Wayward Thoughts

We are nearing the time when it is a must that we lock-down our kits of rollers, lest be butchered by birds of prey. I can remember the time when locking a kit bird down for a period of months was a non-starter, unless of course they were headed to the stock loft. Potential stock birds were “proven” beyond belief oftentimes for no other reason than the inability to shelve a true acrobatic champion.

I recall a red & white ender fondly named GQ because of his stunning looks. GQ flew for no less than 6 years straight, day in and day out, causing many a fancier to pause when he started rolling. Hilly Flowers and I would marvel at these performances and come up with an assortment of reasons why we should not place him in the stock loft. At first it was because he was not as frequent as let’s say, the number one hen; however, around year-three his frequency quadrupled immediately taking away that excuse. Next, we would reduce his value based on size in comparison to some other bird, again leaving out the most important factor, his ability to burn up the sky.

After six plus years of flying GQ made the decision for us, he flew away and now we will never know if his abilities in the breeders loft would be commensurate to his aerial prowess.

Fast forwarding 10-15 years the aggressive presence of hawks, falcons and other birds of prey have left little opportunity to fly kit birds for extended periods of time. Although we reluctantly lock our birds down during the height of their feeding periods we still lose out on valuable time. In addition, the altering of our flying regimen will inadvertently affect our selection process and ultimately the birds we strive to breed.

We are experiencing Darwinism in its most rudimentary form–in the laws of use and dis-use what will Birmingham roller breeders lose.

–PW

More Than Just Roller Pigeon’s

Paul Gomez recently admitted himself into the hospital after a long hike in a local park. Sensibly,  after he felt that things were not right, he checked himself into the hospital. Four day’s later he was released  is now back at home and recuperating. The diagnosis, time to rest, relax and stay off his feet.

I learned of this sudden hospitalization prior to the start of our monthly club  meeting.  While busy at the grill,  ensuring that everyone got enough to eat and that the chicken was fully cooked, Hilly Flowers informed me of what had happened.  My first thought was, “i hope that everything is all right and I need to call him later to check-in” after which i went back to finishing my hosting duties.  Later that evening my thoughts took me to another place.

Paul Gomez has been one of my earliest and greatest influences in this roller hobby. Standing under many good kits of rollers over the years his quest for more speed bordered on maniacal fixation. This “fixation” was surely transferred to me and allowed me to imagine, beyond my wildest imagination, what was possible in our feathered gymnasts. However, there was much more to this relationship.

Paul’s commitment to education was not to be rivaled. An accomplished Biology teacher, Paul could break down complicated science in a way that most could understand. As i walked around my mother’s yard there was no way to escape Paul’s green thumb because before he was a school teacher he owned a nursery. In my own home I called Paul as soon as it came out of escrow and said, “let’s start thinking about plants.” I can also  recall riding around the city and beyond and Paul teaching me about plants and their origins. One day we found ourselves in front of a house that was home to a beautiful Sago Palm that Paul wanted to show me. He had watched this plant grow from a beautiful seedling and blossom into its current magnificence–it only took the plant 15-20 years to get this way.

Paul’s medical emergency gave me a moment to reflect on what’s important and what’s not. It also forced me to realize that while we met because of roller pigeon’s our relationship is built on much more. I can’t wait until our next great debate about roller’s, competition or an assundry of topics that we readily argue. But, more importantly, i am glad to have had the opportunity to reflect, write and share about my friend while we are still on this planet together.

To My Brother,

-PW

Merry Christmas Ole Ye “Roller Folk”

Merry Christmas all you roller people! As we all know the 2009 breeding season is right around the corner so it is imperative that we start off the season in good cheer.  Also, we never want to start the new year off the way the last one ended, provided that the ending was bad. To prempt the 2009 madness i thought that it would be good to create our collective “what we want for christmas list.”

The exercise is simple, just write your wish in the comment section and hit submit.  Hopefully our collective wishes will create the type of synergy needed to perservere through another year of ups and downs.

Wish List 2009

1. I wish that the BOP’s never return from their migration and take a swim somewhere near the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, or the Dead Sea.
2. I wish that Show rollers are stripped of their Birmingham title once and for all.
3. I wish that speed and quality multipliers are considered as equally important in current kit competition rules.
4. I wish that feather merchants and their minions would stop peddling their pedigrees and pushing the hobby backwards.
5. I wish that roller folks, to quote LARC member Jason Fant, would realize, “this ain’t religion it’s just pigeon!” and keep the petty shit out of the mix.  

Now its your turn–add to the list.

PW

Fly or Die!

In Restrospect…

Our hobby is more popular now than ever before with fanciers popping up all over the globe. While this reality creates many opportunities it also creates problems. In the past these problems came in the form of show versus performing rollers; Pensom’s versus Non-Pensom’s; kit competition versus individual competition, and the list goes on and on. Miraculously, we are still dealing with the same or similar subject matter today.

The current debate that rages now is if birds today are better than those of decades past. On one side you have those that say “we have surpassed” the best birds of yester-year; that if matched up equally breeders today would fly birds of greater substance than the early Pensom’s, Smith’s and other notables. Some have even went as far as saying, “we have evolved” past the ideal standard.  They go on to say that some fanciers are still simply chasing the mystical lure of Pensom folklore.

On the other hand we have the true “Pensom purist” that say until someone emerges with kits of rollers that show the donut throughout we have simply not progressed far enough. That they have yet to witness the return of the “messiah,” not to be confused with the master. LOL

These two camps have fueled energy and conversation that can only help our hobby. Together, both sides, without much thought, have reached a place of consensus. That the show roller has no real place in our quest to produce and fly better rollers. Don’t get me wrong, there are still a few issues regarding shows and show standards; however, at the end of the day it is all about the performing roller.

I say in short, this is a fine place to be.

–PW

Scoring Wing Position

When using the thirty point system of judging the individual roller, up to ten points are allowed for the roller’s style.  Wing position and the hole are judged together as style.

Wing position is the easiest aspect of roller style to evaluate.  It can be seen much much more often than the presence, variations or absence of the hole. 

5 Point Wing Position

 Wings held at a 45 degree angle from the vertical.   This wing position leaves much to be desired.  Any wing position extended farther away from the vertical is not worthy of consideration or scoring.

6 Point Wing Position

Average quality, leaves much room for improvement. 

7 Point Wing Position

 Fairly good quality.

8 Point Wing Position

 Good wing position.  Is close to the standard of excellence of the breed.

9 Point Wing Position

Wings upright and parallel.  This is the standard of the true Birmingham Roller.  The only reason that it does not merit a score of ten is that it can be exceeded.

10 Point Wing Position

Wings upright, tips touching.  This wing position is the ultimate in quality, and cannot be exceeded.

  It should be mentioned that a bird will usually vary its wing position during a flight and during it’s development.   In my opinion, It should therefore be judged for the best it shows. 

How to Modify Current Kit Competition Scoring

   With a few changes in the scoring of the current kit competition rules, a system could be put in place which would truly reflect the quality of birds entered.  At the same time, it would be a tool to educate new breeders and flyers.  There would not be as much of a need, as there is now, to compromise in the selection of rollers chosen for the contest.

          Currently, tumbler rules are still being used to judge rollers, with an insignificant score being given for speed, style and depth.  In fact, speed, which is probably the ultimate defining characteristic of the Birmingham Roller, is not even given a category in the evaluation/judging process.  The multipliers are for style and depth only, speed apparently being considered as part of style.

          As the system exists, the multiplier for simultaneous performance goes up to X5 (number of birds multiplied by 5) for a full turn.… Five however, is almost never given, so for practical purposes we should say that the X3 is given for the large turns.  The multipliers are factored in to the number of  birds scored to produce the so called “raw score”.  But this “raw” score is not really raw, because it has already been “cooked” by the biggest multiplier of them all!

          The multipliers for style and depth are then applied in an effort to give fair credit to the birds showing traits of the true Birmingham Roller.  These multipliers are not enough, though, usually being in the 1.4 to 1.8 range.  This is not enough to overcome the big scores racked up by kits which are making the large breaks.

          To correct this inequity, the multipliers for quality and depth should be at least equal to that for simultaneous performance, and a third multiplier for speed should be added as well.  If these multipliers were X3 for each of the three categories (Speed, Style and Depth), a system would be created that would truly reflect the performance of the breed that is being judged.

 

PG-

Los Angeles Roller Club Certification of Rollers

         

The purpose of this certification is to verify that a roller has proven itself to be a superior spinner.

 

JUDGING:  The bird will be evaluated by three judges familiar with the thirty point system of judging individual Birmingham Rollers.

 

QUALIFICATIONS:

1.     The pigeon to be fully certified must qualify as a spinner at three separate stages by scoring a minimum of 23 points each time when the thirty point system of judging is applied.

2.     To be judged for the first stage, the pigeon must be a minimum of six months of age.  Upon qualifying at the first stage, the bird will receive Acknowledgement.

3.     The bird must be at least one year of age to be judged for the second stage.  Upon qualifying at the second stage, the bird will receive Validation.

4.     The bird must be at least fifteen months of age to be judged for the third stage.  Upon qualitying at the third stage, the bird will receive full Certification. 

5.     After qualifying at either the first or the second stage the bird cannot be judged again for a minimum of one month.

6.     If a bird does not qualify at either the first or second stage of the evaluation, a minimum of two weeks must elapse before the bird is judged again.

7.     If a bird does not qualify at any stage on three consecutive occasions, it cannot be certified.

8.     A bird will be disqualified from certification if it rolls down during the certification process.

9.     A bird will not be scored if it bumps at time of liberation or while landing.

10.    If a bird bumps more than once during the certification process it will be disqualified.

11.   The bird will be evaluated for the duration of its flight, which must be a minimum of twenty minutes,

 

    Approved unanimously by all members, Sept. 15, 1996

    Modified unanimously by all members, Oct. 11 2008

Rollers in Iraq

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-birds12-2008oct12,0,4223159.story

Over the weekend the LA Times wrote a piece entitled, “Pigeon breeders now face fewer challenges in Iraq” which focuses on an established pigeon culture in the war torn country. While the writer clearly did not understand the difference between rollers and fantails he did a good job conveying the passion that exists in the global pigeon community.

Over the past couple of months rollers have been the beneficiaries of really good press coverage. It is important for us to finds ways to use this coverage to illustrate the solid foundation of a hobby under assault. It will be helpful in our advocacy to stop the introduction of “birds of prey” in both urban and populated rural environments. It could potentially lead to the filing of legal complaints against the federal government and lawsuits aimed at recovering our losses.

To some this may seem far fetched, however,  there is precedent in the US for these types of actions. Think about it, there are designated hunting days for predators of domestic cattle which allows for the reduction of predators. Why should it be any different for our domestic species of pigeons? It should not be!

The sky is the limit but you need to reach towards the sky to touch it. 

–Pw

The Shrinking Donut

Recently, as I was scouring  roller-pigeon.com, I ran across a post from a gentleman that finally saw one of his rollers show the hole.  Without question–based on his post–this was going to be one of those moments that reshaped his imagination, selection and breeding.  This event could possibly be just the impetus needed to more aggressively  chase that shrinking donut.

I remember the first time that I saw the hole as if it were yesterday and it undoubtedly changed my thinking about what is possible.  Over the years I have seen my fair share of these rollers and each time i see them they reinvigorate my passion to create more.  The greatest joy has been when these moments happen with other folks around.  Simultaneously you all know that you are witnessing something different, special and worthy of accolade.   Also, that you were witnessing the fruits of your labor  manifested in an awe-inspiring performance.

Reading various works from William H. Pensom, it is clear that from the beginning this performance was the creme de la creme.  He wrote about fanciers traveling from far and near to witness this aerial feat and possibly acquire some of the bloodline.  From these writings I gathered a couple of things.  1) that the hobby/sport has always been a fraternal endeavour; and, 2) birds that actually performed in this way were prized possessions and trophies of sort.

Much of the same fervor exists today in regards to these highly regarded specimens.  I, like most other fanciers, appreciate a range of fast, straight  and frequent performers.  However, hands-down I would want nothing more than to put up an entire kit of these shrinking donuts.

As a hobby it is necessary that we find common ways to promote the Birmingham standard of rollers, not at the expense of all others, but to the preservation of a long-standing ideal. 

We should; 1.  revisit certifying rollers that meet the ideal requirements  2.  reestablish the individual fly competition to highlight individual performance characteristics.  3. seriously re-examine our current kit competition scoring systems and re-tool where necessary.  4.  And, lastly, stop the counter-productive squabbling.  I am all for debate, squabbling, and differences of opinion that lead us towards progressive outcomes.  However,  I am not that interested in senseless bullshit.

It is essential that we harness the opportunities present with so many people engaged in our hobby/sport. We now have a chance to create alternative events geared towards preserving the ideal standard, not in an attempt to dismantle the status quo, but simply to add value. Through technology and perseverance we can lift our hobby to its rightful perch and out of the shadows.

–PW

The Sacred Illusion

I remember the first time that I witnessed a Birmingham ball up, shrink, and show the hole. It was love at first sight and hands down the most beautiful display of acrobatic prowess that I had ever witnessed. Growing up in South Los Angeles it was not uncommon to look into the sky and see quality rollers giving you a show. This by no means suggests that every loft was filled with champion performers. Instead, the influence of great roller men filled the sky thus setting a standard for young and emerging fanciers to follow.  

Flying rollers in this environment was a brutal sport, almost blood sport. The bar was set so high that you could not fly a kit of mediocre rollers and expect praise. You could, however, expect an honest critique of your stock, and advice that usually guided you in the right direction.  If “real” roller men sensed that you were serious about the hobby a pair of rollers usually followed. They unselfishly understood that the preservation of the Birmingham Roller depended on great stock being in good hands. Also, they understood that your loft could serve as an extension of the space they needed to experiment with ”outside” matings; so all in all it was a win, win situation. Onward.

Many kits I witnessed in those days had many birds that rolled in the V pattern; some that rolled in the H pattern; and, even fewer that rolled with the hole. That said, when the hole appeared everyone stood motionless, almost in disbelief, wondering if all in attendance had seen the same thing.  This profound, and jaw dropping, display would sear an image into your brain setting off an unrivaled addiction.

The roller pigeon is more popular now than ever before. Everywhere I look there are kits of pigeons flying about and fanciers standing watch beneath them. There are many fast rollers out there which i feel is a testament to those pioneers that stayed committed to high velocity pigeons. There is also a fair amount of rollers that perform with decent style and are a pleasure to watch.

Sadly, however, we have not advanced to a place where I see–or hear about–an abundance rollers that roll to the true Birmingham Roller standard. Instead, I hear all the rhetoric suggesting that we have evolved past the sacred illusion. That at some point, while i was not watching, we have unlocked the key and bred high percentages of hole rollers. That we have somehow created a superior specimen which is more worthy of possessing the Birmingham title.

That assumption is laughable!

The hole roller remains just as elusive today as it has always been. Any performance description that omits speed, style, and the hole must also clearly elaborate that it is not describing the Birmingham Roller. If a new breed has emerged the necessary steps should be taken to qualify that breed. If not, breed hard, fly harder and lets preserve the true Birmingham Roller.

–PW