By Joe Murphy This past week I have been closing down the nest boxes and splitting the pairs up, however I have a few pairs sitting on a couple of eggs and another couple rearing a late bred for me. As I only have a small stock loft with 2 sections I put the cocks in one end and the hens in the other, however there are a couple of cocks in beside the hens just now. There does not seem to be too much disruption but I could not believe my eyes when putting food into the pot in the nest box here were two hens sitting on the nest side by side (see photo) and the cock is struggling to get his turn on the eggs. meeting up the morning as I collected the birds and took them training. He informed me that he was going to put his team on roundabout for the week prior to the race. He then picked 17 birds to go to this 364 mile race point and our main pigeon was Lucky, our 3 times SNFC prize winner. SNFC Billericay Two hens on nest I speak to Kevin my son most days mostly about the birds and as it was coming up to our first Scottish National race we had been Lucky, on return from Billericay On the morning of basket day he let the birds out for a fly as the weather forecast for the Saturday was not good (strong gales reaching 50 to 60 miles an hour) and he expected a holdover till Sunday. While at work his son sent him a text message saying that 2 birds were found in the old loft and what was he to do with them. As Kevin was at a meeting, so he did not get the message for a while and then asked what the bird s numbers were. When this came back, low and behold one of them was Lucky - he
was gutted. He had arranged to take the afternoon off to take the birds to the race making station so when he left work he went and got Lucky at the old address and took her back to the new loft. He then gave her mate back to her and left them alone in the whole section but she was not interested. Kevin then went into the house and has some lunch and when he came back out she was a little keener on the cock. He then let all the others together and then basketed all the team for the national. NEWS FROM SCOTLAND When he phoned me at night he was as sick as a pig and could not believe that Lucky had gone back to the old loft after being settled and in fact in her last race she was 1st home to the new loft. On the Sunday he texted me to say that the 3395 birds were liberated at 05-15am and I could not believe they were away so early and hoped it would be a good race. Margaret and I arrived in Arbroath for lunch and then settled down to watch for the race birds. The SNFC lib line informed us that the early pigeons were in the Lothians with my good friend Andy Miller of Edinburgh had 2 good ones at 13-28 pm (I believe that the 2nd bird s dam is a granddaughter of Dennis the Mennis and Miss Murphy). The sire is the Kuwait cock this was the cock I wrote about a few months back (2nd open SNFC Ypres). At 14-45 I saw a pigeon coming right of the North Sea and it was heading towards us and I said Here s a bird. The wind then caught it and took it out of my vision however it came back and over the garage in the house next door I said It s Lucky and she dropped onto the aviary. She was timed in and we all kissed and hugged each other. Andy Miller To think that we were so down because she had went back to the old loft and here she was our first bird home. She won 1st club (this is her 7th x 1st club) 1st federation 18th section C (1061 birds) and 73rd open from 3395 birds. This is now her 4th national prize as she has previously won: 6th section 31st open Maidstone 392 miles 4855 birds; 14th section 78th open Buckingham 322 miles 2941 birds; 49th section 223rd open Maidstone 4472 birds. Lucky sire is a son of Johnstone & Lilleby 40 cock winner of 3 x 1st combine and 4 x 1st sections NWGNFC and a Double Gold Award winner. The dam of Lucky is known as Jenny and was bred by fellow scribe Adrian Duggins from his Leo Van Rijn stock her grandmother won 1st from 14055 birds and 1st from 7467 birds. We timed in a 2 year old dark chequer hen known as the Z hen she was bred by my dear friend Rob Glover of Nuneaton. Her sire is a direct Bernard Deweerdt being from a halfbrother to Zinka when paired to a daughter
of Iban. Dam of the Z hen was bred by Mark Gilbert. Her sire is from Emiel and Magnus lines while her dam is a full sister to Southfield Tiger 1st national BICC Barcelona 707 miles. Our 3rd pigeon is a 3 year old chequer hen known as Stitchy. She is a beautiful-looking hen and won 1st club 3rd federation 3rd Combine Wakefield as a youngster she also had 6 races the young bird national and returned injured and had to be stitched up. Last year she won 95th section C 395th open Maidstone 392 miles from an entry of 4472 birds. Her sire is a direct son of Seaton Park Caelan Richard Combes great hen who won 9th and 61st open Alencon, 41st open Falaise and 91st open Newbury. Caelan also won the Joe Murphy Sporting Challenge twice and was an exceptional pigeon. The dam of Stitchy was bred by Tom & Scott McEwen being inbred to their champion Petite Rose, winner of 1st open SNFC Tours 611 miles. We managed to have 11 birds return home from our entry of 17 pigeons on the day with one the next day with 5 still missing with one of these our top Gilmour Brothers hen who won twice in the national which is a blow hopefully she will return unharmed. However going by the amount of losses incurred in this race (I would say about one third of the convoy) is down and it seems to be proven good pigeons that are lost and the majority of these have been over the channel many times so to get lost from an inland race is mystifying. The majority of people that I have spoken to have said the same thing: the birds were up too EARLY. As it is still quite cold at that time of the morning and coming out of a transporter the birds would hit the wind chill factor and this could be one of the reasons the birds are missing. It is not as if we were going to run out of daylight on the day as it is bright up until 22-00 hours just now so I personally don t see why the rush to have the birds up so early. Staying with the result my congratulations to Andrew Lees of Eyemouth who had a great race sending 5 pigeons. He is 1st 4th & 12th open with his first 3 birds - great flying and well done. Dave Baldie 1st section C SNFC Also to Dave Baldie of St Andrews who timed in the same blue cock that won 1st Fife federation 1st section C 21st open Buckingham last year flying 308 miles and now wins 1st Fife federation 1st section C 8th open Billericay flying 352 miles. A very good pigeon and well done. My thanks to all the people who phoned me to pass on their congratulations to Kevin as well as a very nice email from Jake Pearson who wrote Hello Joe, hope all is well with you and Margaret and well done to team Murphy on the excellent National result this week. I had 3 away and got 2 next morning
so hoping to get them to the Gold Cup race and I think this race would have done them some good especially getting the time on the wing. Good luck to you and Kevin in the remaining nationals and let us hope you achieve another Mystical Rose as it would be well deserved for all the work you put into the pigeon sport in Scotland. Good luck, health and happiness in the future, and thanks for helping me out over the years you are a true Gent yours, Jake. While on about losses of our beloved feather friends, one of these lost pigeon was highlighted on the Scottish News this week as it landed on an oil rig 160 miles off Aberdeen. The pigeon was caught exhausted and extremely thin and was cared for by one of the crew whose girlfriend worked as an animal rescue officer. The pigeon was brought back to Aberdeen by crew members returning home in a helicopter and he was transferred to the animal rescue centre in Clackmannanshire. I received another piece of news relating to a lost pigeon when my dear friend John Tyerman the president of the BICC wrote saying Hi Joe, a little interesting story for you as I know you like the long distance tales! My Grizzle cock GB 13N 55712 was liberated with the BICC from Tours on Saturday 30th of May, 2015 and he failed to return home to Bracklesham Bay (244 miles). A gentleman (non-fancier) phoned me yesterday from Stavanger in Norway to say that 55712 had been in his garden since Wednesday morning (3rd June) and was exhausted. He was feeding him bird corn and the cock has taken up residence in his garage. This is 1245 road miles from Tours and shown as 828 miles flying (with plenty sea in between) so over 4 days he has apparently flown all the way over to Stavanger which as you know is between Bergen and Kristiansand on the south coast of Norway. This grizzle cock is a son of my good "Barcelona Cock" who was 7th Barcelona then next year 4th again from BICC Barcelona (661 miles) and 4 weeks later he was 15th BICC Perpignan. The dam was a grizzle hen that won many distance positions for me and she can be traced back to the late Richard Withall's RPRA award winning Lerwick hen. Previously I gifted a grizzle cock from these lines to my good friend Douglas Owen in Dumfries and this bird was the sire of his SNFC Ypres winner. 55712 had flown BICC Falaise two weeks previously and he was destined for Barcelona this year. I have long suspected that we (BICC) always seem to clash in the Tours area where sometimes around 30,000 plus Dutch pigeons are liberated and I would think this is what has happened to 55712. I have no way of getting him back and have suggested the finder might locate a local fancier who might like to keep him for stock. Anyway at least I know where he went to and you never know he might prove to be as good as his sire had he not ended up in Norway. Hope you and family are all well and well done to you and Kevin on your recent SNFC result from Billericay kindest regards, John. Results Angus Federation was racing from Leicester on 6th June with a 6 o clock liberation into a south west wind which was to progress into a gale as the day prevailed. Topping the federation is Ian Scott of Forfar club with another 3 in 8th 16th & 18th places. Bob Baldie of the same club is 2 nd, 3 rd, 9 th, and 10 th federation with Macaulay Ferguson & Curran of the Forfar club in 4 th, 14 th, & 15th fed places. D & D Hay of Gourdon club is 1st east section and 5th federation A Whyte of
Montrose is 2nd east section. 7th federation with J Anderson of Letham in 3rd east section and 11th open position. Davie Glen of Forfar is 6 th, 12 th, 13 th, 19th & 20th federation with club mate Eric Galloway of the same club is in 17th federation place. East Section winners are as follows: D & D Hay of Gourdon is 1st & 9th section. A Whyte of Montrose is in 2nd place with L McKay of Inchcape in 3rd spot. Arbroath s Charlie Cameron is 4th & 5th section with Montrose J & J Leven of Montrose are in 6th place. Kevin J Murphy is in 7th section with B Main of Inchcape club in 9th spot. G Campbell of Montrose makes up the top ten position. Club Winners are as follows: Forfar 220 birds, winner Ian Scott; Montrose NO birds, winner A Whyte; Arbroath 30 birds, winner Charlie Cameron; Inchcape 55 birds, winner L McKay; Gourdon 20 birds, winner D & D Hay; Letham 43 birds, winner J Anderson. Arbroath RP society from the 7th old bird race from Leicester on 6th June, 3 members sent 30 birds liberated at 06-00 hours into a south west wind the first 2 places are won by Charlie Cameron with the winner a 3 year old hen who won 25th section C 104th open SNFC Clermont last year. In fact she was injured on her return and Kevin did a great job in stitching her up so it looks like she has made a good recovery. Her sire is from Little Dorrie 3rd open Alencon when mated to a Keith Bush cock and her dam is a Len Downie-bred pigeon. The second bird is a dark chequer yearling cock bred from a Malfait cock mated to a Len Downie hen. Well done to Kevin and yourself with your first federation win from the National. Third place is Kevin J Murphy with a yearling chequer pied hen her sire is a full brother to our 4th open SNFC Alencon 573 miles national winner being Gilmour Brothers bloodlines. The dam is a daughter of Rocket our 7 times SNFC winner. Ayrshire Federation news from Mark Finlay who wrote Hi Joe, on Saturday 30th May Ayrshire federation were at Newark which is approximately 230 miles to the centre of the federation. The 373 birds were liberated at 06-45am into a south west wind with our winner doing 1124 velocity this was Tom Smith of Dalry HS. Tom s 2 year old red chequer cock as a yearling was sent to all 3 national races (2 inland and Ypres) plus the federation comeback race. He was sitting 3 to 4 days on eggs and feeding a big youngster which showed how keen he was by being almost 20 ypm in front of the convoy. The grand sire of Tom s winner has won no less than 5 open positions from SNFC races at all distances, while the granddam is from good friends who compete very strongly in the MNFC. As I write Tom has sent this fine 2 year old to Billericay our first SNFC inland national and if everything goes ok shall be set up for the biggest and best race of the season the SNFC Gold Cup race from Alencon. We all wish the very best of luck to Tom and once again congratulations on a very fine performance. Both 2nd & 3rd positions go to Ricky Young of Darvel HS with is 2nd federation from his good friend Tam Blair of Stirling crossed with Colin Nicol of Ardeer HS bloodlines. The 3rd fed winner is from his Peter Virtue stock, well done Ricky once again fantastic flying. Well Joe that's all for now, all the best Mark. Ardeer HS James O Hare writes Hi Joe Ayrshire federation race from Billericay were 257 birds were convoyed with the SNFC and
liberated at 05-15am into a west wind turning north west on route home. Ardeer had 3 members sending 6 birds for the 351 mile journey and it was anticipated that we a hard race was on the cards as flying into Ayrshire is was a headwind from start to finish. 1st place (21st section F well done JM) is the partnership of J & S O Hare with a 3 year old cock that has had 3 races this season winning 6th and 2 x 1st clubs he was sent driving his hen to nest. This was not to bad Joe for a bird that came back home last year in a box. In 2nd place are team Nicol who consist of J & J & C Nicol. There bird is from the best of Nigel Laycock 'Steady Eddie' crossed a granddaughter of Paul Stobbs 'Just a Kid'. He was 5th club as a young bird then as a yearling came back from his first race (Appleby) injured on the keel and minus a toe. He was left to recover and was sent to the comeback from Stobbs Camp where he won 3rd club 16th federation beaten by 2 loft mates dropping together. In 2014 he was flying steady winning a couple of minor tickets then went to Dumfries on 8th June winning 1st club 1st x 3 bird club 6th federation.he then had 4 x 40 mile tosses on the trot before basketting for Ypres were he won 1st club 1st x 3 bird club and 7th Federation. This was his first race of the 2015 season, so hopefully he can add to his winning ways later in the season. ONLY 2 BIRDS made it home in what turned out to be a very hard race for the west coast of Scotland and some guy s never timed in till the next morning. I have said it many times before I just don t know why Ayrshire is having such problems year after year with losses and if anyone has ideas or solutions to help us then feel free to contact me the email address is jimbhoy32@hotmail.co.uk Central Federation Broxburn club news from Bernie Britton with the club and fed result for the Leicester (2) race we had 6 members sending 111 birds liberated at 06-15 hours into a light south wind which was to get stronger route. 1st is John McNeill flying a yearling blue bar cock on roundabout he is a Gabby out of the stock loft of D & J Hawkins &Evans he wins 3rd federation. In 2nd place is John McNeill flying a blue bar pied cock on roundabout a gift from A McNaughton from Northern Ireland he won 12th federation as well. He has been a very consistent bird and in 2014 he won 3rd club Ripon.5th Fed 12th section 93rd open SNFC young bird national. 3rd place goes to Gordon Mackenzie with a 2 year old Gabby hen on roundabout she wins 12th fed and is a granddaughter of Benetton. Our club member s had a good result from Leicester (1) yearling Derby with 4th Combine going to Gordon MacKenzie: 5th was Pat Rafferty & sons with 8th & 18th places going to J Ferguson & son 9th 45th 47th & 52nd is John McNeill well done lads. It was good to see K J Murphy on the SNFC lib line result from Billericay flying broken bird s to a new loft location so well done to the Murphys. All the best and take care, Bernie. East of Scotland Federation News from Tam McEwen with the Weatherby race flown on the 6th of June with a 06-00 liberation into a south west wind topping the federation and also taking 5th & 6th making it another great race for Brian Lavery of Prestonpans. The ever consistent taking a nice treble is John Bird with 2nd 7th & 9th federation. The in-form Tom Waddell is not to be missed out also timing a treble to win 3rd 4th & 8th
federation. Completing the top ten in 10th spot are Mr & Mrs Burgess of Ormiston. Prestonpans HS This week s winner is Brian Lavery with a 3 year old chequer hen on 1599.9 (who also tops the federation) her breeding is as follows she was bred by Tom & Scott McEwen of Elphinstone sire is a pure Deweerdt from Emiel bloodlines bred by Mark Gilbert. The dam is an inbred daughter of Petite Rose winner of 1st open SNFC Tours 611 miles. 2nd club is John Bird with a yearling blue cock on 1599.7 this cock was 2nd open last week from Peterborough. His sire was bred by Tony Young from his 3rd open SNFC Maidstone winner while the dam was bred by Willie Hume from his 2nd open SNFC Maidstone winner. Tom Waddell is 3rd with a yearling on 1593 bred from his own family of pigeons. WELL Done Joe to you and Kevin for a great result with your hen from the SNFC Billericay race congratulations all the best yours Tom. Fife Federation Kennoway HS news from Jocky Scott who informs us that Sean Diamond is first from Billericay with a yearling hen on roundabout she is a Luke Van Hoecke and was bred by John Smith of Duz Work and was a gift to Sean she won 2nd federation 2nd section C and 15th open national. In 2nd & 3rd club 3rd Fife federation 3rd section C and 17th open national is Alan Cassidy with 2 yearlings on roundabout his first bird is a cock with the second bird a hen winning 12th section C 50th open. Great flying by these 2 lads and well done. Pentland hills federation & New Lothian R.P.C. News from Andy Millar who tells us that the above 2 organisations held their 8th race of the season on Saturday 6th June with a comeback race from Wetherby with 15 clubs sending 2089 birds to this 145-159 miles distance. Race Controller Bobby Graham had the birds on their way at 06:00 in a south west wind. Winning 1st New Lothian and 1st Federation is the loft of Tony Young from Danderhall who also timed to win 3rd place his winner was a 2 year old widowhood cock. He has always been a steady pigeon winning many prizes and his breeding is Herman Ceusters, via stock from Jim McKerron from Aberdeen crossed Andre Clements via Willie Hay from Methilhill breeding. Returns again were excellent on a very windy day. 2nd & 9th are Willie Kinnear & son from Danderhall with yours truly Andy Miller of Sighthill club in 3th place followed by J S Smith of Loanhead in 5th place. A W Robertson of Gilmerton is 6th & 7th with D & J Allan of Woodburn club in 8th spot. The top ten is made up of L Mitchell of Castlebrae with a yearling. Club Winners are as follows: Danderhall 342 birds; 1st & 3rd A Young 2nd Kinnear Sighthill 145 birds; 1st Miller 2nd & 3rd Girdwood Loanhead 213 birds; 1st 2nd & 3rd Smith Gilmerton 123 birds; 1st & 2nd A W Robertson 3rd Bennett Woodburn 66 birds: 1st & 2nd Allan 3rd Brown Castlebrae 71 birds; 1st 2nd & 3rd L Mitchell
Edinburgh West 109 birds; 1st & 3rd Lamb 2nd I Bennett Edinburgh Premier 168 birds; 1st Dick 2nd & 3rd Gilchrist Easthouses 275 birds; 1st & 2nd W Pryde & Son 3 Sanderson Inveresk 55 birds: 1st & 2nd Cairns 3rd Halley & Kelly Bonnyrigg 118 birds: 1st Benson 2nd J Dewar 3rd A Dewar Rosewell 97 birds: 1st & 3rd Cunningham & Ness Hush 2nd G Tytler Peebles 100 birds: 1st Cunningham & Ness 2nd & 3rd McCormack New Lothian 38 birds: Edinburgh Central 0 birds: Traprain 168 birds: 1st & 2nd Mark 3rd Thomson Others 54 birds: New Lothian RPC from the Weatherby race 57 lofts sent 1101 birds with Tony Young of Danderhall in 1st & 3rd places his winner lifting 130 for his efforts. 2nd & 9th are Willie Kinnear & son also from Danderhall with Press Officer Andy Miller of Sighthill club in 4th place followed by J S Smith of Loanhead in 5th spot. A W Robertson of Gilmerton is 6th & 7th with D & J Allan of Woodburn club in 8th spot with L Mitchell of Castlebrae making up the top ten. Obituaries Ernie Harbourne, former editor of BHW. I was very saddened to read in today s BHW of the passing of Ernie. He was the editor when I joined the team of scribes in 1976 and he gave me a lot of encouragement. He, along with the late Jim Renwick, told me not to use a nom de plume and to use my own name so that if anyone had anything to say to me they would know who I was and could contact me directly. Ernie always had time for you when you we met at the Show of the Year and along with Vera. They were a wonderful couple. To Vera and their children we send our heartfelt condolences on the passing of one of our GREATS within the sport of pigeon racing. Dr Jeff Horn of Hutton. I met Jeff a few times over the years and one of the things that stick out in my mind was away back in the 70s he spoke about how the pigeon sport would be changing due to the agreement of the governments of France and England to open the Channel Tunnel. He could see the day when transporters could be loaded in Scotland and driven down to the tunnel during the night. Then on to a train and at the liberation site within 24 hours of being basketed, thus the pigeons would be fresher, less stressed and he foretold we would have better racing. He could see that this was one of the world s greatest technological achievements and the first link between Britain and Europe since the last Ice Age 1000s of years ago. He was also a forward thinking pigeon fancier who created his own strain of pigeons that won from all over the world. He won 1st Yearling in the 1985 SNFC Appledore race with a velocity of 1105 with Willie & Steven Aitchison of Ayton winning 1st Scottish National Any Age with a velocity of 1115. Jeff then went on to win 1st Scottish National Sartilly 2 in 1993. To his wife Marion we send our deepest sympathy at her sad loss.
Joe s Jokes Life of a Cowboy: An old cowboy walks into the barbershop for a shave and a haircut and he tells the barber he can't get all his whiskers off because his cheeks are wrinkled from age. The barber gets a little wooden ball from a cup on the shelf and tells the old cowboy to put it inside his cheek to spread out the skin. When he's finished, the old cowboy tells the barber that was the cleanest shave he's had in years. But he wanted to know what would have happened if he had swallowed that little ball. The barber replied, "Just bring it back in a couple of days like everyone else does". --- An old geezer, who had been a retired farmer for a long time, became very bored and decided to open a medical clinic. He put a sign up outside that said: Dr Geezer s clinic. "Get your treatment for 500, if not cured get back 1,000." Doctor Young, who was positive that this old geezer didn't know beans about medicine, thought this would be a great opportunity to get 1,000. So he went to Dr Geezers clinic. This is what transpired. Dr Young: Dr Geezer, I have lost all taste in my mouth.can you please help me?? Dr Geezer: Nurse, please bring medicine from box 22 and put 3 drops in Dr Young's mouth. Dr Young: Aaagh!! This is Petrol! Dr Geezer: Congratulations! You've got your taste back. That will be 500. Dr Young gets annoyed and goes back after a couple of days figuring to recover his money. Dr Young: I have lost my memory, I cannot remember anything. Dr Geezer: Nurse, please bring medicine from box 22 and put 3 drops in the patient's mouth. Doctor Young: Oh no you don't-that is Petrol! Dr Geezer: Congratulations! You've got your memory back. That will be 500. Dr Young (after having lost 1000) leaves angrily and comes back after several more days. Dr Young: My eyesight has become weak-i can hardly see!!! Dr Geezer: Well, I don't have any medicine for that so here s your 1000 back. Dr Young: But this is only 500...Dr Geezer: Congratulations! You got your vision back! That will be 500. Moral of story: just because you're "Young" doesn't mean that you can outsmart an old "Geezer "!!! 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 Email to joejmurphy1@gmail.com REMEMBER THE J IN THE MIDDLE who wish my weekly contribution portfolio on pigeon topics from Scotland. Compiled by Joe Murphy June 2015