Ed Lisi, a Lake Arrowhead resident, made history November 12, 1999 by tracking a racing pigeon by satellite from approximately Pittsburgh, PA to his home loft in Denville, NJ, an airline distance of approximately 300 miles. This accomplishment was repeated April 30, 2000 over the same course. This time, however, in spite of a 10 -20 mph northwest wind, the bird came home almost on the straight line as the map outline below shows. These accomplishments were published in national and international racing pigeon journals.

More recently, October 29, 2000, Ed captured 2nd place in a race over the same course involving 2,613 racing pigeons from across New Jersey (satellite tracking was not involved). 220 registered racing pigeon enthusiasts in New Jersey from Toms River to North Bergen out to the Delaware River, entered the 2,613 birds in the race. All the birds were released together to find their way back to their respective homes (or lofts as they are called) across New Jersey. Each loft was surveyed for its distance from the release point. The birds' arrival is noted when a rubber marker is removed from its leg (called a counter-mark) and placed in a special clock mechanism that stamps the time the counter-mark is inserted and seals the counter-mark itself within the clock. When the clock is opened in front of a committee, the counter-mark number is validated as the actual one put on the bird when it was registered, and the stamped time of arrival is noted. The distance and clock information is entered into a computer that calculates the average speed of the bird during the race and sorts the speeds from fastest on downward. Ed's bird arrived with the second fastest average speed throughout New Jersey, 53 mph.

Within his home club, The Lakeland Flyers, Whippany, Ed's bird was 37 minutes ahead of the club's 2nd bird home. This set the club record for a winning margin. The bird was hatched April 16, 2000 at Ed's loft in Denville and reared on a dietary supplement of powdered Magnetite iron ore. Magnetite has been detected in larger migratory birds and Ed felt his pigeons might benefit since they too are migratory, i.e., migrating to home on a daily basis with each training flight. His intention was to minimize lost birds by intensifying their homing instincts. Winning with the bird was a bonus. Ed's initial study showed, for the season, 1 lost bird using the Magnetite supplement vs. 5 lost without the supplement. This encouraged him to consider a larger experiment by providing interested racing pigeon enthusiasts across America (there are about 11,000) with free Magnetite in exchange for keeping a record of losses. Birds get lost for a variety of reasons but disturbance of the Earth's magnetic field due to solar flares is suspected of being a big contributor. The study will take a year as it will depend on the performance of the birds born in the Spring of 2001.

The Lakeland Flyers offer a 1 hour free lecture regarding racing pigeons which includes a display of live birds, a display of artifacts associated with racing pigeons, an 11 minute professional video of typical pigeon race activities, and a release of pigeons into the sky to end the show.

Ed has this to say about the sport of racing pigeons:

"Pigeon Racing is the best kept secret in America in terms of a hobby or a competitive sport. There are only about 11,000 racing pigeon hobbyists in the U.S. but upwards of 50,000 in each of many countries in Europe and the Far East. All members of the family can participate right in their own back yard. It's a multifaceted hobby including care-taking for adult and baby birds, the pleasure and awe of free flight, and the breeding for selected colors such as red, yellow, white, etc. The competition of racing and the intellectual challenge of successfully competing through breeding and training programs makes this a meaningful hobby for anyone's spare time. It can be particularly uplifting for those in, or anticipating, retirement."

Article is courtesy of: www.denville.net

 

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