HOURS OF DARKNESS

by Jim Emerton

In terms of the environment, it never becomes black dark in the UK and beyond! In racing organisations hours of darkness and thus of non darkness are introduced as procedural rules for the evaluation of velocities of race birds under race conditions. To my knowledge a bird has no understanding of these matters. They fly when they fly in various conditions and for different reasons. There is something romantic, eerie and wistful when a bird drops as the bats fly and when the black crows have roosted. This can be under the glare of city lights, the twinkling of stars or the gentle rays of the moon itself. I wax lyrical, yet it is a profound experience which echos deep within the human psyche. The wise old sages of the fancy reflect with fond nostalgia as they tell their colourful stories of late encounters with night fliers, such are the rich colours of pigeon folklore.

April 2013

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