fhtfire
93 posts
Jan 23, 2005
6:09 PM
|
Damn, I let my A team out for a fly this morning and out of no where the fog rolled in. I tried to call them down...but the fog just surrounded them. Only 2 came back out of 17. I am so pissed! I hope they come back tomorrow...IF they don't my World Cup fly is done! They looked damn good before the fog rolled in ! Does anybody think they will come back? So now I have 7 in my B-team and 2 A-team birds. I am just sick to my stomach!
Paul
Last Edited by fhtfire on Jan 23, 2005 6:20 PM
|
Steve S.
45 posts
Jan 23, 2005
6:42 PM
|
Paul, I feel for ya brother.
A good sign is 2 came back.
Hopefully the rest or most will find their way back.
Hope you have the breeders working and remember breed enough each year to make up for the losses.
If I can help let me know because I see you post here and have a passion for the roller hobby and not just a passing fancy.
Later
Steve
|
Mother lode lofts
394 posts
Jan 23, 2005
7:30 PM
|
Paul that really sucks. This time of year you have to be really really careful. You will get where your gut tells you "not a good idea to open the door" when you have that feeling "DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR" you will learn to look around real close checking clouds, fog banks ext. It is a bad feeling that most of us know all to well. I lost two out of my A team a couple of weeks ago due to fog. And two years ago this month I lost over half of my A team (all old birds) Trust me when I tell you I now how you feel. You should get some filtering in over the next couple of days as long as it doesn't sock in.
|
fhtfire
94 posts
Jan 23, 2005
7:47 PM
|
Man,
I am just sick to my stomach...its like a lost my kids! It pissed me off more because this red check cock that came back was whooooing like crazy. I hope it is not a whole year down the drain..I have the breeders on a round right now but they are promised to someone and I am a man of my word...but they are all ready to lay again...but that is still not enough time to get a team for the world cup...man the birds were really coming in nice. Scott, I usually do look real hard and it just looked like high clouds...I even waited and let them out at 11:00 instead of when I got off duty at 8 and the clouds held high...about 10 minutes into the fly...it just banked in...I was like oh shit...I was blowing the whistle like crazy and they were gone. I had been doing the 3 day rotation and they were reacting real well to it...they were on fire....I had just moved 3 birds into the A team from the B team 3 days ago. Man I am not going to be able to sleep tonight...I know I will be up at the crack...blowing my whistle. I feel for you guys that have the same thing happen...it is the worst feeling! At least the B-team is just my last round from last year and they are just coming into the roll ..I will only have nine birds..but maybe I can scrape together a team if they do not come back.... damn this sucks.
rock and ROLL
Paul
Last Edited by fhtfire on Jan 23, 2005 8:27 PM
|
Bill
14 posts
Jan 23, 2005
8:13 PM
|
Hi Paul, reading this post got me depressed too. I have lost a whole kit in spring to an east wind and it was the first round which is always full of my best birds since they get the most flying in before winter. A local guy here lost his kits every year for the past few years flying in fog or wind in winter.
I have seen the sky break up and then an hour later the fog can roll in just like you said, out of no where. I never noticed that in fog until I got rollers. I am praying your birds will come back, we all know the sick feeling and such a loss that you feel. I always come in the house and hug my little boys and tell myself keep my focus here, but It does hurt to lose these birds, its like losing them makes you realize just how much you value them. Thats why some guys quit rollers when the hawks just keep killing all their kit birds each year in some places where they have too many to fly birds in some areas. I hear Teddy Clemmens doesn't fly because of the hawks in his area are just too bad year round. Other guys have had all their breeders stolen too. You know I will get you some squeakers of the birds you like that I have. Just make a seperate cage for young birds if you get several from all of us here that value your friendship. We don't want to make matters worse and getting in birds form all over can be a big problem too. But isolate them for three weeks and treat them if you want to. I know you are a dedicated guy who will do great because you culled hard for a beginner and I still keep birds for two years before I cull. Hang in their Paul. The weather is going to be clear then next day or two as rain is on its way and that is way better than fog. I have had birds come home as late as three days before. If it is clear in the morning you might want to let out your other kit if it is not fast moving cloulds or fog. I know you didn't want alot of kit boxes. I let out other birds to help try and attract the others to come home if they are near by in a tree or on a building. If it is any consolation we all know this is thse worst time for us when we lose a kit. Your friend Bill
|
Mount Airy Lofts
26 posts
Jan 23, 2005
10:58 PM
|
Winter time is the worst time to fly my birds. It's always a gamble when I liberate them from the kit box. Not only do you have to deal with starving sky sharks that won't give up until they take a bird, you have to deal with the weather at hand that changes everyday. I'm not sure if anyone else flys with 1 to 2 (sometimes even 3 plus) feet of snow on the ground but it seems to make the birds go crazy. The snow and the -20 plus wind chill seems to tweak most birds to roll down or bump when they are stable as a rock during any other time of the year. I hear at all the time that alot of good rollers are lost to this every year but I guess we as fliers never seem to never learn. Removing snow of the kit box's roof would help but it still not a cure. To take it a step further, I rolled the parlors that wouldn't go more then 10 feet during the no-snow period and when the same bird rolled under measureable snow would roll til it drop almost-dead at great distances. Altho they are two totally different types of performance pigeon, it leads me to believe snow has the same effect on our Birmingham Rollers.
Anywho back to flying during the dead of winter... anytime I would fly on a dry-crisp (cold what ever you want to call it) clear-blue sky day during the dead of winter, a overfly would occur. Funny how they can be flown in a small snow storm but not on a clear blue day. The overfly factor really seems to kick in full gear especially if prior to the crisp blue-sky day, a cold front move thru. This and the unconsistant feed one has to feed our birds during the Winter months almost always spells disaster.
I almost suffered a overfly myself the other day. While trying to get some air time logged in before a visit from acouple of gentlemen, I release them on one of the sunniest blue skys we had in weeks. Prior to this day, we had a whole week of nothing but -0's (somedays as cold as -20) for our highs. Most of the times, even tho we know better... the love of seeing these guys fly and certain siturations make us do otherwise. Good thing the kit dropped down after being in the 2000 plus feet for a hour one by one until all was accounted for 2 hours later.
Hope you had some name bands on your birds. Sometimes this aids in the recoverly of certain outstanding birds or sometimes you won't recieve a single call.
Still flying in the cold MIDWEST!
Thor
Last Edited by Mount Airy Lofts on Jan 23, 2005 11:40 PM
|
Bluesman
93 posts
Jan 24, 2005
3:02 AM
|
Paul;What a Bummer.I know how much you liked your birds.I hope they return soon.Someone else said to fly some other birds the next day and I have had this work sometimes also.
I average losing a kit a year.I know you are hurting.Last winter I lost 16 out of 17 in my # 1 Kit to a Mink.My fault because I forgot to close the trap.Snow had piled up from me shoveling paths and he jumped over onto the trap door.
I lost a kit of young birds this summer that came out of the kit box and started going up and just kept going up.They never hesitated.I just stood there and watched untill they were completly gone.None ever made it back.Perfect day for flying and still don,t know what happened.Sure makes you think every time you open a kit box door.If I can help you out just Holler.David
|
J_Star
155 posts
Jan 24, 2005
4:51 AM
|
Paul,
Sorry to hear that and I hope they all will be in the next of couple of days. Best of luck.
By watching the weather channel the night b4 the fly, could that have heloped you to see what is coming? Just wondering!!
jay
|
Mount Airy Lofts
27 posts
Jan 24, 2005
1:31 PM
|
Hi David,
What is a perfect day to fly rollers for you? Just curious... A perfect day for me is over cast with a light gust and misty type rain. On these type of days, my birds would stay at 150-300 feet range and work until their wings are soaked in before dropping down to trap. The worst day for me is the best day to be outside, clear blue skies with little to no wind and small patches of clouds difting high up above. A darn good day to be outside but deadly for my birds.
Just curious why you mentioned a perfect day to fly rollers and then say that they overflew on you.
Thor
|
Bluesman
100 posts
Jan 24, 2005
2:04 PM
|
Hi Thor.My birds normally stay in the 300 to 500 foot range.About the only time they will go higher is if I mess up with their feed or if a hawk drives them up.When I said a perfect day to fy I was meaning that nothing I knew of;weather,hawks,my fault or anything else should have caused it.
I was so disgusted that I turned out another kit taking a chance in them doing the same thing and hoping maybe drawing the others back down.This was about 30 minutes later.Everything was normal with them.
I live on a Ridge between 2 mountains.There is usually some type of air currents riding up over this ridge.They love to work these currents coming into them,stalling and then breaking.
I can,t say I have a day that is better to fly than another.Everyday I can fly is a good day.LOL
The best performance I ever saw in any of my birds was during a snow storm a couple years ago.They love flying in the rain too.
There is one day that I won,t fly and that is when their is a layer of clouds high and a layer of clouds lower.They will always go up between the 2 layers to work.If the lower layer thickens they are lost.Lost a kit to this also.David
Last Edited by Bluesman on Jan 24, 2005 2:14 PM
|
fhtfire
95 posts
Jan 24, 2005
5:39 PM
|
I wish I had something to update...but I don't. I let the other kit out late this after noon to see if that would draw them....not at all. One of the cocks that came back...sure misses his team...he is whooooing like crazy...funny how they know that they lost there buddies. I blew my whistle like every hour hoping that would draw them in. Man, I am just torn up. I guess I culled to hard. I did not leave myself enough birds for 2 teams.... Well, I will keep everyone updated. A lesson learned....All that work...I will be starting all over again. Well....I will definately carry over two kits next year...just in case. I will keep you all updated!
Rock and ROLL
Paul
|
fhtfire
101 posts
Jan 31, 2005
9:20 AM
|
Just a little update on my lost kit. They have not come back. Time to move on! LOL I had nine younger hold over birds in another kit box. But here is what is happening. Bill Crider from Sac really helped me out. He knew how bad I love to fly. So he had a late hatch kit that he had not flown do to hawks. So he let me pick out 18 birds to mix with mine and fly out. I thought that was really nice. So, we are killing two birds with one stone. I get to fly out his birds for him..I do not have a hawk problem....He gets free perch space. I will cull them down and when they are really rolling...he can come over and pick his birds that are the best in the air and take them back to his kit or breeding pen. By that time...I will be traiining all my 05 birds. Now I will have enough birds for the World CUP! I am so glad that I will get to fly a full kit. Thanks BILL!!! This is what it is all about. I just hope I have enough time to get them all together..but only time will tell!
I still have a hard time looking at an empty..A-team box!
rock and ROLL!
Paul
|
Siddiqir
164 posts
Jan 31, 2005
10:01 AM
|
Paul, it is really painful to lose birds but the good thing is you can at least fly this time of year...the hawks/falcons are so aggressive here in NJ that I can not even fly until end of March...keep on breeding and flying :)
|
Mother lode lofts
473 posts
Jan 31, 2005
4:28 PM
|
Way to go Bill !!!!!! Paul I can't find your number, I can help some with getting you up and flying again also. Give me a call.
|
fhtfire
103 posts
Jan 31, 2005
8:34 PM
|
Scott,
My number is 530-662-7550...Who ever calls who first! LOL! I will be up until 11:00 tonight and I will be around all day tomorrow.
rock and ROLL
Paul
|