On Saturday the 8th of September With coffee in hand I went to the computer to check the weather for the day. Not good news. 15 to 20 Km/hr winds from the S.W.. 350 birds from our club with 8 of mine were released at 8am 355 Km from my loft. The wind would blow them to the majority of our club members east of me.

Expecting to see arrivals some time after 2PM I started to watch at 1:30 with little hope of having a good one. At 2:03 a pair of white flights appeared above the loft, landed, hesitated for a short time, then through the trap. A couple more birds would arrive a few minutes later.

To my surprise when the calculations were complete this little Vanboxmeer/Mulucci beauty had won the gold band. She flew the distance with the wind on her nose blowing her east of home.This bundle of determination flew for 7 hours and made my season. One of the fasinating things about this sport is that every once in a while a bird like her comes along and does the unexpected.