At the 2013 AU Convention in Tampa, I had the pleasure of meeting some of the best pigeon racers in our country and a small handful from outside of the U.S. I have never attended a convention but I made a point of coming to this one to meet and listen to Mark Evans of Myrtle Lofts and his North American partner John Marles. I’ve been acquiring birds down from this world-famous stock and I knew this would be a rare chance to meet him them person. I also had the pleasure of meeting another Evans aficionado Kenny King of Kings View Lofts. This is a man who has made a significant “buy in” to this family of birds and will surely soon be hitting the top of the sheet in races around the globe.
The weekend did not disappoint, as I had the very good fortune of spending the majority of Friday at the John Marles & Mark Evans partnership loft in Spring Hill. Also there was the exceptional flyer Don Campbell from Ohio and Marles’ Canadian partner, Joe Ferreira. We spent the day looking at and handling birds and I went a little nuts taking photos. I knew it was a moment that would not soon be repeated. The birds were stunning, of course, but I was particularly struck at how John Marles moved through his loft and how his pigeons reacted to him. You can see in the photos how much he cares for the birds and how much they care for him.
Check out the two galleries below for pictures from the convention, including photos from the historic auction which garnered more than $164,000 for 78 birds from Jos Thone, Nikolaas Gyselbrecht and the Pipa Elite Breeding Center, Big Andy, and of course Mark Evans’ Myrtle Lofts.
The Loft of Marles and Evans – Images by David Stephenson
AU Convention and Auction 2013 – Images by David Stephenson