Pigeon Pit Stop

30 Days Wild, day 13: Here in the North, we all wear cloth caps and keep pigeons, so from time to time a lost racing pigeon drops into my garden. One appeared at the weekend, on the roof of my conservatory, and remained there while I went out and washed some plant pots, right underneath it.

 GB16 Z21205

The poor bird was obviously exhausted and probably completely lost. I put out some extra bird seed and a bowl of water. Eventually, it came down to the food, but didn't touch the water. I was able to read its ring number and a bit of research revealed that it's a young bird belonging to the Midlands National Flying Club and may have been racing home from Fougères in Brittany, north-western France. I expect the bad weather has caused it some difficulties, as its hopelessly off course.

 Bird on the roof

 Refuelling

It hung around for a while and then flew off. I assumed it had continued on its way, but this afternoon it has been back in the garden, looking a lot fitter. I do hope it remains wild and free.

 Ready to go

In the 1800's there was an official pigeon postal service throughout France. This was expanded between capitals in 1870, so that a postal service by carrier pigeon was available between London and Paris. They were still in use during World War II. A pigeon was awarded the Dickin Medal for "delivering a message under exceptionally difficult conditions and so contributing to the rescue of an aircrew while serving with the RAF in February 1942."

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Collecting Tansy Seed

Maldives 2016: Wildlife on the Island

30 Nights Wild, night 30