Studying the weather all day it seems that tomorrow is our best day to have the Activation Race in about a week. Starting Sunday we will have strong head winds and it increases up to next Wednesday, also some of those days it is supposed to be very cloudy. Saturday an area club is racing and on Sunday the same. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny with a ever so slight tail wind at the start which turns in to a slight head wind at the middle on to home. Olga and I decided to shoot for tomorrow because we just do not see a better opportunity for about a week.
Good luck to everyone tomorrow!
Rick & Olga
As predicted, most of the birds crossed the Columbia River for the first time with no problems, however a minority obviously did as they do every year. We currently have about 86% of the birds in the loft and expect a bunch in the morning.
I wish I knew why some birds cross the river with ease and why some struggle with it, but this I do know. Once they have crossed it once they are good the rest of the series, they become hard to loose and are tough as nails. I predict that however many birds we ship to the activation race will make it back from the activation race, this happens every year. As I have mentioned several times this year and sound like a broken record I know, these birds have to cross several ridgelines to make it home and crossing the Columbia River is their final test. As my good friend Rex likes to say, this aint no cupcake course!
We will not have the activation race Friday, just would not be fair to the birds that returned late today and will tomorrow morning. We will study the weather and look for a good day probably as early as Sunday, however most likely Monday or Tuesday next week.....stay tuned!
Everyone have a good evening!
As you probably already know, we moved the 80 miler a day due to forecasted overcast and headwinds. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and calm, hopefully the birds have no problem crossing the river for the first time. We always want a clear calm day the first time across the river, once they have crossed it once they will cross it in any type of weather just look at our results under the RESULTS tab and under this click on ARCHIVES.
Providing everything goes as planned and the weather forecast looks good, we will rest Thursday and have the Activation Race Friday. My plan is to get the birds released early so if they face some adversity they will have all day to get home.
For those of you sending your perch/entry combined fee through the mail, please go to our site under the HOME page and click on the 2023 ENTRY FORM that Olga posted yesterday. Go ahead and print it out and include this in a envelope with your check or money order. If you can not print from home then just use a piece of paper and write NEATLY all of the information on the form that we have on our site. If you are entering the BRONZE only a form is not necessary, the form is for those of you who want to enter the SILVER & GOLD categories and requires the nominated bird's band numbers. Print out the form now and get your envelope prepared with a stamp on it, get it sent ASAP after the Activation Race so we do not have to make a bunch of calls which we just do not have time for.
For those of you wanting to pay via PayPal, OUR ONLY MEANS OF ELECTRONIC PAYMENT, Olga will have that finished today or tomorrow. You will be able to pay for all of your birds entered in the BRONZE which again is mandatory and we do not need band numbers, but for the SLIVER & GOLD you will be required to enter all of the birds you want entered in each category by band number. Go to our PAYMENTS TAB and take a look, it will definitely be done before the Activation Race. There are PayPal fees included, please do not try to send through friends and family and do not send it to Olga's email address, both of these will be returned.
Had a great time talking to Rex from the Sooner Challenge today during his daily live feed, it was impromptu and was about 20 minutes. Rex has had several guests in the morning during his live feed and has been asking me to get on there for some time. We will wait until we get at least the Activation Race out of the way before we plan a date which all of you on Facebook will be able to view. If anyone knows Rex and knows me, well just get ready for a heck of a interview is all I can say! Ha Ha
Pray for good weather tomorrow, we need all the help we can get!
We have had nice clear skies lately with light wind. Tomorrow it is supposed to be cloudy with headwinds up to 20 mph at the release point, it will be much stronger in the Columbia Gorge which they have to cross. Since this is their first attempt at crossing the Columbia River, we need to make sure the weather is nice and there is little to no wind their first crossing. Once they have went over it once they are golden, however where we have had problems in the past is when we have released them for the first time on the other side of the river on days like is forecasted tomorrow.
We are looking now at having the 80 mile toss Wed, loft fly Thur, Activation Race Friday.
Today the birds had their first single release from 65 miles and most clocked within a few minutes of the first, this tells us they are ready to cross the river.
Game plan is to rest tomorrow and leave the clock running from today's trainer, go 80 miles across the river on Tuesday, loft fly Wednesday, then have the Activation Race on Thursday.
Olga and I are working on completing a form tonight which will be printable off of our site for those of you who plan on entering birds in the Silver and Gold categories this year. The Bronze is mandatory and all birds must be entered, the Silver and Gold are optional and pay out on the final race only to the top 10% of the birds shipped in those two categories. Each category is $250 per bird so enter only the Bronze for $250, add in the Silver or Gold for a total of $500, or all three for $750. We have received a lot of questions lately on the two optional categories so all indications so far is there are going to be a lot of birds entered in those two categores which means more $ and more fun!
There is no form necessary if you plan on just entering the Bronze and mailing in your payment, just make sure your loft name is on the check.
If you can not print at home and plan on entering the Silver and or Gold then please write all of the information asked for on the form very neatly on a piece of paper and include it with your check.
We will have PayPal set up for those of you who want to pay for your birds electronically and there will be different options for entering the Silver and Gold categories by Loft Name and band number. This is not done now but will be done in the next day or two.
Have a great Sunday evening!
The birds had their first toss over Satus Pass today released in Goldendale in two groups, one at 0900 and the second at 0915. Most of the birds are already in the loft and most trapped close together.
Providing we continue with these nice sunny days with little to no wind, we will train again tomorrow at 65 miles. If the 65 mile toss tomorrow goes as planned, we will most likely just loft fly on Monday, go 80 miles on Tuesday, loft fly Wednesday, and have the activation race Thursday.
Please keep reading these updates to keep up to date on what is going on. We would really like to have all birds paid for within 7 days of the activation race so we can start racing as soon as possible.
Have a great Saturday, take some time for yourself and spend time with family and friends.
Just pulled up to the loft, had a signal problem so had to click a button for the birds to upload to Wincompanion which they are on now. Today was their second toss from Satus pass released in two groups, one at 0905 and the second at 0915. Clear skies with no wind and actually was able to watch some of them out of the window flying home which is always a very cool experience.
If this nice weather holds up we should have the 100 mile activation race in about a week. We need at least two 60 mile tosses on the south side of Satus Pass from Goldendale to teach them to fly over, always a nail biter the first time. Then we need at least one 80 mile toss across the Columbia River before the 100 mile activation race further south. Crossing the Columbia River is always our biggest obstacle, however if they cross it once then they are good the rest of the series.
At the time of posting this at 11:19 AM there are 2462/2482 in the clock, that is not counting the 9 birds marked MISSING at the very end of the report. Wincompanion does not count them because they clocked in before the release time of 0900. If you add in those 9 we have 2471/2482 in and I am sure we will get more MISSING birds from yesterday's toss. Always great to get more back than you sent!
The birds were released in 2 groups, first at 0900 and the next at 0920. This was their first toss up in the mountains directly south of the loft which is where we will training in preparation for the activation race at 100 miles.
We will train tomorrow from the same spot at Satus Pass. If they do well we will move them across the top of Satus Pass down in to Goldendale for a couple 60 mile tosses before at least once across the Columbia River at 80 miles, then the activation race a day or so later.
Birds health is amazing!
The birds were released in 2 groups today, one at 0845 the next at 0900. Loft helpers said that a falcon followed the first group home, grabbed a bird mid air and flew off to the west with it.
Most of the birds are in. We plan to train directly south tomorrow and get the birds ready to go over the mountains toward the Columbia River.
The birds were released from 0900-0955 in 7 groups today and crossed several ridgelines on their way home. Most of the birds made it in good time, those who did not got a valuable education today. We will return to the same location tomorrow, still trying to get their heads screwed back on straight after being locked down a few days due to dove season.
If all goes well tomorrow we plan on training directly south at least once from 25, 45 2-3 times, 60 2-3 times, 80 at least once which is across the Columbia River which averages 1 mile wide, then the activation race at 100 miles. If all goes as planned with training, weather and smoke, the activation race should be in less than 2 weeks.
We are working on a form which you will be able to print off of our site for those of you who will be mailing in payments after the activation race so you can indicate which birds you want to enter in the Silver and Gold categories, all are entered automatically in the Bronze. Those who want to pay via PayPal, our only electronic payment option, will be able to pay for your Bronze, Silver, and Gold entries through our PAYMENTS link.
Congrats to everyone who had birds return today and lets all pray and cross our fingers that tomorrow the birds come in even better than they did today.
We recalculated the speeds and it is current on Wincompanion.
