Today's training toss was a working trainer for the birds.  They came in very low due to the stiff head/shoulder wind.  Upon arrival birds rushed the traps/antennas.  We did push the birds back out and picked up several birds that had missed the antennas.

The next best day to race looks to be Wednesday.  Today was a strong head/shoulder wind @ 10-15 mph.  Tomorrow is showing 15-20 mph side winds from the half way point.  Wednesday shows a SSE at 4 mph at the release point.  Along the way it changes to a SSW 6 mph.  I'm sure these predictions will change, as it seems to do so regularly throughout the day.  Later in the day calls for rain which is supposed to last for 5-6 days.  If Wednesday does not work, we will be forced to race in about 9-10 days.  Let's hope Wednesday can hold true to the forecast.  We will update again tomorrow afternoon.  

Thanks & Good luck to all.  

Birds have been basketed for Race 2 tomorrow.  Race will be 160 miles, and we are aiming for an 8:00 am release.  

I will be uploading a basketing list shortly.  Please allow at least 15 minutes for the basket list to load into Wincompanion.  It is not an instant file transfer, and it does take several minutes to read the file and completely upload into Wincompanion. 

Good luck to everyone!

The birds are home and the majority of them are in the loft.  
There is still 2-3 small groups of birds flying and they have been attacked multiple times this mooring by a very aggressive hawk.   They are continuing to fly and we will continue to monitor them until they come in.  

Birds were loaded for training.  Weather is not good this morning.  We will wait until 10:00 am to see if we can release the birds, otherwise the birds will be brought back. 

We have had rain here at the loft yesterday and today.  Tomorrow we were hoping to race, however the forecast shows rain at the release point tomorrow.  Friday there is a Ohio Combine release in the same area as our release point.  Releasing in the same area as a Combine will not be good.  We will train again tomorrow and Friday.  We will race on Monday. 

Please keep in mind, we are doing our best to keep everyone happy, while avoiding strong tail wind races.  We know we can't please everybody. Our main concern is doing what is best for the birds. 

Birds were out loft flying yesterday and today.  We will resume training on Sunday and will continue to watch the weather to determine the next race.  We hope to have the next race late next week after we get some training in.  

There is an additional $58,000 in prize money that will be added to the current total prize payout of $1,200,000.  The additional $58,000 will be divided up between the 160 Mile Race and the 220 Mile Race. 

160 - Mile Race will have $1000 each for the 1st 10 birds in the clock (clocking order).

220 - Mile Race will have an additional $15,000 added to the 1st place prize, making 1st place a total of $20,000.  The remaining $33,000 will be added to positions 36-68, allowing for a $1000 prize for clocking positions 2nd - 68th.  The 220-Mile Race will pay out in clocking order. 

Have a great weekend!

Birds were released in beautiful weather this morning at 7:55 am from Green Castle, Indiana. Winds were North around 5 mph.  Driving back the weather remained good until 45/50 miles south of the loft.  Around that area we then drove through 14 miles of low dark clouds.  We did not drive through rain until we arrived within a few miles from the loft.  This rain was light and lasted about 15 minutes. These storm clouds and rain WERE NOT in the forecast.  North winds have picked up to about 10 mph.  Majority of the birds arrived right on line and continue to come from the South.