Well, most importantly, what a tough day. Those birds that arrived on the day are all deserving of significant praise and accolades. As you can see on the liberation video, the release was good weather, but the birds encountered head winds and thunderstorms all the way home, with the worst part of the winds being at the lofts. As the time the birds started arriving, the sky was blue with scattered clouds, but a steady head wind. I think many may say the weather conditions were too tough, but I think that is unfair. The conditions were tough, but very doable. Also, I think the birds were in outstanding condition as they arrived tired, but not beat to death. I will expect the birds to start coming tomorrow very steadily if the weather is suitable. Again, congrats to all the birds!
Yes, of course, I was THRILLED to see Alfie arrive in 32nd position. For the record to my friend Noel Certain - Alfie is named after the song by well known British Pop Singer Lily Allen -- not the stuffed alien!!! (Noel was giving me a hard time about this all day!!) Also, congratulations to Hot Choco - from Gallo and Placeta Loft for their 8th Place finish. Last year the US was 10th so it was nice to see us move up a few positions. Also, congratulations to Jim Gabler for his 45th place finish, Lion Gate Lofts for their 49th place finish and Don & Judy Hart for their 50th place finish. America finished the day strong!!! The powerful Dutch contigent did not do well for sure and the Belgium birds actually did just slightly better than the Dutch. Once I get home, I will finish up my Country Comparison spreadsheet for us to see some real numbers.
Finally, I must say that a "controversy" has already occurred down here regarding the winning pigeon. The controvery surrounds the nationality of the "winning" pigeon. Here is a posting to the South African email List Serve to give you a flavor for the issue:
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Hi all,
My congratulations goes to Alfons Klaas and Germany for winning the race, there is a difference between being the owner and being the breeder.
The SA flag is a bit deceiving as it was bred in Germany and rung with a SA ring, and I cant quite figure out what the intention behind this was.
The REAL first SA bird is a fantastic bird bred by Fred Brough from Johannesburg called "Cliff"
Well done to Mark for having the foresight to rope Alfons Klaas in, but the credit should be given where it is due.
Regards
Thumper ------
As you can see, the bird that won was not "bred" by a South African pigeon fancier in South Africa, but it was bred, raised and shipped by the famous German fancier Alfons Klaas in GERMANY. The "owner" of the bird, Mark Kitchenbrand of South Africa - didn't pair the parents, didn't care for the parents, didn't raise the youngster, didn't band the youngster, didn't ship the youngster, etc. The first time Mark Kitchenbrand will SEE or HOLD the pigeon will be tomorrow. So while there is no disputing that he is the owner, many South Africans are saying the pigeon should not have been flown under the South African flag. I tend to agree with that point, but I really don't have a dog in that fight so I am going steer clear of the controversy.
Finally, here are somevideos of todays events. I will write more when I get home and get rested. I have learned A LOT about competing in the Sun City race and I think it takes a special pigeon and some special preparations and considerations to do well. The guys like Klaas and Team Klemens from the Czech Republic that consistently do well in this race know what they are doing.
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