1st 2018 young bird release from the island of Molokai ♫Music By♫ Mai Tai by Jeff Kaale Flashback by Jeff Kaale Facebook - / jeffkaale Twitter - / jeff_kaale Soundcloud - / jeff-kaale
Everyone else is struggling to show how good and successful they are but you showed everyone how things are in real life, respect for that 🍻 Weather good or bad the flight we love our birds! Don't lose your faith! ✌
It is what it is buddy, I enjoy your videos and I feel your pain! In 2011 my house and loft in Romania burned down taking with it my 450 racing pigeons, bringing me down from a national champion to nothing. I moved to UK but I couldn't keep pigeons anymore cause they kept bringing back that one memory, I needed some time to heal. This year I bought myself some birds and started fresh, I'm getting them ready for the next year's International Barcelona flight 1200km ✊😉🍻
Oh my god, what a tragedy! I can't believe you had to go through that. I'm so happy to hear you have recovered from that incident and are back to enjoying your pigeons. I wish you all the best. Please stay in touch! Aloha, Sean
God, I feel for you Sean. I’ve never had a loss like that, and I can’t imagine the depth of your devastation. I better appreciate flying on the mainland now. We had some very hot weather in September and our distances got out to 400 miles, but I never experienced this kind of devastating loss. I am so sorry. Aloha!
Experience is the best teacher. Your videos help me and I am sure others, learn along with you. We also get to share in your ups and downs. You are not alone - Hope your birds return. Those that do return will have learnt a lot and be better for it!
We all feel your pain! 20 miles to 60 seems like a big jump to me, but then, your YBs did it last year so the jump in distance alone does not explain the loss. Good luck!
Click on this time stamp 1:14 and you will see a good example of the visibility that day. This is a view south from Molokai to Lanai. The visibility is normally much clearer than this and Lanai is much closer to Molokai than Oahu which means it's even more difficult for the birds to see Oahu on this day. I think this played a big role in understanding why I had such poor returns that day. More on this in the next update. Thank you to everyone for all of your support and guidance! Much aloha, Sean
Man, I feel your pain. That is a bad sinking feeling in the pit of the stomach... I think you will get some tomorrow - and they will definitely be well educated. The birds with brains and guts will be there for you. It is hard enough for us mainland flyers to put em out there like that; I can't imagine how tough it is to cross so many miles of open water. Keep your head up. You did your job right by getting them healthy.
Yup, huge jump physically and mentally for the birds. I think the high winds and less than ideal visibility hurt me big time. Hard lesson to learn for sure.
AlohaPigeons it's hard flying over water buddie, its alien to them, visibility must of came into it but the gap in the jump definitely didn't do you any favours, we only jump 4-6 miles per toss, takes longer to train but Its worth it, they'll come back for you I'm sure but keep us updated fingers crossed for you 🤞🇬🇧
A couple the second and third day and that's it. Two found and shipped back to me a few days later. This was a big mistake on my part. I feel bad for the birds. I hope all the new flyers watching can learn from this.
Danny Gonzalez i believe it did. Not many people put stock into the ability of pigeons to sense the magnetic field because they either dont know about the magnetite or dont understand how it works.
You seem to be a stand up guy!! You seem to be doing everything right! I am new and I use your videos to do a lot of things! Your time is coming don’t get disappointed you have a lot of ppl rooting for you! Would love to private message you and try to learn more from you! Hang in there!
Thank you very much! I'm also always learning. Feel free to ask your questions in the comments and myself or someone with more experience than me should reply. Best of luck to you. Aloha, Sean
Very good comments and info to all who have posted. There's this missing puzzle that was not mentioned. How did the 2017 YB's accomplish the Molokai crossing with out .... That's correct with out any losses. With the 2018 YB's. What happened. My best guess is the weather. Haziness, Wind/ Gust, and the Thunder storms on the sun will whack the earths magnetic forces off and cause birds confusion. And that's possible birds ended up on Lani or Maui.
Sean, hopefully there's better news birds all came home. Yes, it would be a good idea if you can get a larger boat. Much safer. And you'll be able to go out release equal distances before you reach Molokai. That for sure would be a benefit for birds. Maybe you can start your own Pigeon Ocean Flyby and take birds out. Sounds like a good idea. True chartering a boat can be costly. But, it's surprising that other fliers didn't take this idea and at least try it once. If wind and visibility played a major role maybe they got swept over to Lani or Maui. Now say there circling and started to fly home when wind and visibility weather came into play. Would they continue home or turn back or fly on a different island.
When they went to the south side of the island to search for their loft they figure out “wait a minute this not our island lets go west” BUT it was too late dehydration came along because you did not gave them water in the basket and waited for 1 hour so they can drink. After 45 min of shouting “don’t drink salt water you will die” your old pigeon vent from that lava rock to the highest point to see all of the island and pick right one. Sorry for my English
hope your birds will come back home. i feel u bro i flew 6 birds 3 days ago only 2 came back i disregarded the weather it was already hot the time i release them.
Thanks for sharing your experience and data. I feel you bro. That 1st Molokai is one giant leap for pigeon kine. Been putting it off myself. Will go next week. Hoping for the best. It sure seems Molokai keeps getting harder n harder. Used to be a piece of cake.
I was wondering what had happen to your young birds, since I see your only racing with two. Its a part of the sport to loose birds but the good thing we learn from all this experiences good luck Sean. Awesome lofts by the way.
Hi shawn hopefully you're birds come back. From what I can't say to help is that if its windy of any type it plays a big roll cause pigeon find there way home by smell and then site comes in to play so if you have a windy day chances are that this will happen. But God Bless and keep up the great work. I have had pigeons since I was 12 years old and I'm 56 now and if I have lost birds in my life it's been because of the wind.
Thank you for your comment and sharing your knowledge and experience with me. I have heard about pigeons possibly using smell but that might not be available to our birds in Hawaii because they are flying over open ocean and the wind is at their backs normally. Maybe that's another reason they have such a hard time here.
With ocean training might not be an option next time. Is flying out from Papohaku beach park, Molokai an option. Next to ocean release, insight of Oahu shore line, 29 mile distance to Lani lookout, birds won't deviate inland. Hopefully, circle and fly home.
I hope they will come back keep us updated. I watched all your videos from iraq you have nice bird . We all felt this pain when bird lost or just late .yesterday I toss my pigeon from 15 miles they little late believe me I felt sick I thought they lost but thanks god they came back.
Here in Ireland it's hard to get young birds to cross the channel give the youngsters 20 tosses from twenty miles and then rest them up until the are yearlings your wasting birds neadesly
I agree with you 100%. That would be the end of young bird racing for me but I'm definitely considering this. I would just fly old birds. Thank you for your input. Aloha, Sean
how many tosses have you done and how many miles total under their wings? dont worry your birds know a great loft and a great fancier so they will return.
I will check when I get home but they had a lot of tosses. I think it was the high winds and maybe the visibility was a little less than ideal. That was a hard lesson to learn.
Hang in there. My guess is that the 1st OB that returned home stayed with the flock until at least when they landed on the shoreline. What is in that area besides shoreline? Is there fresh water? Food? Were the birds watered before release? Are there other birds in that area? It looks near a house? It also seems pretty clear the bird that returned home used visual clues to get there from the top of the mountain. Probably a good thing for the 2 that came home was that it was clear weather. Good luck Sean.
Thank you very much! Nothing was in the area they landed, just a small beach park with a public bathroom I think. The birds had food and water as if it was a race release. Not sure what to say. Should have done things differently. Lesson learned I guess.
i noticed that the second old bird that made it from the toss is changing its feathers (i guess the last/tenth feather). You should avoid sending these pigeons to fly relatively long distances because that hurts the feathers which are growing back which in turn hurts the pigeons and affects their ability to return safely. PS: as you surely know when u toss pigeons from a release point of 60miles for example, they fly way over that distance, meaning, they could fly twice or trice that distance. Part of that added distance is due to their need to find the right direction and the other part is due to their adaptation to the currents/speed of the wind. Peace from Morocco.
Sorry Sean. At least you got 1 yb coming back. What you're experiencing is what we went thru when we first started. There's several factors that we experienced would affect the birds coming home anywhere in Hawaii. Sight.....the higher the birds fly, the farther the can see. Example, member flying from way up Kula, would have way better returns than us guys down in kahului every single release. Winds. ...if the winds are strong, the lower they fly. On land they try to find higher vantage points to see better. Over ocean....with strong winds, which is the case with our channels in between the islands. ...they fly really low, almost touching water. A lot are lost when there are rogue high waves caused by the high gusting winds.
Did you loft fly them before the toss? It is always better to fly the YB first and call them in then go( no food in birds),also not so full the night before.
Have any of the birds shown up after the first 2 old birds? Hope so! Dan Norco,CA I read older posts saying 8 came back. Single toss them from the Oahu point that the first bird came off the ocean near. Seems like this may be the way to get them to think on their own like your old birds did. Remember to look at their breast tissue and make sure there is no purple bruised color. These final 8 may be the good ones you are looking for any way. Check with your airport info to see if there were solar flares that day. Most smashes happen with this correlation.
Hi Sean, on a personal note trying not to hurt your feelings I would have not jumped that far especially as they had to cross water for the first time . We have same problems in UK when we send to France , only thing we can do it train them hard with small jumps . Hope you get them back heart breaking
How much time did the birds spend on Molokai before release? Dr. Keeton, homing mechanism researcher at Cornell University, found that orientation improved if pigeons were held at the release point for some time before release. Maybe the rapid plane flight followed by a prompt release resulted in the birds not having enough time to get oriented before release, or even during the time after release?
I see you had successful tosses from Molokai in 2017. Can you think of any changes in your procedure between these tosses and the recent toss in 2018? I sure hope you get some more birds back. I have had some heavy- loss tosses but never had a complete wipe-out in nearly 40 years of racing. Gil
2017 birds were released on the closet Molokai coastline in the direction of Oahu where their loft is. 2017 was a smaller flock of 25 young birds with zero old birds. The 2017 young birds had a release over water like the 2018 young birds as part of their preparation for their Molokai toss but due to the rough seas this year, the 2017 birds were released about 4 mile farther off the coast of Oahu. Most importantly I believe the 2017 release had much better visibility that day making it easier for the birds to identify Oahu and there was also very little wind that day.
Is this the view where looking at out of your airplane window? Yes it's a bit hazing wind must have been around 20 mph. See your shirt waving. Hard to say what the actual condition is flying in the channel. Visibility in channel could be passable if winds were strong and crossing they might have had a harder time coming home. If they ended up on Lani or Maui winds could have pushed them there or they followed old bird East and when decided to head home. YB's saw Lani / Maui and flew there by mistake.
Bro I feel your pain! Pigeons and water always a lottery, but should have been fine in a big group you would think. Hindsights always 20/20, I hope you get some back so you can race the YB season.
Hey Sean my personal thoughts you jumped to 60miles way to early I always increase by 5 or 10 miles if they don't beat me home I take them back to the same spot till they do beat me home and then I will step it up another 5 or 10 miles.keep your head up bro amazing lofts set ups
So sorry to see this loss,hopefully they will make it back over the next few days. Do you have falcon problems in the area you let them go ? I only ask as young birds get spooked easily,and where I live on the coast in the uk we have a number of them. Love the tracking system you have,amazing the different routes each bird can take. Hopefully the next video shows them returned 👍
I can almost see myself to you when i am still do the same back in the Philippines Sean, the way you try looking at the lofts if the birds came back. ( hesitant, excited and a lil fear ). But i believe more birds will find their way back home the next day\s. I didn't see any problem regarding the things you just did to your birds except the 40 miles JUMP ( like from 20 to 60 miles ). they were young birds so shit happens..
All I can say that soory for what happen and what I see when u was in fly and show us the blue ocsen down I can see small white wive like white sheep 🐑 we call it home her. thats mean the wind was strong enough to make pigeon fly not hight enagh. I notice the speed for the first bird how comes was little hight he's a good bird he use the wind direction to speed up. I really wish all the birds comes home safe bcz they are younger. Like u say choose the not windy day for training them and its allways butter to send the bird in short distance wight less. Wish you the best and I love your channel
Perhaps you should have tossed then ca little closer to the shore of Molakai so they would have vantage point of Oahu mountains and would have been easier to see and crossed. But I also see the point of releasing them far inland since the actual race release will be from Maui. I'm sure those young birds are flocked together and if one decides to return, then I think many if not all would come fly and do the same. crossing my fingers and hoping to have a higher return rate then next day.
Great video as usual Sean! The birds will come back stop second guessing yourself. I know you did you part. Once you open those baskets it's out of your hands and all up to the birds.
Thank you! You're right. I should have waited for a day with less wind and better visibility. It was a bad experience but I learned from it. Poor birds though.
With bad weather being not ideal to fly. The crossing of Kaiwi channel is risky. They would be in a critical situation if they were flying high. Probably bouncing around going up and down not ideally to fly. Flying low to water would give them a better control and not being up drafted. Visual is important maybe rain got to them.
As we try to sort this out. And reading everyone's great comments. I've realized that ocean training in Hawaii is lacking. If you compare ocean training to Taiwan and Hawaii it's similar. Take away the bad weather there conditions would be ideal.Taiwan ocean trains from ships at sea. They train for 6 x's and the range is between 20 km - 100 km. In Hawaii there is a need to take birds on a boat release at different distances before hitting Molokai. Finding someone to do this / expense is another issue. I think this would build a better YB's awareness, it will quicken thinking / orientation time and now are forced to fly over ocean with no where to land / lag. This I believe would reduce losses. And true as in bad weather / visibility plays a major factor. Interesting to see what is your mentors comments would be. He might be holding that shinning star.
It's no question that releasing from a boat over the channel can only help the birds but it's a issue of cost and logistics. I was trying to organize a boat release this season with other flyers but there was not much interest. I didn't want to have to take my small boat again for reasons that should be clear in the last video. But to charter a big enough boat is hundreds of dollars and I'm not sure how much value the other flyers put into that cost. I'm thinking about getting a bigger boat which would fix this problem. I have not talked to my mentor for awhile. I was misguided in my off island training this year do to my success in off island training last year. I understand now how important wind and visibility is for their first Molokai toss in particular.
hey Sean sorry to hear of such poor return rate, but I'm curious to know and will be waiting for updates sepecially on your next videos of how many returned. The other old bird has sky gps right? mwybe you can also check for comparison and why they returned separately.
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A lot of flyers here feel the same way about the wifi and cell signals. It definitely may be true which would also lead me to believe the birds have to rely on their other senses like sight. Unfortunately, i didn't do them any favors that day if this is the case because it had been someone haze that week so the island they needed to fly to was not as clear as it could have been. Thank you!
Hi Sean....i know what u feel, last year i lost 56 birds ...only 14 came back..70/14 .all 14 came back on the release day ...if we start our young birds training we go only 5km (3,1 miles) ....how far away is Molokai....it seems to be a big step for the first release...ok i hope you get back some birds...the problem is, you will never get the answer, why this happens ...😢 with greetings from germany..."Gut Flug" ("good fligh")
Thank you! They have had a lot of road tosses but this was their first off island toss. This toss was 60 miles to my loft. I really think the high winds hurt the birds and possible less than ideal visibility to see across the channel to the island they needed to fly to. Aloha, Sean
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Wow, that is unreal Sean. Based on 2017 YB's toss from Molokai .... No problem for this group all returned no losses. Now with 2018 YB's this was a total shock to see no YB's returned? Why? Don't know. Only can take some wild guesses. Maybe the flock split up to smaller groups no leader to show them home. Ist OB decided to fly east than rested then headed west to home. Did he have any YB followers probably not. 2nd OB probably crossed over himself. Now where's the YB's at most likely on Molokai trying to figure out where's home. Don't think they would fly to Maui. You have tossed train this group in the middle part of Molokai. Maybe next time do more from eastern part next to the ocean. Possible they'll have a better sight of land and even smell of ocean. Motivation maybe toss in the later part of the afternoon. Using the sun set to the West as a means of going home. These 2018 YB's are they all same species as your 2017 team. Are they the same parents of your 2018 team.
Thanks! A lot of these birds are from breeders that are new to me. I would have to say there was an external factor to have such bad results and I think it was the wind and lower than ideal visibility across the channel. I will be sure to upload an update.
Did you see my video when I tried to release them on my boat? I almost died, lol. But you are absolutely right. I hope to get a bigger boat at some point. Thank you! Aloha, Sean
Don't give up hang in there sometimes old birds will come home a different way course then a new bird would take so don't let old birds go on a long run with new birds.
I'm torn between using and not using old birds with the young birds for their first off island release. Last year I sent zero old birds with the young birds on their first off island toss and they all came back but I'm not positive that was because their was no old birds with them. My goal is just to get them to cross the channel and I really don't mind the route they take. They just need that experience of knowing what channel to cross to get home. To be honest I wish I had enough old birds to send that they would outnumber the young birds. Thank you for your comment and I will keep that in mind as I learn. Aloha, Sean
AlohaPigeons then if you do use old birds send half of your young birds at a time or brake them onto three or for groups so this way you don't lose all of them together. For am example send 10 old birds and 5 young birds. If you do it like that theres a very good chance you'll get them all back. The thing is having enough old birds. As a training team something to think about. Building and keeping a training team of 10 old birds to help your young birds every year cross the water into the next island.
AlohaPigeons shawn you got a friend in me so if you need new birds to start with I would be happy to send you a few birds as I gift. For you to start with if yours don't return. I would GIVE you a few birds. From my last year group I would have to find out about how to send them to you but with your help with info on that. I would help you so you can start all over again if you need to. But don't give up this happens alot around the world we just don't here about it. In Florida last year because of the Hurricane season many Club members lost alot of birds and the birds here don't have to cross island's in races so don't get discouraged. Friend. Hand in there I'll keep praying that they come back or some other club members from down there do contact you that they have your birds. GOD BLESS
Wow... I'm so sorry my friend. Is that 1st old bird the one that your relative found at Maui airport or came home i think like 2 weeks later on its own? She is a daughter from one of your foundation pairs, isnt she? And if I'm not mistaken, the sister of the young bird hen i pointed out to you last time i was there. I wouldnt be surprised if she is the one that came home a couple of weeks after that one release last year. From here flight path, i get the feeling she flew with familiarity around Molokai and the young birds followed her. And being young, the birds are inquisitive so it could be that a few birds landed here and there because something caught their interest. I think that she still had most of flock with her when she landed for that 45 min but when she took flight again, none followed because they were spread out foraging when she left to come home and didnt see her leave. This is the reason why i suggested to use all 5 bands as well as buying a few more to put on your best going birds. I know that you will have more birds come home. And one of the first ones will be that hen i told you to pay close attention to. But with no other gps data to compare to what you have now because only 2 bands were used, both on old birds, this will stay a mystery even if all birds come home with no way to determine what to change to prevent this from happening again. As of now the only thing you found out is not to send these 2 old birds out with the young birds again. Before this gets any windier, I really think you should call me a.s.a.p. to discuss this. I think its important that you do. Sound good? Btw, what has your mentor said about this?
Brian you are speculating too much, lol. I do have more data to share but it will be in the next video, I need to find time to edit that footage. The second gps band was on a young bird and that young bird was actually found on Molokai and returned to me. You won't believe where these birds went. And another bird was just found and returned to me from yet another island. I did not share my data from training this year and I regret that but I have lost gps bands do to the birds hitting power lines. The second old bird to return on this toss is the hen that was missing for 30 days on the first Maui toss last year. The first old bird back was not from my favorite breeding pair. The one hen that was from my favorite breeding pair broke both of her legs in training this year when she hit power lines by Diamond Head on a release from the east side. She had a gps band on and the battery came out when she hit, which is how I was able track and actually find the battery at that location. She came back the next day with both legs completely broken. She is an amazing bird and now walking like normal. That day she hit, it was very windy, which supports the notion that the birds fly low on windy days. I only had 3 hens that could be used for training these young birds this year. I didn't want to use my old cocks because they're too aggressive for the young birds. I know I have not shared my training this year but be assured the birds were trained well. I just wish I could have trained more before the molt and release them farther out across the Kaiwi channel. I'm still focusing on the wind and haze playing the main factor on my failure. I think I have under estimated the birds reliance on what they can see for their navigation. This year has really made me question how much the birds really use the earths magnetic field as a means to navigate here in Hawaii whether its always been that way or is the result of external changes, I have no idea.
AlohaPigeons LOL!! You say speculate, i say windy!! Yeah sorry i should have proof read what i wrote. Switch the old birds, same windiness. More accurate and less windy? Yes i do remember her hitting the powerlines and breaking her legs. I also remember telling you to stock her because that determination to come home will be passed on to her offspring. And i know she isnt from your favorite pair, but if im not mistaken, she is from one of your 3 foundation pairs, correct? And yes mostly speculation, but based from my knowledge and experience of 20 yrs and close academic study of pigeon behavior, i dont think its too much. With that said, i can see how it can look that way from someone relatively new to the sport. I agree that the oldbird cocks would be to agressive to be with the young birds. Which is why i would have said to limit the contact between them to off island training tosses only. If it was done like that, I'm sure that 4 old birds could have been chosen with no problem, even if 4 gps bands wasnt available. I hope this makes more sense. Dont drive yourself crazy about the external variables and to what degree they play in influencing how/why the birds decide to fly. Your trying to deal with intangibles at that point and if science were able to explain that then the intangibles become absolutes which is almost as maddening because either way no one would be able to change that as well. Sorry, nerd alert! Lol. Wow...That almost went Quantum, didnt it? Lol. Anyway, what do you say about calling me when you have time to talk? I get the feeling you might want to talk to get some peace of mind at the very least.
Did I tell you about the bird that broke both of her legs? This just happened about a month ago and she is from my favorite pair. That being said, none of the birds came back from my favorite pair this year. I really don't think it had anything to do with my training, short of the boat release being such a disaster and not as fare out as I would like. The external variable in this case was the wind and visibility. If I had the knowledge and experience I have now they would not have been released that day. But what it really comes down to is, I always feel pressure to hurry my training for young birds which makes me push the limits and I don't like that. I'm seriously thinking about only racing old birds for some time mainly for the birds well-being. Unfortunately, the first old bird races don't start in Maui but are now only from the Big Island.
AlohaPigeons i do remember you telling me about a bird hitting wire and losing a gps band. Thats why i offered to sponsor a couple more. She's not the only one though, right?. Didnt you lose a bird and gps band before this? Anyway thats not the most important part right now. I agree though that this result is not because of your training. I know first hand that you are not that inept. And i have had that that sense of urgency before and i know it can make you make some rash decisions. I know i did. Lost birds because of it too. The way i solved that for me was i started my breeding up to a month early but only when i got my bands early as well. I still think tossing yb in the channel could be beneficial. If you change the way you do it. First... Get a bigger boat! Lol... 2nd... Dont go by yourself. EVER! 3rd... A life jacket doesnt do any good if its strapped to the chair and not on your body. As you can see by my comments on that vid, you scared the hell out of me!! If i was married to you and saw that, i would take you to task! And not in the good way! ( if there is such a thing). Seriously though. If your are willing to hear me out about collaborating a training regime with me in detail lets do it and i promise you'll see how much it will benefit you. What do you think?
Really feel gutted for you Sean and as a fellow fancier I can empathise with how low you must be feeling but hopefully they will return tomorrow. I believe there is no certain answer to why they haven't homed yet but what I do know is that all over the UK there are heavy losses this year. There are 101 reasons been put forward but to be honest you could pick out any and believe them but no one is certain. I love the info you got from your GPS system because it is factual so there is no guessing! I was thinking about why the old bird landed as this is unusual! Did it do this to break away from the young birds? Did it land on its own? Wouldn't it be great if we had live GPS info on our birds so we could see what was happening and not rely on them coming home to download the info! Please let me know when you get any back. Again love your videos Sean they are top draw.
I agree with you 100%. Everyone has their own theories as to what happens. Like you said, I too like the gps bands because it's actual data that can give clues as to what really happens. I will be sure to upload an update. Aloha, Sean