NEWS FROM GOZO (MALTA)
by Tony Harte
March 2013
First some news that the Annual Malta Pigeon Show had to be postponed and is now to be held on the 1st May, at the Cottonera Sports Complex. It will give the Maltese fanciers the chance to get together and meet centrally, although nothing at all like the BHW Blackpool Show, it is something that I look forward to. Again it is nice to meet any visiting fanciers and it was nice to meet fellow countryman Roy Hillberg, Cardiff who regularly stays in Gozo and who may soon be coming to live in Gozo permanently.
Roy Hillberg, Cardiff who may be coming to live in Gozo permanently.
Last year, Paul Stobbs, family members & friends visited us here in Gozo and Paul later gifted me with some beautiful pigeons which will be paired up soon. The partnership of Paul Stobbs Bros & Mosey have put up some tremendous performances for a number of years and in 2012 they broke their own record by winning no less than 13 FIRST FEDERATION prizes, added to that they had the West Durham Amalgamation Sprint Champion 2012, WDA Young Bird of the year, 1st & 2nd WDA Folkestone National 6,677 birds, 1st & 2nd NEHU Open Folkestone, 34,494 birds, (The largest liberation in the whole of the UK!), 1st WDA Bourges & 2nd NEHU Bourges, 2,479 pigeons, 1st, 6th, 7th WDA Maidstone National, plus many, many other Fed/Amal positions too numerous to list here. I am deeply grateful and indebted to the partnership for their very kind gift of these pigeons, which otherwise I could only dream about and only hope that I can do justice to these pigeons. I only have a very small racing loft, 16 feet by 7 feet, which houses all my race birds, but with the performance & pedigree of these pigeons, I am sure that it will be my fault if I cannot get these birds to perform successfully. Needless to say it was great to see Paul & friends once again, whilst they were holidaying in Malta.
Left to right: Top English fanciers Paul Stobbs, Joe McGeough, Alan Croudace, David Smith, Mark Stobbs and Charlie Smith, whilst on a visit to Gozo, Malta.
The weather is slowly changing for the better and we are having some really nice days, interspersed with some typically Malta wintry showers and I have said before that the migratory birds seem to put in an appearance either just before or just after a storm. On 12th February I saw my first ever Moorhen in Malta, 16th February I spotted a lone House Martin, on 1st March I saw my first lizard of the year and on the 3rd we had our resident bat flying around the street lamp and on 4th March I saw some swallows. On 8th March I saw a Kestrel and a long tailed hawk of some description, whilst at the same time realising that the over wintering starlings have gone. Some quail have also been seen, so I will be keeping a lookout for the Bee-eaters, as for sure they will be passing through very soon. The spring migration is normally in full swing in April and it is at this time that we expect to see most birds, particularly the turtle dove.
The racing in Malta has been going very well, weather wise and returns in general have been very good. An update of the race results is that on 6th January there were 8053 pigeons sent to Belvedere, 155 Km, with Jason Falzon, Sliema Area RPC, taking 1st Fed, 2nd Fed Joseph Fabri, Cottonera Zabbar Homing Union, 3rd were john & Joseph Fenech, Sliema RPC, 4th William & Vincent Grech, Birkirkara Homing Union, 5th Kevin Zahra & Eric, Marsa RPC and in 6th Fed was Michael Mercieca, B`Kara HU. In my club, the Rabat RPC, Gozo,66 members sent 434 pigeons,(maximum of 10 pigeons per member, as per Federation rules), it was V & S Spiteri taking 1st, John Mercieca in 2nd place, JJC in 3rd, 4th Salvo Vella, 5th Tony Harte, (Etienne Vanhaverbeke X Robert Venus Supercrack) and in 6th was Jeffrey Muscat. The next race was held on 14th January, from St Euphemia, 360Km, topping the Fed was Joseph Haber, Nadur PC, 2nd Fed John Vella & Sons, Nadur PC, 3rd Tony Grech, Rabat RPC, 4th Coronato Mercieca, Rabat RPC, 5t Loe & Martin Gatt, Hamrun PC and 6th Fed Oscar Mangion, Mosta Central RPC. In Rabat RPC, Gozo it was Tony Grech 1st club, Coronato Mercieca, 2nd, Manuel Grech 3rd, Noel Galea 4th, Tony Grech 5th and Carmel Grima 6th. It was back to Belvedere on 27th January, with 7987 Fed birds, with Tony Fava, Sliema Area RPC taking 1st Fed, 2nd Chalo Gerada, Msida PFC, 2nd fed, Manuel & Luke Sammut, Northern District Homing Union, were 3rd & 5th Fed, Anthony Demanuelle, Hamrun PC, was 4th Fed and Christian Debono, Hamrun PC was 6th Federation. Martin Cardona was 1st in Rabat RPC, Gozo, from 453 pigeons, with Mercieca Bros in second, John Bajada in third, Salvo Vella in fourth, Joe Attard in 5th and Alfred Hili in sixth. On 4th February, 4798 pigeons were sent to St Eufemia, 360 KM, with fellow club member, Coronato Mercieca,”The Farmer”, Rabat RPC, Gozo, topping the Federation, 2nd Fed was Anthony Fenech, Rabat Homing Union, 3rd Fed was Raymond Muscat, Nadur PC, 4th Fed was Raymond Grech, Birkirkara HU, whilst 5th & 6th Fed was won by Gorg Fenech, Msida RPC. At club level, Rabat RPC sent 245 pigeons, with Coronato Mercieca in 1st, Carmel Grima in 2nd, Tony Grech in 3rd, Frans Sultana in 4th and Noel Grima taking 5th & 6th. In Malta the rules are that a pigeon must have been sent to Belvedere, 155 Km, to qualify to be sent to either, Messina, 255 Km or St Eufemai, 360 Km and must have raced from Messina to qualify to be sent to any of the other races. Hence, this is part reason, why there are 12 races from Belvedere and 6 races from Messina, in the 27 race programme, so as to allow pigeons to be raced to qualify them to be raced in the longer races. So on 10th February it was back to Belvedere, where 8051 pigeons were competing, with Antoine Borg, Sliema Area RPC, taking 1st, 2nd were Manuel & Luke Sammut, NDHU, 3rd Tony Fava, Sliema Area RPC, 4th Marco Camilleri, Sliema Area RPC, 5th Phillip/Michael Camilleri/Meilaq, Hamrun PC and in 6th Fed was Mario Cardona, B`Kara HU. The Rabat RPC, Gozo, sent 436 pigeons to this race, with Joe Spiteri in first, Alfred Hili taking 2nd & 3rd, 4th John Portelli, 5th Tony Harte and 6th Mercieca Bros. On 17th February we were back to Belvedere, with 8198 pigeons competing. Taking pole position were C & F Fiteni, Cottonera Zabbar HU, 2nd was Alex Gili, Zabbar Dilettanti, tal hammiem tal-giru, 3rdEdmund & Joe Busuttil, Marsa RPC, 4th Melvin & Ch Vella, Cottonera Zabbar HU, 5th J & D Bugeja, Zabbar Dilettanti tal hammiem tal giru with fellow club member George Attard in 6th Fed. 1st club, Rabat RPC, Gozo, from 460 pigeons was Noel Grima, Pace Bros were in 2nd place, Josmar Cauchi was 3rd, Tony Harte was 4th,(with the same pigeon that took 5th the previous week, a gift pigeon from friend and club member Joe (Pepi) Axiaq), 5th were the Mercieca Bros and in 6th was Joe Vella.
Martin Cardona, 1st place, Rabat RPC, Gozo from Belvedere.
I will have been living in Malta for 5 years, come this September and still trying to adapt to the Maltese way of racing pigeons, which is completely different to that in the UK or continent. John Clements, British Homing World scribe, encourages UK fanciers to get away from the 1st or 2nd psychology of racing pigeons and in Malta the main prize or prestige is in winning the titles of either Best Fancier Short Distance, Best Fancier Long Distance, or Best Fancier Overall. Similar prizes are awarded to the best individual pigeons for short, long or overall distances (normally a solid gold pigeon ring). Points are awarded to 20% of the pigeons entered for the race, i.e. 400 pigeons, 80 places, 155Km race, 1st prize 155 points, 2nd place 153 points, etc. This means that a fancier that has 3 or 4 pigeons placed may well get more points than someone who came 1st but no other pigeons placed and rewards the team performance, rather than an individual position. In my club there are 66 members and a trophy is awarded to each of the first 8 pigeons in each race. With so many members it is very difficult to get a first place, but the enjoyment of racing is better, as you are still eagerly looking for other returns, even after the first arrival, as there are still points to be gained. In Malta there is a ten bird limit to each fancier to make the competition fairer, but maybe something could be adapted for use in the UK and it also has the advantage that new starters feel a sense of achievement by gaining points, even if they do not win a trophy. Anything that can be done to encourage or keep new members into our sport needs to be encouraged.
I am looking forward to March 25th (Full Moon) to pair up my stock birds, which if everything goes to plan means that by the time I return from my holiday in the Philippines, I will be back to wean and settle any young birds to the loft. No doubt racing in the UK will be up and running by then, so I wish you all a successful and enjoyable racing season.
Tony Harte
Gozo, Malta
