July/August 2026

43 – Purebred PIGEON reds, yellows, Andalusians, or anything laced. I remember Baldhead Chinese Owls being worked on for many years but I didn’t often see many if at all at the shows I attended. When I finally had the opportunity to find some, the hens were extremely hard to find. I could only acquire males at that time and had to wait until a hen or two was available. I finally got rolling and bred them up to 6 pair when disaster struck and I lost almost all of my birds. Long story short, I end- ed up getting back into owls with an Opalusion cock bird from a great fellow in Minnesota. Being a laced variety which I love in all breeds of pigeons, I had the challenge again to improve the lacing and the type since they were just being developed. I made good progress using a check hen from another great friend and I ended the season with two young cock birds with very much improved lacing. One actually has the white bar that I want to refine and the other one is full lace. They both need work on the type but I expected that. I let the original Opalu- sion cock bird go to a friend who is an amazing breeder in his own right, so hopefully we can swap what we need to improve this variety. The Opalusion can produce Andalusians, blacks, indi- go check and bar, blue bars, blue checks and occasionally a “whatsit.” I don’t hope to get back to all the colors I had in them but our club secretary told me they would help me with any color or variety I wanted to get rolling again. I declined but after being asked once again I said the only thing I would be interested in again would be the baldhead variety. Of all the colors and challenges in the breed, the baldhead is what I missed seeing in my loft the most. So there we go – a few months later I got a message the guys in Vegas had a few extra pair and are sending them my way. What a country ! I think about how, over the years, the friends and joy I have gotten out of the hobby – it can’t be matched. There are so many aspects to the hobby. The single bird in the house fancier, pigeon dealers, racers, performing, the strictly home hobbyist, the casual show person, the serious show person and the HARD core show person – along with whatever may be in between all these. The pictures show some baldheads and opalusians I raised and am currently working on.•