Eric and his superstar ‘Red Angel’: 6 x top 100 national (zonal)
After his move from Schoten to Brecht, pigeon fancier Eric has been living at the Schotensesteenweg. At that time he had no idea that another very successful pigeon fancier lived only a few blocks away: Albert Marcelis. At first Eric peered through the hedge to see what was happening around the loft of Marcelis. Eventually the older Marcelis and the young fancier Eric became close friends. “I will never forget the great moments that I shared with Albert. This friendship has been very important for my career here in Brecht”, says the motivated fancier.
During this period Albert’s health deteriorated and eventually it was Eric who was taking care of the Marcelis pigeon breed. Albert highly appreciated this and he told Eric that he could have any pigeon he wanted.
Sprint
Albert’s best gift for Eric was his pigeon Sprint with ring number BE97-6549507. Sprint represented Belgium at the Olympiad in Liévin (France) in 2003. Albert gave him this pigeon spontaneously. A lot has changed in the lofts of Eric since this introduction. This Sprint pigeon knew how to win great prizes and won for instance, 22 first prizes, a second National Ace Pigeon Sprint KBDB 2002 and a fifth National Ace Pigeon Sprint KBDB 2003. His exceptional breeding qualities have significantly influenced the career of Eric as well. He was the dam of Jonge Sprint, winner of five first prizes and the title of first Ace Pigeon Yearlings Z.A.V. 2005. He is also the dam of Nieuwe Zion, who won a first National Guéret 2006. Sprint is also the grandsire of Yanti (First Ace Pigeon Long Distance in the Western European Countries Cup) and Babette (Olympiad pigeon Long Distance Ostend 2007). It is not surprising that no less than 29 pigeons of a total of 36 breeding pairs are a grandchild of this amazing bird. Eric does everything he can to keep the qualities of this pigeon in his pigeon breed.
Donkere 18
Albert’s Donkere 18 (BE97-6549518) is also a first class pigeon and Eric has about 14 grandchildren of this pigeon in his breeding loft. Donkere 18 was crowned Ace Pigeon of St. Job in the years 2001, 2002 and 2003 and he won no less than eight first prizes. In the loft of Eric, Donkere 18 became sire and grandfather of many a top class pigeon. He is for instance the sire of Red Angel (6x top 100 national (zonal), Beike (3 x first prize) and Luna (Ace Pigeon Long Distance 2007).
About the fancier
Eric favours the races with a distance of 500 to 600km. The hens that are raced on total widowhood are basketed every single week. The cocks are raced every fourteen days as soon as the shorter middle distance season has begun. This is not because they are not strong enough to race every week; he simply wants to avoid the chance that his pigeons are not fit for a race.
Eric devotes his time to his family and his pigeon breed seven days a week and 365 days a year. During the season he gets up at 6am and he goes to bed at 10 o’clock. Eric always thinks things through. He decided for instance not to race the young birds with the sliding door next season but to basket them on the nest, keeping in mind the national racing schedule 2013 for the young birds.
Since 2004 he has been basketing his pigeons every week and selection is based on their results. “By basketing your pigeons very often you will notice your good birds will become even better whereas your bad pigeons become worse”, says the pigeon fancier from Brecht.
These are some of the best results of Eric in the last seasons:
1st national Bourges 1999 with Virenque 1st national Argenton 2005 with Zoe 1st national La Souterraine 2005 with Joni 1st national Gueret 2006 with Zion (a son of Sprint) 1st national Ace Pigeon WENC 2005 with Yanti (granddaughter of Sprint) 1st Olympiad Pigeon cat A. 2003 with Sprint 2nd Olympiad Pigeon cat C. 2007 with Babette (granddaughter of Sprint x Donkere 18)
2010-2012
The outstanding pigeons of Eric achieved tremendous results at national level between 2010 and 2012:
3rd national Gueret with Bang (line Sprint & Donkere 18) 8th national Bourges with Bourgesman (line Sprint) 9th national Gueret with Gueretje(line Sprint) 10th national Chateauroux with Red Angel(a son of Donkere 18) 11th national Argenton with Den Zao (line Sprint & Donkere 18) 11th national Limoges with Sven (line Sprint) 17th national La Souterraine with Angel (daughter of Donkere 18) 17th national La Souterainne with Kletskopke(line Sprint) 17th national Narbonne with Bonne 19th national Gueret with Mataboe(line Sprint) 20th national Bourges with Sven(line Sprint) 24th national Gueret with Sven(line Sprint) 25th national La Souterainne with Sproetje(line Sprint & Donkere 18)
Eric Berckmoes is a very fanatic and young pigeon fancier who has a magnificient top quality pigeon loft. He spares no effort to motivate his pigeons; it seems that he talks and listens to his pigeons. We will be hearing from him in the future.
