short week...

I will be out of town the rest of the week, so this is my only post for this week.

I am still trying to get back in the groove of posting, but will try to do better.
I have a project in mind, which will require barometric pressure, temps and electromagnetic readings for each days toss.

Today my old bird team flew home from Hamilton Crossing.
Only 2 1/2 miles, but the main idea was to get them out of the loft so I could scrape today.

YB white and black team were out in the settling board, but a storm is rolling in, so the racers won't get to fly today.

Picture above was from a release on Saturday, which was to kick off a benefit bike ride to raise money for the children's shelter.

Easter Sunday!

Happy Easter!

All 24 birds flew again from Manning Mill. Again all birds were home in less than 10 minutes.
Time to step up the mileage.

another busy week...

while the new racers and baby whites born to our loft are settling in their new home, the white release teams are stretching their wings.

All 24 birds flew home on Tuesday, after being released at Hamilton Crossing Park. While a short flight home, it was in a new direction for the members of the green team.

All were home within 10 minutes.

Both teams flew home today from Manning Mill Park, as they continue to learn the area in preparation for the Vet Fest next Saturday in Adairsville.
5 miles in 10 minutes. Way to go, birds!

We're BACK!

So, its Spring again, and time that I get back on schedule!
I've had a few emails asking what happened with my daily blogging, and the answer is...
LIFE!

During the school year I work 8 hour days in a classroom for children with moderate and severe disabilities. Then I work a second job driving the activity bus several days a week for the sports teams. With 12+ hour days, it is sometimes all I can do to get the birds fed, let alone work them a few days a week.

Things have changed here at Feathers Aloft. The white team is trained out well, and have done a few funerals, as well as several special events.
Most recent was during the Opening Ceremonies for the Bartow Little League Challenger League.
My daughter, who is an alumni of the Challenger League, was actually able to open one of the baskets at the end of the National Anthem.

And now, as well as training this year's babies for the white team, we have added black birds for "Over the Hill" parties. It will be fall before these little darlings are trained, but we keep working to provide more.

We've also started a racing team, with our first 15 dedicated racing birds.

All of these new birds also required a third building! The new building is 12 x 12, with 3 sections. We put the racers and the young white and black birds in there yesterday, and they LOVE having all that room.

Just a couple weeks until we'll start loft flying them, and then once school is out we'll be road training! Watch for updates and pictures!

Aug 18 -24

Aug 18, 19 and 20 the birds loft flew.

Aug 21
I took the blue team (plus 2 gold 'escorts') to a church at the 2.5 mile point, heading towards Dellinger.
Then I took the gold team to the Walmart on Hwy 411 in Rome.
All were home within 40 minutes.


Aug 22
Took the gold team to Dellinger, then on the way back I took the blue team back to the church.
Gold beat me home, blue were right after them. WTG birds!


Aug 23
Funny thing happened on the way to the toss... The birds were all in the large carrier.
I went over the speed bumps heading up to the school, and evidently the small top door flipped over.
I parked, and heard a noise so I looked in the rear window and saw that the birds were loose all over the truck!
Opened the doors and all of the birds flew out and headed home. Less than 20 minutes later I got the call that they were home and waiting.

Aug 24
Since the birds did so well at 6 miles, I took all 24 to the Girl Scout meeting. We put 2 birds in each of 6 baskets, and the girls released one basket at a time. Then the other 12 were released.
All birds flocked together and headed home in 15 minutes.

Aug 15- 17

August 15 both Blue team and Gold team flew 1 1/2 miles, an easy flight for Gold, and a new distance for Blue.

August 16, loft flown

August 17 I took all 24 (Blue and Gold) to Cass Middle for a training toss for Blue, and exercise for Gold.

Then, the 12 members of Gold team went to Adairsville to practice hand tossing with Girl Scouts, in preparation for Relay for Life.

Aug 14, 2010

Since today was the monthly meeting of the North Atlanta Racing Pigeon Club, I took the birds to the clubhouse and released them after the meeting.

The guys were impressed at my 12 pure whites circling, said they were definitely pretty (even if they circled too much for racers).

Weather was icky, but birds made it home in under an hour. This one was 16.1 miles from the loft, point to point (this does not count the multiple circles the birds fly).