealy also. One of his mealy hens figures well in my pedigrees as she blended extremely well with both my powder blues and the reds. Our friendship dated from the pre-digital camera days so photos of Bill are few and far between. I have located one of him sitting in the front row of a photo of the London Show Racer Society in its heyday. This photo is in my latest book as part of the history of the show racer. The names are as follows: Front row, l to rt. Bill Jackson, Tom Winter’s daughter, Mary Burbidge, Bill Jones, Wally Williams Back row, John Brittain, Tom Winter, Fred Woodbridge, Stan Burbidge, Bill Meader, Bill Wright and Sid Rumsey.
London SRS members in the 1960s
Illness
I am sorry to report that Bill Meader of Leytonstone is very ill and confined to his home. Doug Gifford of Dorchester is also quite poorly and being cared for. Both have been good showmen and worker for the showing of show racers in Britain and I am sure that readers will wish them both well.
In conclusion
I have been driven indoors today by torrential rain and high winds so have managed to put this edition to bed. A few more weeks and we should start to see good temperatures again rather like those you have been enjoying in Britain. I enjoy my weekly BHW and to note the classic race winners resulting in a pang of regret at no longer being a racing competitor. Time trudges on.
I am still here trudging along at 3 Kunyung Road, Mount Eliza, Victoria 3930
email,
Douglas McClary
Kemyel Lofts of British Show Racers
douglas-mcclary.blogspot.com.au
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