Winter Sports
flying is less effective. If it’s too light, energy levels are insufficient for a day of effective flying. Binki looks beautifully fit. She has to be to patrol a large area like the Twickenham Stadium for hours on end. She’s as fit as any winger at Twickenham. I talk to Keith again. “Being a
groundsman, you like nature,” he says. “You always have to work with the way things are. That’s the job. My instinct - and I’m sure that of all groundsmen - is not to wish pigeons any harm, you just want them to go somewhere else!” “We’ve come to love the days when Graham lets his bird free in the stadium, and so do visitors here having a tour of the facilities. It’s definitely an added attraction, as well as doing a useful job for us. People love to see the bird.” He recalls when something a little bigger was on the wing there. “Two or three years ago, for the big post Christmas Harlequins game, the organisers decided to use a sea eagle to deliver the match ball to the centre spot prior to kick-off. She had a seven-foot wingspan and her name was Nakita. She and her handler came here for the Varsity match three weeks earlier to get her used to the big screens and crowd, and she had the rest of the month to get familiar with flying in the
stadium.
“On match day, the idea was for her to fly from the north to the south stand and then deliver the ball, held in a net, to a perch on the centre spot. In the middle of her flight she veered off to the west stand and perched there briefly. She must have lost her bearings because of the crowd. She then flew to the aforementioned perch with the ball safely in the net to one of the biggest roars I’ve ever heard at Twickenham. It was surely the best performance ever on the wing here. I don’t think we had pigeons here for a while after that!”
“I love to see the hawk each week, especially when she sits on the lighting rig. It’s a delightful sight.” Twickenham’s busiest month is looming. In May, it’s wall-to-wall rugby - the county cup finals over the first weekend, the World Sevens the next, with over 50 games, then, later in the month, the Aviva Premiership final, followed by England against the Barbarians. There may not be so much time for the pigeons to settle on the pitch, but
Binki’s end of season
performance will be vital.
MAKE SURE YOUR GROUND IS FROSTPROTECTEDTHIS WINTER
“The organisers decided to use a sea eagle to deliver the match ball to the centre spot prior to kick-off. She had a seven-foot wingspan and her name was Nakita”
With over 30 years experience in manufacturing, Stuart Canvas is the UK’s leading supplier and manufacturer of ground protection products for pitch and training grounds. All our products are manufactured at our Warrington factory under strict quality control management and are designed to provide the best protection against rain, frost and debris.
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FEBRUARY/MARCH 2013 PC 45
advise on the best solution for your grounds.
• FROST • FROST GERMINATION • RAIN • PLAYERS TUNNELS • SAND BAGS
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