2006 season was my first year flying in the South at the Beach.   I flew the Greater North Carolina Concourse and the ACC pigeon Club.

Walsh  Loft here at SunSet Beach NC

 My first old bird season here on the southEast Coast of North Carolina met with moderate success when compared to my past performance with the birds.  With everything taken in to consideration I am quite pleased with my old bird team of nothing but yearlings and them flying against larger teams and  many older birds with considerably more experience.  You also have to realize that I started concourse racing with twenty-nine birds and sent every one of them to the races week after week.  They came banging in time after time and demonstrating their great form, with the widowhood cocks strutting and cooing to their mates as they immediately trapped.  Just watching them it was hard to believe they had flown the distances that they had. 

Every week this team was competing against odds of members shipping fifty birds as that is the Concourse limit.  There were some members that, like myself, believed in sending quality instead of quantity which has always been my practice.  I was beaten in two races by a total of 1/2 second in one race and five seconds in the other.  The birds did their thing and in one of these races  at 200 miles I got greedy and tried to get all five through the traps instead of concentrating on the first one to hit the landing board.  That cost me the win losing by 1/2 a second,  but I still had second through six in the concourse. I won the 300 taking 1,2,3,4,& 5 . On the first 400 I was 4,7,8,9 the second 400 I was 1,2,5,& 6 here is the races below,

 My loft won over all average speed GNCC concourse Old Birds 06

WALSH LOFT

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These fellows down here have a unique way of assigning points in the races which will cost me the ‘Champion Loft’ and Champion Bird’.  They give the winning bird a total of one hundred points (100) with ninety- nine going to the second place bird and this going on succeeding order until the one hundredth bird gets one point.  They also allow clocking all day the day of the race and continue clocking the second day until clocks are ‘bumped’ late in the day the second day.  This results in loft with good homers obtaining more points than the true racers. I am assured of the winning ‘ club and Concourse average speed’ award as this ridiculous point system cannot affect that.   I have told everyone here that next year I will also have the necessary birds to ship the limit  and what ever it takes to be competitive for all the concourse awards.  I will adjust to and feel sure I can distinguish myself and my birds as I have always done in the past.  I actually find flying here in the south less demanding that flying back home in PA.  Most of the land here is flat with no mountains to cross and the ocean creates a natural barrier to the overflys we sometimes experienced up north. 

I am enjoying flying birds here and know that it will only get better as I mold my knowledge to fit into the way they fly birds in NC.  There is more to our sport than just winning and making a name for oneself.  Our birds are to be enjoyed and no one enjoys winning more than I do but at the same time I want to win on a level playing field and one in which I have no advantage other than possibly my superior birds and my knowledge and experience.  With this being said I hope this concourse does put in effect a smaller shipping limit to give the average guy a chance. Most flyers do not have the birds or experience I had to over come people shipping twice as many birds as me.

All is well here in the southeast of our wonderful country and the sport is alive and well.  I hope to do better next year and will be working with my young birds to insure a competitive flock of old birds for next year. 

 In the past my loft  has flown with  the Lackawanna-Luzerne Combine I did fly a few old bird races 2004 and won 2 combine races before leavening in May for a visit to our home in NC . 2003 we bought a house in Sunset Beach NC in the summer of 2003,   soon after we bought we started on our new loft . I have joined the ACC club here in NC September 2004. We flew a few young birds races in  2005. I have never done this before but here in NC we flew young birds from the North and then few old birds from the south. I had Great success flying my small team of old birds 2006 .    I  have serve as the LLC Combine Race Secretary and have held that position  for years before my move south . For the International Federation (I.F)  I  server as  the 1st Vice President. I hope you enjoy my Website; I have tried to make it simple, yet interesting and easy to move around in. I have tried to keep it from being too commercial, . If you have any suggestions or comments on our Website, don’t hesitate to let us know.  I will be pleased to put you on top of the race sheet. Also a few choice young birds bred from imports off the best of STAFF VAN REET & LUC

 Vermeerbergen  

 Read below for my loft's race history these last few years  in Pennsylvania,

my club is the Scranton Club  in Pennsylvania ,were I have been a member since 1979.  Pigeon racing is my hobby, my passion, I fly to win, and each, and every race I compete in. The thing to remember is! This is at a new loft, We moved here to a new home June 16 1997, the day after the last old bird race was flown at my old loft in the city of Scranton. There I won LLC combine average speed for the 97 old bird series, before I moved to set up the new loft. I started over and never missed a beat. How many can say that they did that. At the old loft I won many races and average speeds. Every one said I was done winning because I moved off of the line of flight. The people who lived out here had and still have a hard time winning. I have WON way more then my share of races at this new loft. You can check interview in 1996 for a loft history and interview 2001 for a current history. I have all so included some of my methods to give ideas to you all, you have to be on your toes and thinking all the time in this game or you will be left behind. This story by Ad Schaerlaeckens from Europe will have you thinking just click on his name. This article is one reason that I did not go into strains now please take the time to r

APPROACH TO BREEDING

After years of study Paul pays no attention to strains. His is only interested in champion pigeons. "I am not a breeding station but a skilled flyer. My view on breeding depends on the situation. If l am going to breed for stock or flying," Paul says.

He likes to inbreed for stock and outcross for flying. As a rule, he does not put just any bird in the breeding loft. It must be a champion or a daughter or a son of a champion. In the flying loft he will let two birds mate the way they like and may or may not take a pair of youngsters off them.

"I have a rule here at Walsh Loft. Breeders are for breeding and flyers are for flying. I do not ask my flyers to become my breeders, even the race winners," he says.

Paul likes to cite a story about Ad Schaerlaeckens, the famed Dutch flyer and author. "When asked 'What strain do you have?' Schaerlaeckens says the champions in Holland and Belgium do not understand. What does this man want, a strain or a good bird? This is because the majority of the super birds in Europe are products of crossing."

Paul goes on to question if 'pure strains' really exist? In Schaerlaeckens’ opinion they don't.

Read it 

 I have made many friends in this wonderful sport and have enjoyed all the pigeon sport has given to me.  I am not a breeding station but a skilled champion flyer, what we have to offer is what I am flying now and winning with now.   there is two hundred pages on this site, so if you see a hyper link click it you can always make your way to view it all