I’d like to tell you a story about a member of the Bakersfield Roller Club and this Black W/F Cock. The members name is Lamar Alvarez. Lamar has had birds all his life. He had a bunch of squabs last year that he raised off of 12 pair. So on Friday he called me and said he had a nice kit and this cock bird was just ripping up the sky.

So on Saturday morning, some of the B-R-C- members like Mike Azlin, Kenny Miller and myself where going to visit Lamar and checkout his #1 kit and that Clack W/F cock bird. We arrived at 9AM and Lamar was already out in the backyard working on his new breeding loft. He showed us his rough plans and what he is looking for and so we started framing it up.

In two hours we had the frame up and roof on, we stopped and took a little break, when Lamar says he needs to let the birds out before that Bakersfield heat kicks in.

We all grabbed a chair and a big glass of ice tea and sat back to watch the show. He asked if we would like to check out that bird first. We told him we’d wait for it to come down to check it out.

Within minutes the birds were up and rolling and that Black W/F cock was doing just what he said it was going to do. It was flying in the front of the kit; it would setup and let it rip about 30’ and fast. He also had a Red Check Badge up there that was just as good: a straight 10’ blur.

Lamar asked Mike what did he think about that since Mike bred the parents to that bird. Mike told Lamar “the bird has good speed and kits nice, even after a long roll. I’d stock that bird before something happens to it”. Then he asked Lenny what he thought about that bird, he said, “The bird is the leader of the kit and rolling once to twice a minute with good speed and depth. It looks like an ace to me. I’d pull it out before a hawk hits it”.

Then he asks me what I think about that bird, “Should I pull it out or fly it? I told him “I still like that Red Check Badge more than that Black W/F Cock bird” as I’m more into speed than depth.

As he was talking to me about that Black cock bird, I was watching the kit and it just got faster and deeper every time it rolled. Just as Lamar was asking, “Should I pull it?” the Black W/F cock rolled down and hit the roof of his new loft.

I told him you don’t need my answer; you need to ask the bird on top of your cage. He asked “what bird?” as they were still flying. As he looked and counted the birds there was one missing. He said that Black is not there. I said, “I told you there is a bird on your new loft”.

He climbed up on top and there was that cock bird as flat as a “pancake”. He looked at me and said, “So what do you think about that Red Check Badge, should I stock it”?

I told him, “wait till it lands safe, then I’ll tell you…”.