Pigeons in the Night

Jack Prescott
(Internet Published) Jun 2000

Until 16 years ago, all of my pigeons were trained to accept being out at night. For many years, I had no option but to train them like this. Otherwise I would have not been able to fly at all between October and March. This was too much to bear, because I really needed to fly each evening. In those days, I left work at 4:30 PM. I bought a Honda 50cc motor scooter for the main purpose of getting from my place of work to the place where I kept pigeons. The journey was 2 1/2 miles and I could to it in 10 minutes. October and November I could arrive at my loft in a little daylight. December and January it was dark before I could get to the loft. February and March I could arrive with a little daylight left. Of course, between late March and October I had sufficient daylight.

With tipplers I had the help of an old gardener who would release the tipplers at any time I asked. This meant that I arrived at 4:40 PM in the hopes that my tipplers had not dropped already. In fact, it was not often that they had. I well remember arriving in the twilight or darkness to anxiously locate my kit. Sometimes I could hear them before I could see them.

The valley where I keep pigeons is a dark, wild overgrown place. No public lights and being in a wooded valley, the darkness comes very suddenly. However, my tipplers were all trained to darkness, to two kerosene lamps and a few white droppers. There were times, when the tipplers continued to fly strongly and I knew that I had to wait for the signs. In fact, on several occasions I had tipplers flying in the dark for 4 hours during training and I was not amused by that.

On marathon attempts I helped to get 2-3 hours flying in the dark. In fact, I very seldom did. All too often my kit "showed signs" and needing to drop, just as the light was failing. About 1970 I had to give up the tipplers because frankly they were getting me down. I reckon that tipplers have to be kept where the owner lives and not at a distant location. I had already given up the Macclesfield prints and greys because of their failures in the dark. My Sheffielders from K. Brown and J Heaton were far better in the dark. Jack Heaton was indeed an excellent dark flier.

However, as I said, I had to get rid of the tipplers. Due to ordinance I was not allowed to keep them at home. Thereafter it was rollers and of course I flew them to darkness too. I had to. Some of the best simultaneous bursts of rolling took place in the last shreds of daylight. The poor light made them nervous and in the mass confusion they would roll. I could hear them roll. People said that I was crazy to be down there in the cold and darkness after a hard day in the forge. Yet I had to do it. I needed to do it. So I did it.

I found it easy to get my pigeons used to the darkness. I simply caused them to be out in the dark--that is all. Feb, 2000, by accident my kit of about 50 rollers were still flying as the daylight "went". "I nearly DIED" Result was a terrible confusion bordering on panic. It took me 2 hours to get them in side with a torch which also scared them. They were too scared to take feed and I was in a state of nerves too. Obviously not trained for the darkness and I'll make sure that I don't have that none-sense again. I am a little too old for that caper.

Jack Prescott