Hundreds of carrier pigeons, which are also used to compete in the speed of reaching their destination, disappear into the bird's 'Bermuda Triangle'. Homing pigeon lovers are perplexed that hundreds of birds have disappeared in what they now call the Bermuda Triangle in England
Only 13 of the 232 birds released on Saturday in Fursk, North Yorkshire by the Scottish Homing Pigeon Club reached Galashils, Selkirkshire.
This is after the summer, when another hundred disappeared in the same area. Keith Simpson of the East Cleveland Federation said that all carrier pigeon holders in the region have suffered huge losses since the start of the season in April - many have lost more than half of their birds.
The loss of carrier pigeons cost their owners up to £ 200,000 and the anomaly has puzzled experts. Some have speculated that the reason lies in the abnormally high number of summer showers, which knock birds off course as they try to fly around areas where showers occur, writes The Telegraph (UK)
There is also an opinion that unusually high levels of solar activity distort the magnetic field and a version has been put forward that the secret military base Menwith Hill, near Harrogate, officially considered an electronic tracking station, had a negative impact.
Wendy Jeffries, President of the Homing Pigeon Club, says:
“The weather wasn't that bad here on Saturday. It has been a terrible year. I have lost up to ten young birds out of 29, and the people I spoke to also lost their birds.”
Stuart Fawcett, who has kept pigeons for over 30 years, said: the last 60 years.