But that did not stop locals from rolling out the welcome mat and celebrating that record-breaking flight.

And 80 years on, a small flying club in Derry has paid its very own tribute.

Only this is a flying club with a difference.

The 27-strong member Rock Pigeon Club in Derry has renamed itself the Amelia Earhart Flying Club to mark the anniversary of her landing.

Its pigeon loft is located in Ballyarnet, close to the spot where Amelia Earhart was forced to touch down due to bad weather and technical problems.

Club treasurer, Cathal Fox, said it was a fitting tribute.

“Amelia Earhart is a great asset for this city and we don’t think she’s getting enough recognition locally,” he said.

“Our club rooms are at the spot where Amelia Earhart landed and we’re proud to name the club after her.”

The Amelia Earhart Flying Club has been registered with the Royal Racing Pigeon Association which oversees the industry.

Cathal added: “Our club name is published on racing pigeon websites and magazines which are read across the UK and in America.

“People, particularly in the US, will associate the name Amelia Earhart with Derry and will hopefully come and visit the city.”

Inaugural race

The club has planned an inaugural race from Cork to Londonderry this month to commemorate its new name.

After her transatlantic achievement, Amelia Earhart continued to break records.

But in 1937 her challenge to be the first woman to fly around the world ended in tragedy when her plane disappeared in the middle of the Pacific.

A rescue attempt lasted 17 days and scoured more that 250,000 square miles of ocean, but she was never found.

The aviator is a household name in America and an airport in Kansas was named in her honour.

In March 2012, a simliar bid to rename City of Derry Airport after the pioneering aviator was rejected after local politicians could not agree.

That decision was criticised by the former director of a small museum celebrating Amelia Earhart in Derry.

John Thompson said the failure to capitalise on Amelia Earhart’s legacy was a “major mistake”.

Royal Blue, bred and trained in Sandringham by The Duke of York’s grandfather, King George VI, was awarded the Dickin Medal for bravery as he was the first pigeon during World War Two to bring a message from a force-landed crew on the continent. On 10 October, 1940 this young bird was released in Holland, approximately 120 miles from base, at 0720 hours and arrived at 1130 hours the same day with information regarding the situation of the crew.

Bletchley Park was home to operational carrier pigeons during World War Two and today houses the “Pigeons at War” exhibition on behalf of the Royal Racing Pigeon Association. HRH The Duke of York will also be shown the operational wartime pigeon loft in the stable yard at Bletchley Park which is planned to become permanent home to the newly-developed “Pigeons at War” exhibition.

David Higgins, President of the Royal Pigeon Racing Association commented, “This visit by HRH The Duke of York continues the historic relationship between the Royal Family and Racing Pigeons that began with the Duke’s great-grandfather, King George V.

Source: About My Area

The first recipient chosen in what will be an ongoing effort is 10-year-old McKenzie Peoples of Fort Scott, who is undergoing treatment for leukemia. Peoples and her parents will be presented with a check next week.

Organizer and Twister Combine racing club president Jerry Smith said he was very happy with the first-of-its-kind event.

“This kind of event is groundbreaking in the pigeon racing world,” Club Treasurer Rick McKay said.

He added he “was extremely happy with the way it went; everybody was all smiles.” Organizers hope the idea will spread across the country.

Billy Gates of Springfield, Mo., didn’t bring any birds to the event but came just to be around other racers. Gates, 65, is a retired fireman and said he has been racing pigeons since he was 13.

“It’s a decent hobby,” he said, “something interesting for a retired person.”

People from as far away as Wisconsin attended the event and birds for the charity auction were sent to Smith from California, Florida and several states in between. One bird was sold for $210. The club auctions sold items like feed, cages, caps, a saddle rack and more.

Jonathan Hyder, 20, of Nevada, who is studying wildlife management at Fort Scott Community College, attended the event because, “it’s something I’m interested in, so I wanted to come out and talk to some of the people who do this all the time.”

A meeting was held in the morning and several members visited Kenny Davis’ Nevada farm to take a look at his new loft. Davis has only been racing pigeons for a couple of years. He has four or five pairs of breeders, though the loft could accommodate many more.

“My goal is quality, not quantity,” Davis said.

Back at the fairgrounds while examining the birds to be auctioned, Brad Burger of Blue Springs, Mo., was using a jeweler’s loupe to examine the muscle structure of the birds’ eyes. According to Burger, he was looking for “particular structures in the eye” because the eye is the birds’ primary navigational tool.

In the afternoon, about 100 birds were released for a timed flight back to their home lofts. They came out of a trailer in a whir of wings and flash of color. Some circled overhead, but a few of the birds immediately headed for home. Three red-tailed hawks also circled overhead, but all of the birds made it safely on their way. American Racing Pigeon Union literatures says thoroughbred racing pigeons are “able to fly up to 16 hours, at ground speeds often averaging in excess of 45 mph.”

The auctions and drawings held later in the day were accompanied by a bake sale. There were grab bags and many other ways to buy or win a prize. All proceeds went into the same bank account for the sick kids. “It’s all about the kids,” Smith said.

Source: FS Tribune

Andrew Hutchison, 67, a pigeon fancier, was found guilty of killing the bird, called Naph, with an air rifle.

He was fined £350, and ordered to pay £1,500 compensation to Naph’s owners, NBC Bird and Pest Solutions.

Naph was one of 25 birds of prey used to keep pigeons away from the Holyrood parliament building.

The peregrine/gyrfalcon cross was also employed to perform similar duties at Hampden Park, Scotland’s national football stadium.

Every Sunday, he was taken out for exercise flights at Torryburn in Fife, but last April the falcon was blown off course and landed in a tree in a garden.

When the hawk’s handlers went to find him, Hutchison – who kept racing pigeons – admitted he had shot the bird.

The retired miner then drove off with the falcon’s body. Police later found the bird’s radio transmitter, still attached to one severed leg, dumped in a stream four miles away.

The rest of the Naph’s remains have never been found.

Hutchison, of Newmills, Fife, was found guilty after a trial in December of maliciously shooting and killing a working falcon.

He originally denied knowing anything about the falcon, but later claimed to have killed Naph because he was attacking one of Hutchison’s racing doves.

Speaking outside Dunfermline Sheriff Court after appearing for sentence on Wednesday, Hutchison said: “I’m a pensioner. The fine and compensation is going to cripple me.”

Source: BBC News

In the period of half March we start to darken the youngsters and here we have some different possibilities. Some fanciers use one method and another fancier feels better with another method. Because there are several fanciers that still have many questions about the darkening, I will try to explain two different possibilities.

Darkening from 17.30 p.m. till 08.00 a.m.
This system was the first that was used and which mainly comes from Holland, where they were some years ahead with the darkening then we are here in Belgium. The only possible explanation must be here that we preferred to use the eye-drops in our own little country and we didn’t know enough about the system in Holland. Besides a lot of our fanciers didn’t believe in the effect of the darkening and they all thought that the Dutchmen used a combination of darkening and the eye-drops.

But still, as with all systems, some aspects blow over and they start with some tests. Those people who choose for this kind of darkening must know that the top-condition only arrives at the end of July and during the months of August till half September. The main reason here is that these birds will be in an optimal “feather-coat” and they will have more aerodynamic possibilities then their age group because these last ones lost more feathers. Besides also their sexual lust will be there because of the light. The pigeons will arrive in a summer condition, so they will also start to train more, so in fact it’s a development of the health condition to the top and the birds can hold on to this top-condition longer.

The disadvantage of this darkening method is that the youngsters will have arrears at the beginning because of the dark periods, by which they couldn’t grow enough. This can also be noticed by the lust to pair, these young birds won’t get paired as fast as those that aren’t darkened. Besides the lost is bigger too at the first private training flights and this must be because the game with the light has a negative effect on the development of the orientation of the pigeon. We learned by experience that it’s best to release the young pigeons in the morning because many fanciers already lost many pigeons by releasing them in the afternoon. In fact this is rather logical because the day-rhythm lies between 8.00 in the morning till 17.30 p.m. and we must also take notice that these birds need about half an hour or one hour to acclimatise to the daylight.

So we also must know that it’s not good to let them outside immediately after we opened the curtains. Another disadvantage is the prevention of oxygen during the night when the loft is darkened and closed. At this point the oxygen can’t circulate as it should and it’s more difficult to keep them healthy. But still the biggest advantage is that those birds that are left, can get into the basket every weekend in August and most of the time the result are successful. Also in future, as a yearling or an old bird, the pigeons won’t have any negative consequences of the darkening. It’s best to stop about 6 weeks before the first important flight.

Here we also found out by experience that the bird arrives at its top-condition at this point.

Darkening from 16.00 p.m. till 22.00 p.m.
This is the system we prefer and also the one I use ourselves. At 16.00 hours Nadia darkens the windows and at 22.00 hours in the evening I take away the plates. By using this system of darkening, you have all the advantages about which we already talked with the previous system. With this method there is more circulation of the oxygen and the chance of respiration diseases is much smaller. We all know the more air the pigeons get on the loft, the better their health condition and the loft is drier too.

Another advantage is that the pigeons can wake up in a natural rhythm, they wake up when the sun rises. With this system you can let them out at 7.30 or 8 o’clock, this depends on the fancier but it’s for sure that here you don’t have to wait till they are used again to the daylight. According to some fanciers this isn’t necessary but we prefer it. We got in touch with this system by the Herbots family, who already scored fantastic results.

On the opposite we must mention that with this method the pigeons start to moult sooner but when you want to have peak on the flight from Bourges, it’s good that one part of the pigeons already lost their second pinion. From this moment on they leave every two weeks to compete to a national flight for the youngsters and in-between they still have to fly a middle distance flight. So in fact they are in the basket every week again. This also takes care of the fact that the pigeons stay in their feathers but nevertheless here you have to be careful with the training-flights and always try to avoid the afternoon-releases.

Important to know
The most important factor in our sport is of course the pigeon. The bird must be strong and clever enough to score and this is an inheritable fact. In fact the more super pigeons we find on the pedigree, the more chance we have to be successful.

This was and always remains the most important principle. Next to this it’s also very important to keep the birds healthy and this depends on the fancier. He’s the one to observe and make notice of the fact when a certain bird seems to be sick. Always look if the birds have the right manure, how do they look like, are the feathers nice and tight to their body, are the throats all right? So when the throat is red it’s not good and their eyes have to be clear and bright. All very important aspects to find out if the youngsters are healthy or not. Besides you can always plan a visit to the vet if you’re not sure and of course afterwards you can repeat the visit once a month. It’s better to go there too soon then to wait too long.

By regular visits you can prevent certain diseases and when it’s necessary you can do something about it very soon. To be sure about a good development of your young generation, you can always provide them with by-products. On the section of our youngsters you can find fresh grit, some red stone, minerals, etc. throughout the year. Already when the little ones are weaned, we make sure that they always have several different by-products, so they learn to know it all very soon and they like it very much. We also use different kinds of these products and it’s remarkable that they like the “leckerstein” the most, which must be softer than the other pick-stones. When it comes down to the mineral-mixtures, they prefer the little stones, which have the advantage that they are a big help with the digestion of the food. On the other hand we have the powders but hey are always all over the floor and we can’t be sure about these powders for 100% because it seems they contain some chemical materials.

I prefer the little buckets of Minogram, which is full of amino acids, magnesium and iodine or also the Expert-minerals, which is a combination of calcium, phosphor, sodium and iodine. This last material is very good to use in the breeding period. These little stones are very much wanted and they take good care of the blood-circulation, it keeps the pigeons healthy and that’s what it’s all about. In the last few years we all are aware of the fact that these by-products are very important and that’s something I can tell of my own experience.

In 2000, the year we became national champions of Belgium, we always found our youngsters on a heap of sand in our garden. So we thought that there they looked for the necessary minerals, stones, etc. Nevertheless they had it on the loft too but probably not enough. A pigeon knows what it needs and when they don’t find it on the loft, they go and look for it elsewhere.

By The Joker, a top Belgian Fancier.

At the end of January, Chinese businessman Hu Zhenyu spent €250,000 (US$336,000) on a racing pigeon named Special Blue, breaking the record price for a single bird, according to Agence France-Presse.

Pieter Veenstra, Special Blue’s previous owner, has sold 245 pigeons for a total of nearly €2 million (US$2.7 million) in recent years, according to Pigeon Paradise, a website specializing in pigeon auctions. The website’s statistics say that 50% of its clients are Chinese.

At international pigeon fairs the most expensive birds are sold to buyers from China. (Photo/Xinhua)

Besides Special Blue, an auction organized by the site saw Chinese buyer Guo Weichen become the owner of Blue Prince for €156,000 (US$210,000) while another bird, Euro-diamond, was sold to a Japanese buyer for €170,000 (US$229,000).

Chinese enthusiasts pay large sums of money if pigeons have won several prizes or have a good pedigree, said Pigeon Paradise president Nikolaas Gyselbrecht, interviewed by AFP on the sidelines of an international racing pigeon fair held earlier this month in northwest Belgium.

“I think Belgium is the pigeon-racing capital,” said Johnson Kiang, a visitor to the fair from Taiwan.

Not everyone welcomes wealthy buyers from China. During the fair, several pigeon fanciers claimed that the trend of buying pigeons at such high prices would distort the market.

Willy Anquinet, a 75 year-old pigeon racer living near Brussels and owner of over 80 birds, said he has been adversely affected by the rising price of pigeons. “People proposed €15,000 (US$20,200) for a bird, but I wanted €20,000 (US$26,900) so that I could buy a new car.” A few days after the potential buyers’ visit, the cage padlock was broken and the pigeon had disappeared.

“They took it, and wanted to take another one. But they damaged one of its wings,” he said, showing a bird that is now unable to fly competitively.

Mark De Cock, an aficionado who owns 600 pigeons said, “Chinese people take prestige very seriously. Even if they are not pigeon professionals and do not take part in competitions, they still want an expensive pigeon. It is like an art amateur who wishes to own a painting by Rubens or Rembrandt.”

Source: WantChinaTimes

Sidney Smout, known as Ted, was a member of the Evesham and District Flying Club in the 1970s and won every one of the club’s cups and trophies in 1972 – a feat that had never been accomplished before.

Born on August 2, 1929, he attended Cropthorne First School and Pershore High before going on to work on the land.

He lived in Charlton, near Evesham, when he first got married, and took up pigeon racing in the late 1960s, usually flying them from Cheltenham Racecourse but also taking part in overseas flying in France and races in Weymouth.

His daughter Verna remembers racing to be his passion and his pride in his clean sweep of trophies in the 70s.

She said: “He just achieved the ultimate then.

“It wasn’t done before to win that amount. At that time it was a big thing.

“He loved being outside. He loved nature.

“He was one who was always there to give you advice, help and support.

“Nobody had a bad word to say. There was only one of him.”

Douglas Sinclair, aged 76, of School Road, Hampton, knew Mr Smout when they flew pigeons together in the early 70s.

“He used to fly White Grizzles.

I remember that year when he won every race.

“He did really well, he won all eight races.

“He was a nice chap, a really nice chap.

“He would do anything for anybody.”

Mr Smout became wellknown for having an allotment in his later years, a hobby he took up after he gave up racing pigeons.

He is survived by daughters Lynda and Verna as well as five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Source: Tewkesbury Ad Mag

In Taiwan, the police of southern Pingdong and Tainan counties on Wednesday arrested seven people for “kidnapping” racing pigeons while the birds were flying to their master’s loft from their beginning point 150 miles offshore. The kidnappers set up gigantic nets along the route to trap the birds. Then they took the leg bands off the birds and the bands to the owner via their own pigeons.

It’s not clear how big the ransom demand was, but police said perpetrators of such crimes usually ask for a couple thousands of New Taiwan dollars, somewhere between US$100 and US$200.

Pigeon racing is big in Taiwan, so is bird kidnapping, police said. More than 30,000 Taiwanese race pigeons and another 50,000 are involved in raising and training birds there, according to various media reports.

The prize money of major competitions helps explain some of the allure. Increasing Chinese affluence has also impacted pigeon-racing: A Chinese buyer paid US$200,000 for a highly pedigreed racing pigeon in a Belgium auction last month. But police say the money tied up in the sport also increases its allure for criminals and those in underground gambling.

Source: Wall Street Journal

The birds – worth around £10,000 – were taken from a shed at Dodge Holme Drive in Mixenden. 

The family have 54 birds in total, and the best 26 were taken.

Three of the pigeons have managed to make their way home but the rest are still missing.

Richard Mitchell, 45, said they have had the birds for three years and had been training them so they could start competing with them when the season starts this April.

“We were devastated when we found they had been stolen,” he said.

“Whoever did it knew what they were taking.

“We won’t be able to compete this year now.”

Mr Mitchell has been looking after the pigeons with his partner Pamela Rothery and step-children Lauren and Daniel.

Two of the three that have come back are Lauren’s favourite, Seagull, and Daniel’s favourite, Big Head.

“My only conclusion is that they have been able to see out and make their own way back,” said Mr Mitchell.

The thieves took the birds by forcing open the door of their shed sometime between 12.30am and 6.40am on Friday.

The culprits also took a carrier crate.

Police say they believe the thieves will have some knowledge of pigeons as only the best ones were taken.

Mr Mitchell says he wants to offer a reward to anyone who can help him find the birds.

He added he has heard of other pigeon racers in other parts of the country having their birds stolen or even set on fire.

Source: Halifax Courier

Fats are already found in a mother’s milk, which contains mainly mono saturated fatty acids. But it also contains other kinds of fatty combinations. All fats in the body are built on fatty acids so our body can function in a healthy way. Fatty acids that can’t be produced by our bodies but yet they are essential and these can be found in sunflower-, maize-, soy-, linseed- and rape-seed oil. Our bodies, to build on the so-called polyunsaturated fatty acids, use these fatty acids.
Fats are build out of many different kinds of fatty acids, which have a different structure and that’s why they all have a different function. In general the fatty acids are separated in two groups:

Saturated and unsaturated fatty acids: When we talk about these two groups of fatty acids, we should also know the meaning of them. Saturated fatty acids should heighten the cholesterol in our blood. These are mostly found in animal fats like fat meat and in milk. Also some vegetable fats like coconut fat and palm fat contain saturated fatty acids. This kind can mostly be recognised by the fact that they don’t become liquid by room temperature. Here I think about the fat they use in our chips stands or the fat in our pan when we baked some bacon.

Unsaturated fatty acids are known as mono and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Both of them should lower the cholesterol in the blood and that’s why these are very important to our health. These unsaturated fatty acids are to be found in vegetable oils like maize germ oil, sunflower oil olive oil. Also several animal products contain a lot of unsaturated fatty acids like in some kinds of fresh fish.
In fact products that contains this kind of fatty acids are much more healthy but of course here you have to be careful and don’t overdo it.

Many possibilities
Almost every firm can offer different kinds of oils so we fanciers often can’t decide which one we should use. So it’s no waste of time to find out about the advantages of the different oils. Which one is useful for our pigeons? I checked on the most used products and this is what I found out.

Vegetable oils:

Wheat germ oil
This one is already used in our sport for many years because this oil is known for the enrichment of vitamin E. It takes care of a better fertilisation and it also heightens up the sexual lust. This wheat germ oil is a vegetable oil and besides the vitamin E it also contains a high percentage of unsaturated fatty acids. The natural function of this vitamin E is to stop the unsaturated fatty acids from oxidation. So in fact it takes care of a longer life of the cells, in other words it keeps the body young and vital.

Sunflower oil
Another high quality vegetable oil that also contains a great deal of vitamin E of which you already know the function. Besides it has good digestible fats at its disposal. Sunflower oil is also enriched by linol-acid, which is a combination of several different anti-oxidation and essential fatty acids that can be used as an immediate source of energy, by the cells. It especially helps to control the organism and protects the cells. Next to these aspects it also makes the muscles stronger and it is an advantage to the immune system.

Sesame oil
This oil, together with the olive oil, is one of the oldest kinds of oil. It’s pressed out of sesame seeds and it contains for about 40% linol-acid (look sunflower oil). This oil has some natural anti oxidants, which guaranties a good tenability. It’s also known for the healing influence and that’s why it’s the most used oil in the Asiatic countries

Maize germ oil
Is a pure biologic, natural product that comes out of the germs of corn. Each and everyone of us knows the importance of the power of the germs and we all must have tested the “germ-power” of our pigeon food. The germ is the base of life and this contains the best qualities. So this oil contains a strong concentration of the necessary fatty acids and it’s also very much enriched by the vitamin E. That’s the reason that this oil takes care of an extra and long lasting energy, which is very much wanted with hard work.

Soya oil
The strong popularity of soy has to be because of several health advantages they found in this seed in the last few years. The milk of this product is used more and more instead of the usual milk powder. Soya should work preventively against chronicle diseases and besides it also should have a positive effect on the blood circulation and it lowers the cholesterol. This soy oil contains a lot of proteins and polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Peanut oil
Peanuts are know all over the world and very much wanted by our own birds. These nuts contain a lot of oil, magnesium and it should be a very powerful source to fend off certain stress situations. It’s a vegetable oil with a lot of power and it helps the cells to live longer. Mostly it’s described as the ideal powerful food.

Garlic oil
Garlic is a very old plant that originally grew on Central Asia. Throughout the centuries people started to get some knowledge about the effect of this garlic on the human health. This plant has a strong anti-bacterial effect on our body. Garlic should help to make our immune system stronger and it also helps to keep our cholesterol down. On my lofts this garlic oil is already used for many years to moisture the food of our pigeons and this in combination with beer yeast, which is known to be an ideal way to purify the blood. The bloodstream will become easier so

Animal fats or fish fats:

Fish oil takes care of the reduce of the percentage of the fatty acids and this means you have less chance of getting a hart attach or problems with the blood vessels. This gives an extra protection to our general health. The power of the fish oil are best to be found with the Eskimo’s with whom they don’t often find problems with their hart or blood vessels and their basic food is fat kinds of fish. They hold on to a positive blood pressure and cholesterol too. When something is wrong with our hart, the doctor immediately will give us a list with “good” and “bad” food and fish is one of the good kinds.
Besides a positive effect on hart and blood vessels, it also seems that this fish oil has a positive influence on stiff or painful joints.
Fish oils is a rich source of fatty acids that are all very good for our health and some of the best known oils must be:

Cod-liver oil
This is probably the oldest and most famous oil of the animal oils and I think that many among us know it when they had to take a soupspoon of this not very tasteful oil. Although it’s not the best to taste, the oil gives extra power and it’s known for its vitamin B complex. It also takes care of a better blood circulation.

Salmon oil
The last few years this kind of fish is chosen very often because the salmon is less polluted. Salmon oil should be good, just like the other kinds of fish oil, for a natural balance of the cholesterol. But also a positive effect on the intestinal bacteria, in fact it takes care of a natural balance.

Lecithin
In all oil mixtures we can read about lecithin, which is a polyunsaturated fatty acid that dissolves our cholesterol. The colour of this product goes from yellow to dark brown, depending on the source, the harvest and the treatment of the material. Lecithin doesn’t smell at all or just a bit like nuts. It’s the part of the product that always stays at the bottom of the bottle and that’s why we have to shake it before we use it. Lecithin is to be found in all cells of our body and it’s the kind of fat that contains among others fatty acids, B-vitamins and phosphorus. Especially the brains, the hart, the liver and skin need a lot of lecithin. Nevertheless mostly our food contains not enough of this lecithin to provide us in a natural way. Also our brains and the nerves are full of lecithin and our brains use it as an extra source of energy. So when our brains use a lot of the product, we can get a shortage and we will become nervous, irritable.

The effects of oils on our defence mechanism
Oils should help our body to fight against infections and to improve the resistance of the body. So in short it’s very important to prevent us from getting sick. Especially when the body is weak, for example because of stress, illness, the use of antibiotics or other medicines that lessen the natural resistance of our bodies. So it’s very important to our pigeons that their defence mechanism will become stronger to protect their organism. Of course just like with anything else it’s never good to overdo it but during the season it’s very important to use a quality product to help them to recover better and faster. Like I already mentioned in many other articles it’s up to the fancier to find out what he wants for his colony. It’s not an overdoing luxury to use these products every week again for about two days. In fact everybody should use it to keep our feathered friends healthy and make sure that their feathers are in top condition.