Liberation

I've been trying to watch a pigeon liberation (the release of racing pigeons) for a year now. I came across a pigeon wagon early Saturday morning on the top of a very foggy Beachy Head and after chatting with the driver for a while gave up as there was little chance of liberation. On Sunday I went back up driving through coastal fog to find the Head in even thicker fog. The Saturday lorry had gone home with the pigeons still on board but another wagon had turned up in the early hours. I learnt a lot about pigeon racing in the next few hours waiting to see if the swirling fog would clear. They even let me climb aboard the lorry to see the birds. Then suddenly the sun broke through and there was a hole in the fog. The birds, around 2,000 in number were liberated. The surge of power was incredible and they made their way out and headed north for the long flight back to Yorkshire. It was definitely worth the hours of waiting for the 30 seconds of pure energy and excitement. Now I must check the next liberation date and get a season ticket for the carpark as it cost me a fortune in parking over the two days.