News and Updates
Jan-11-2023
RIVER VALLEY ROUNDUP RACE UPDATE

We tossed the birds from 16.66 miles again this morning. 

The birds took 4 minutes longer than yesterday. It appeared they missed the loft and had to hook around. 

They didn't circle quite as long as yeasterday but were still concerned.

We had about 10 birds that missed by a lot and were late. I always believe these birds learn a lot from their mistake.

We plan to toss again tomorrow from the same spot one last time.

Jan-10-2023
RIVER VALLEY ROUNDUP RACE UPDATE

We tossed the birds from 16.66 miles today (Monday). The birds circled a few minutes then flew straight home into 5-7 mph headwinds. They made excellent time from this spot for their 1st toss.

The birds returned in exactly 30 minutes. When they arrived they circled for about 13 minutes before trapping. They were still wary from the hawk attack on the last toss. As they were going in they spooked themselves and a large group flew back up and stayed out quite a while.

Hopefully they will calm down and begin trapping like before.

Our 1st bird to clock on the previous toss was attacked by the hawk. We rested him and he seems to be able to fly. Although he didn't participate in this toss, he will go on our next one.

Jan-08-2023
RIVER VALLEY ROUNDUP RACE UPDATE

We flagged the birds today (Saturday) and didn't have any hawk problems. We will continue to be present when the birds return from their tosses.

Jan-06-2023
RIVER VALLEY ROUNDUP RACE UPDATE

The birds were tossed from 14.44 miles again today (Thursday). They all returned in good time. Unfortunately, we had a hawk waiting when they returned. Some of the birds flew for several hours. We haven't had a hawk problem in a long while so this caught us off guard. 

I will personally be present for the birds return from now on.

Jan-05-2023
RIVER VALLEY ROUNDUP RACE UPDATE

We tossed the birds from 14.44 miles today (Wednesday). We plan to toss from there again tomorrow. 

Jan-04-2023
RIVER VALLEY ROUNDUP RACE UPDATE

We tossed the birds today (Tuesday) from 13.36 miles again. Tomorrow we plan to toss a couple miles further. The birds will have to cross a major highway for the first time, near a dam, on the Arkansas River. We've learned from past experiences to do this a couple of times before going further.

Jan-02-2023
RIVER VALLEY ROUNDUP RACE UPDATE

We tossed the birds on Saturday, 12/31, from 13.36 miles. This is the first time the birds had to cross the Arkansas River. We've learned that we always have a little trouble between 10-15 miles. 

Some of the later birds passed by the loft and returned from the east. They should have returned from the south west.

The reason the last 2 birds posting's look different is because of the changing of the year from the toss being on 12/31/22 and these 2 birds clocking the next year 1/1/23. They will post properly on the next toss.

 

Dec-28-2022
RIVER VALLEY ROUNDUP RACE UPDATE

We flagged the birds yesterday. The winds are too strong to let the birds outside today.

Our next toss will be about 12 miles and on the other side of the Arkansas River. 

Dec-26-2022
RIVER VALLEY ROUNDUP RACE UPDATE

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. 

Yes, we tossed the birds from 10 miles on Christmas. (:

Bird #193 was not late. It was among the big group. The clock just missed it. It clocked when I ran all the birds back over the antenna's. I wasn't here when the birds arrived so I don't know if some stayed out for a while. I do know #194 and #195 were late.

The antenna expansion module problem has been resolved. The power cord was bad. We replaced it and we'll see if if all the birds are clocked on our next toss.

We still have 4 birds missing. Hopefully they will return tomorrow. We plan to loft fly the birds and will run them over the antenna's later in the day to see if they are home.

Our next toss will be about 12 miles, but it's the first time the birds have to cross the Arkansas River.

Dec-22-2022
RIVER VALLEY ROUNDUP RACE UPDATE

We tossed the birds from 10 miles today (Wednesday). I wasn't able to be here when they arrived. Our loft manager, Wendy Edwards, said they were flying around when she returned from the toss. I can't say if the last birds stayed out and played after returning, but just that a small number always does.

It's going to be extremely cold the next few days. We will resume tosses after that.

Wendy has weather-proofed the loft by covering the wire floors in each section with 3/4 inch plywood and covering over that with pelletized bedding. Today she covered the doors to each section with plastic to allow light in while keeping the cold breezes out.

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