Solent Fed 317 birds

Sussex Fed 188 birds

Total 505 birds

Friday 10/7

The birds have been liberated at 5:00 am from Crieff in clear/sunny conditions with some scattered early morning cloud.  Wind along the route home is generally calm/light and variable but generally from an easterly direction for the first half three quarters of the race. The wind for the last 100 miles is likely to have a more south easterly flow with winds still calm/light but gusts increasing to around 20 mph as temperatures increase. It is forecast that there will be some light clouds developing at this stage also, which should give the birds some respite from the sun.
Temperatures for the first half of the race should reach no more than around 78c/25c, reaching a max of 91f/33c by late afternoon. Temperatures along the coast and inland will benefit from onshore south easterly breezes which should keep the temps 10 degrees Fahrenheit lower than the maximum.

Please note the amended clock rule 5 cut off time for birds clocked after 20:00.

No flying member’s entries may be marked on any ETS system to an unspecified race. Any bird clocked after 20:00 hours by ETS may be read off the next day if the time is confirmed by text or email to the federation secretary on the same day as clocking.

Good luck all !

 

Thursday 13:45

Good afternoon all

The birds had a cool and comfortable nights travel up to Carlisle, after traffic diversions add over 1 hour to the convoyers travelling time. The transporter left its overnight stop there at around 9:30 and arrived at Crieff just before 13:30.

The sunrise time at Crieff is 4:40am so we are hoping to liberate around 5am tomorrow, all being well, to give the birds the best opportunity to take advantage of cooler weather.

Looking along the line of flight, and estimating a speed of 40mph, the forecasts are as follows:-

Lib – Calm (2mph) N wind – 55f/13c

100 mls – Carlisle light E 63f/18c

200 mls – Manchester light SE 78f/25c

300 mls – Coventry light SE 85f/30c

Home end gentle breeze (11mph) 83f/28c (values taken from Met Office website midday today).

I have put a video of the transporter after arrival at Crieff on the Fed Facebook group.