This year 15578 pigeons were basketed for Barcelona (5819 Belgian, 4515 Dutch, 3678 French, 1233 German, 333 English and 20 Luxembourg pigeons). Given the extreme heat, the BV/EB, in consultation and after approval of the KBDB, took extra precautions: the baskets were stacked a maximum of 7 high and 4 strokes less per truck. As a result, the Belgian, French, German, English and Luxembourg pigeons are divided over 5 trucks instead of 4. (The Dutch pigeons are transported by their own means). The pigeons were immediately provided with fresh water upon arrival at the collection point and the lights on the trucks remained on for 1 hour, so that all pigeons had sufficient opportunity to drink. This morning, the placement of the intermediate blocks (extra ventilation) between the baskets started earlier and the pigeons were immediately provided with fresh water again after placement. During transport, extra attention is also paid to drinking the pigeons. And at the release site, the municipal government of Vilanova-del-Vallès, at the request of the Catalan pigeon association, has provided a connection to city water to refill the water tanks and possibly cool the vehicles extra. Hereby also our sincere thanks to the volunteers who contributed to this.
The BV/EB team is trying (as always) to get our winged friends to the start of the queen flight of marathon in optimal conditions. Thanks to everyone for participating and good luck. Here are some photos.

Peter Gyselbrecht

on behalf of the board of the Belgische Verstandhouding/Entente Belge