Return Shipping:

Several of you got ahead of me before I had a chance to post-  Return shipping is $60 per bird (add $10 for each extra bird). I did get 8 -boxes shipped out Wednesday morning. Next week Monday 15 - Wed 17 I am out of town so will not be able to ship until the following week.

Remaining Birds:

Other remaining birds will be flown in Old Birds on our Federation South East course in February.

2023 Old Birds was a rough one on our toughest NW course where none of the remaining birds came back from the 540 mile race. Here is the link to the race results before the Final for the birds that made it to that point.

Races | ARPU National Database (pigeon-ndb.com)

Choose An Organization  "Arizona Federation" 

Choose a Race "4-8-2023" Peacock Mountain 

Look under Loft "Irish Syndicate"

Prize money:

Still waiting on a few inbound checks

Race: 2nd Peacock MT Date: 04/08/2023 Station: PEACOCK MOUNTAIN, AZ 37 Lofts / 609 Birds

Super Congrats to all and to the 1st drop of 3 birds (Pegasus - Dan Coury, Sienna Loft - Joe Erato, Sooner Challenge - Rex Urbany) that were 5 mins out front of the 2nd group of 4. 3rd in the clock hung out extra - luckily went in before the 2nd drop arrived and will be counted as 1st drop.

After postponing the 200 due to 100 degree temps in favor of lower temps that led to a blowhome and a relatively easy race, we decided to keep the Final as scheduled. Due to a relatively quick turnaround, we only saw 112 birds today on what should have been an easy race with SW winds 10-15+ (which is effectively a tailwind on this course). The alternative would have been to rest up some more and possibly a 40+ bird drop so the added element slowed the returns today IMO.

There is the same confusion every year on the Wincompanion Approximate Speed calculation - that calculation is 1 hour off due to probably an incorrect time zone setting (nothing I can do on my side). The correct actual speeds are shown next to each bird - simply do the math and prove that to yourself (distance / time * 1760 ypm).

There will be no 400 this year as we are running out of good temperature days to host that.

There will be no late hatch acceptance for 2023 - we are moving to a YB 2024 series with acceptance in Feb 2024. Too many complications with late hatches, last rounds being weaker, double moult issues, major medication routines for health, etc..etc. Our race has been a low budget, low cost ($80 perch fee) with no frills, no white glove/white table cloth treatment, no staff to cater to your every need. By design, we keep cost down by avoiding all these bells and whistles. We will keep it that way but will change the Perch Fee structure to have perch/entry fees due after the 100mile activation race.

If you absolutely want us to test some of your super healthy late hatches in 2023, we will fly them in our local Federation races in October - December. There are some small money race options where your birds can participate. However I will need those birds in May 2023.

That's all the reflections for today.... Thanks

BEST of LUCK ~~!!

Lunch (Filipino food) served at 11:30 ..... txt msg for loft address (it's different from mailing address).

TENTATIVE PAYOUT (Based on all checks clearing and some funds still incoming)

 Free Perch Fee is for our intake in February 1, 2024.

4:30pm Update: Congrats to the 30+ on the drop. 1st in clock Nathan Plantado (AZ Fed President) - with a nice trophy. Winds have picked up to 20-25mph and temperatures are over 90 - so that shut things off in a hurry... hope to see some more make it in early morning. Any bird that is deemed unable to compete due to late arrival will be refunded if already paid.

Flying from release into 56 degrees - 72 degrees at arrival today is much better than last Sunday's 100 high temp. Of course, with the cooler temps means the birds got a lot of help from the 10-15mph SouthWest winds which is the ideal wind for this course - not pushing them past the loft but keeping them to the North which is more favorable for returns. Today was special to see the birds streaming in - in the words of my late mentor Al Coury (who taught me this course in 2006), this is a raceway Son that funnels the birds on line and if you can see the second hand on your watch, let them up ~~!

Using the same decision making process, due to the relative easy race, we will do Saturday 6th May Final as planned. The conditions will be even cooler (the lowest of this week) than today with a predicted high of 84, a low of 55 and sunrise at 5:33am - it cannot get much better than that - and SouthWest winds 10-15 mph AGAIN ~!!! 

Headcount for food on Saturday please ..... and get those entry $  in before we have to offer them to others ~!

Regards

Due to temperature highs of 100 on Sunday, we have decided to move the race to possibly Monday (if temps/winds dip back down) or Tuesday (our 1st choice). We want to give the birds a fair chance of making it home by 85 degrees well before the heat shuts them down.  Tuesday at 12PM is estimated at 85 degrees and birds should be home well before that. The entry fees deadline will remain in place by May 3rd (at least a notification that funds are on the way).

Birds will be on a short toss to keep them loose in addition to the daily loft flying~

Some have already started to send in entry fees - THank you ~!

Entry fees ($325 per bird) are due after the next race by Wednesday MAY 3rd. Without this, I will NOT make a PRIZE LIST ~!

WE WILL SELL ANY BIRD THAT IS NOT PAID BY THAT DATE - YOU MUST LET US KNOW BY WEDNESDAY MAY 3 RD ***********************************************************************************************************************

I AM SURE I WILL GET THE USUAL SUSPECTS THAT PRETEND THAT THEY DID NOT KNOW - AND IT WILL SURPRISE YOU WHO IS ON THIS LIST ~!!!

Options are:

(1) Paypal (FRIENDS AND FAMILY): stephenfurlonge@yahoo.com

(2) Zelle: (480) 215-4255

(3) Mail - LEAST PREFERRED METHOD as I have to clear the checks (need to let me know they are mailed - otherwise I will sell the birds).

Arizona Classic Derby, 965 E Desert Lane GILBERT AZ 85234

Any bird that does not make the Final Basketing list will be refunded (with the same payment method) immediately.

There are some birds whose owners have not sent in Perch Fees - these birds will be available for ($90 PERCH + Entry Fee = $415). Unpaid birds belong to Arizona Classic Derby - and we will do whatever we need to do to recoup lost fees ~~! Purchaser will retain ALL RIGHTS, ownership and 100% of prize money for any activated bird.

Congrats to the winners today  - 14 on the 1st drop. We started the day at 59 degrees and by Noon at 83 degrees topping out at 87 degrees. As such the late arrivals stopped off somewhere and we will hopefully see the stragglers trickle in by early morning. Birds made good time with the light winds along the course with first arrivals around 71 degrees - so plenty of time to fly in the cooler morning temps. We have to monitor the rising temps this weekend and make some decisions regarding the next race - stay tuned. 

Congrats to the first birds in the clock - big 1st drop. We will tweek the feed slightly to get better trapping on race day. It is always nice to release into a 58-60 degree temperature and will stay that way this week also. All this week will see light tailwinds again SW and WSW forecasted on the weather sites at 9-14 mph - that's ok too, these short races are by design as part of training. Still a ways to go with another short one mid-week ..... best of luck ~!

8:20 am Update: Ring Cameras shows first birds arrived at 7:25 am but clock reports 6:13am.

This means our clock is off by 1 hr and 12 mins. We will adjust the release time by 1 hr and 12 mins less to make the speeds accurate. BUT clock looks like it malfunctioned, so this race will NOT count for Average Spped just to be safe. We had similar identical issue with Unikon in the club two weeks ago on a different clock/module and had to DQ some birds for another flyer. I suspect the Club Unit (the common denominator here) is the culprit  - as we use the club unit to put the clock in "Race Mode" and to do the basketing list and set the time on the clock for the races. In "Training Mode" we do not use the Club Unit and have not seen this problem in Training Mode.

7:40am NOTE:

Clock time is off or clock malfunctioned? We will resolve once most of the birds are clocked - so as not to mess anything up ~~!!