Cairo, Egypt - on April 30 six -year old Ali Mohammed Ali became the 26th death attributed to the H5N1 strain of avian influenza in Egypt since 2006. Many families, like Ali's, moved from the country to the poor neighbourhoods of Cairo and brought their country life with them. They raise chickens and pigeons in the crowded alleys of their neighbourhoods and butchers' shops share space with clay jugs of water called ollas, a communal drinking habit since ancient times. This combination of overcrowding, poor sanitation and cultural traditions has made Egypt a prime breeding ground for the avian flu virus and has resulted in the highest national death toll outside Asia.

Hong Kong, China - officials from Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department of Hong Kong confirmed that a dead feral pigeon found April 29 on a city street was a case of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza. The public was warned that the ban on feeding pigeons would be strictly enforced to prevent the birds from congregating and causing environmental hygiene problems.

Prague, Czech Republic - Procure It Direct, a "procurement firm" that helps move products from manufacturer to end user, recently used a pigeon race as a public relations event. The company released 300 racing pigeons with radio-frequency tags in a short 30 kilometre race and individuals were encouraged to wager on the bird of their choice. To help create atmosphere the release site in front of Prague's Lena Chateau included "music, copious amounts of food and bottomless glasses of wine". Procure It Direct CEO Andrew Smith explained "Pigeon racing is all about speed, virility, logistics. We compare our company to pigeon racing, about getting things home".

Goa, India - last week the crew of a deep sea fishing trawler got a surprise visitor in the form of an exhausted pigeon that landed on the deck of their vessel. The pigeon was banded on both legs and had a message in a foreign language or code stamped on its wings. When the boat returned to port the bird generated much interest amongst the small fishing community but so far the mystery has not been resolved.

Waterloo, Ontario - Waterloo Regional Police and the R.C.M.P. are continuing the fraud investigation into Pigeon King International Inc. (PKI) which began last summer. PKI sold pigeon breeding pairs for as much as $500 and bought back their offspring for up to $50 each. The company's collapse last June left nearly 1000 breeders in Canada and the United States with thousands of virtually worthless birds. Last November the creditor appointed inspectors in the PKI company bankruptcy initiated personal bankruptcy proceedings against PKI founder Arlan Galbraith. Galbraith is fighting the application which has stalled several times, most recently being deferred until the fall, continuing the frustration of the PKI investors group.

The breeding season generally runs from February through to July, so since we're at the halfway point I checked with a few club members to see how their breeding season was going.

Barry Sky has 6 pairs of archangels in various colours from which he has 20 young and 5 pairs of jacobins which have produced 5 young so far. Some early fertility problems were solved by trimming vents and fertile eggs are now the norm. Barry credits the practice of replacing the wood shavings and grass hay he uses for nesting material when it becomes soiled as a factor in his low squab mortality rate. He feeds pigeon pellets to his squabs to help with their weaning and oyster shells as a general tonic.

Our Vancouver Island representative Willie Halpern provided an "Islanders" update. Kevin Sherman has bred "a ton of youngsters" and our newest member Karen Lancey and her daughter Falon are also doing well with their new loft. C & H Lofts (Mickey Compton and Willie Halpern) are enjoying their second year of partnership with show type homers. Mickey had a late start but has had 100% fertility with both his show type homers and american rollers. Willie had some heating in his loft and started breeding in December and has also had good fertility. Looks like this year could be a competitive season! We look forward to seeing them all at this year's lawn show.