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The Budgerigar Society Club Show 2008
So, that’s the BS Club Show over for another year! Something of a decisive show this, because the BS has already announced that the show date, somewhat controversially changed for 2007 and 2008, will be reviewed at the November Council meeting of the society, hopefully with the help of the visiting members who had been asked to voice their opinion of the show date, by questionnaire, by the end of the show. What will that result be? More of this at a future date !
Much, of course, depended upon the exhibitors. Would this show record the boost in entries that had been hoped for in 2007 -- and not really materialised? This has been a show season on mixed results – some shows had seen an increase in entries, but for others there was a continued decline. The BS Club show presented a good average of these results and attracted an entry very similar to that of 2007. The benched figure, of around 2,000 birds was of course disappointing, but there is always a large absentee total at the BS Club show. This is something that we all regret and while we welcome large entries, the number of birds which actually reach the show is all-important. Perhaps next year ….
So, this is the ‘down side’ out of the way. The good news is that this event lived up to all the expectations of the many fanciers who look forward to this grand event as “the highlight of the year”. The atmosphere was, as ever, very positive, with fanciers enjoying the many great features, including the on-going support of the Area and Specialist societies who attended with their colourful, yet highly functional stands, allowing their members to pay subs, buy society items and plan for their ongoing enjoyment of the fancy in 2009 and hopefully well beyond. The essential items of foodstuffs and equipment were well catered for by the many Trade Stands, including that of our main sponsors, Bucktons, whose continuing support of the activities of the Budgerigar Society is invaluable and appreciated accordingly.
The expression “well-oiled machine” could indeed have been created to define the work of our Show Manager Dave Hislop and his hard-working team, and the importance of the contribution of all workers at the show, including those very welcoming Ladies who take our money with a smile on entering the show, can not be easily overstated. Overall, Dave Hislop once again impressed with the organisation of all aspects of this prestigious event, thus ensuring that the show opened on time. Before this, of course, there was the public viewing of judging for the major awards. This is always a popular episode with fanciers, who happily seize the opportunity to “judge the judges”. With so many independent (?) witnesses, there is no possibility of judges protesting that “it wasn’t standing like that when I judged it!”
And so to the most important element -- the birds. Despite a lack of condition in many birds, this was again a showpiece which demonstrated the depth of quality that there is in the exhibition birds of today. Most awards, from the major ones down to class level were mainly keenly contested, although in the classes there were relatively few contenders.
The main awards, in all sections, were well distributed – which is always a healthy sign, but leading the field once again - for the second successive year - were the well known partnership of Freakley and Ainley. This year’s winner was their Greygreen Dominant Pied Adult cock, a robust bird with strong head qualities but carried on an equally sound frame, which ensured that it was a bird of balance, throughout.
Brian Sweeting continued with his regular contribution to the Major awards list with a very much admired young Grey Green Cock which took the Best Young Bird in Show award. A bird of very good head quality, including excellent width, it is probably one which will be an excellent adult next year.
It was pleasing for me to see a Redeye take its place among the “Big Four” this year. Ian Fordham’s Adult Lutino Hen, a bird of good substance and colour, enhanced by beautiful stance and deportment, was adjudged Best Opposite Sex in show.
This award was strongly contested and Ian just pipped R & M Miller’s lovely young Dark Green Hen ( Best Opposite Sex Young Bird) for this award
Best in Show Freakley & Ainley
Best Opp. Sex Young Bird in Show R & M Miller’s Cobalt Hen
Best Junior in Show C P Spruce’s Green Cock
CHALLENGE CERTIFICATE/ BEST OF COLOUR AWARDS
ANY AGE
Best Light Green . Geoff Bowley judged this colour group and adjudged B E Sweeting’s Green Cock to be best of the pick. He comments that this bird was one of the few birds shown in good condition. It displayed a very good cap and mask and would have been even better with slightly bigger spots.
2nd was C P Spruce’s Green cock which Geoff described as an outstanding junior bird which would easily have actually won the CC but for a massive gap in head feathers
Taking third spot in the line-up, and Best Opp Sex of Colour was C & M Snell’s Green Hen – the pick of the rest of the line-up and a nice smart bird
Other placings : 4th T & A Wilson 5th D Page 6th S Bailey, 7th M Nee 8th E Mullally 9th A E Barnett 10th M & D Boulton
Overall, Geoff felt that the standard fell away somewhat after the first three placings. Most birds were in very poor condition, perhaps indicating the time of year!!
Best Dark or Olive Green Judged by Alan Michael who awarded the Best of Colour award to J H Woods Dark Green Cock, which he described as the outstanding bird in the line-up, being a really good all-round bird which stood and showed to really good effect at the time of judging.
In second place came another cock. This time from G & A Hill, whose Dark Green cock was staged in lovely condition. However, this bird did not have the width of head possessed by the winner.
3rd & Best Opp Sex of Colour was another J H Woods birds, a long, really fit hen which was slightly down on spot
4th A E Barrett
Although a small group. there was a good selection of birds from which to choose, but it was disappointing that so many birds were lacking in condition
Best Skyblue was adjudicated by John Cooke, who confirms his placings as follows:- “Best in the group was a Sky Cock from R Keeber. This bird was bold and staged in very good condition, revealing very good shoulder width and carrying a good sized head. On the critical side, it could do with a bit more top skull
2nd & Best Opp Sex of Colour came B Sweeting’s Skyblue Hen, shown in excellent condition, but with less width of head and shoulder than the 1st bird
3rd P Field’s Skyblue Cock, again shown in excellent condition, but not up to the
standard of the first two
Other placings:- 4th S Bailey 5th P Ward 6th P Greenwood 7th E Mullally 8th D Mullally
Unfortunately the overall standard of Any Age Skyblues, I think, could have been better and I was a little disappointed by this. The better birds in the country could be out of condition at this time of the year.
Best Cobalt, Mauve or Violet Alan Michael recalls:-“This colour group was led by R & M Miller’s Violet Cock, a bird of quality, very steady with lovely even colour. Consequently, it went on to be 3rd Best intermediate Any Age
2nd was M J Freeborne’s Cobalt Cock, a super steady bird with impressive head qualities, and which therefore pressed for first place. However it did not quite have the power of the winner.
3rd S & B Squires Cobalt cock took 3rd place in the line-up. This is a superb Beginner bird, shown in lovely condition with large, round spots. A credit to its section
Other placings:- 4th , & Best Opp Sex of Colour, A Cameron 5Th E Mullally 6th S Wildes 7th S Finlay 8th Northern & Jones
This was another good section, but some birds lacked condition, which was rather disappointing”
Best Grey Green Mark Bridgeman, our “Overseas judge” placed these awards and describes his placings : “ Best in the line-up was a wonderful cock presented in good condition by Devey & Wright. This bird displayed a deep mask, super feather and good spots, carried on an excellent length of body. A top bird!
2nd came another strong bird, benched by Ward & Rogers. This cock has a good width of head and nice mask but not the same length as the winner and not in such good condition
3rd D J Brick ‘s bird has super feather direction, but not the size of the two leaders
Best Opposite Sex of Colour was C & M Snell’s hen, a bird of good shoulder and lovely depth of mask, but not quite the desired width of head”
Other placings : 4th R Wilson 5th L A Murray 6th, & Best Opp Sex of Colour, C & M Snell 7th D Mullally 8th L & S Devaney 9th S Finlay
Best Grey Harry Hockaday, well known for Greys, judged this group and recalls:-“ K Fagan led this line-up with an outstanding Grey cock, which has exceptional head quality, stands well off the perch and showed himself to advantage.
2nd came A Easdon’s cock, another very good quality birds which could be counted as unfortunate that he came up against the winner today
3rd D Farrow-Browne took this place with a good quality cock, o correct shape, good quality backskull, but not with the power of the first and second in the selection
4th, & Best Opp Sex of Colour, M Hibbs’ hen which was unfortunately not in the best of condition
Other placings:- 5th D Hart 6th T & A Wilson 7th Gary Cameron 8th C A Sutton
The winners of this colour group were good, but I thought that the quality dropped away. Condition was also a factor”
Best Opaline Green Series (exc.Grey Green) Dave Herring noted :- “ A very attractive Opaline Light Green Cock from Guppy & Barnes took this BOC award. This bird has a strong head, round and with good width. A noble stance/deportment and not heavily suffused in colour – perhaps the true Opaline is on its way back as a variety? If anything this winner was just a little soft, but not out of, condition
2nd , & Best Opp Sex of Colour, C L Bowman’s hen. A strong hen, this, which shows as a true hen. Good width, deep mask and good Opaline markings meant that it pressed the BOC hard for top spot.
3rd came another good hen, this time from D Mullally. She would perhaps have shown better if she was not quite so heavy, but she had a good head and mask qualities, with a particularly pleasing cap.
Other placings :- 4th A E Barrett 5th L & S Devaney
This was quite a small colour group, but perhaps a select one. There were some good quality birds here, particularly in their variety content. Are true Opalines ‘coming back’?”
Best Opaline Grey Green Ian Standley summarises his placings:- “ Best of Colour was T Barker’s well balanced bird, a cock in very good condition and excellent feather quality. This bird also showed style and was an easy winner
For 2nd spot, I selected a bird from the Beginner ranks, shown by Ward & Rogers, a bird rather similar in style to the Best of Colour, but marred by slight ticking
3rd, & Best Opp Sex of Colour, came A & D Woan’s substantial, well-shouldered hen
Other placings :- 4th P Field 5th D Farrell
The quality varied in the Opaline Grey greens, but it was good to see flecking reduced. This comment applies to both Young and Adult birds.”
Best Opaline Blue Series (Exc.Grey) was judged by Jim Shepherd, who states :- “ Best of Colour went to Thorpe & Stanleys lovely large Skyblue hen, which shows fairly good Opaline characteristics
2nd place, & Best Opp Sex of Colour was taken by G Jenkins with a good, clean Skyblue cock. This bird did not, however, possess the size of the winner
In 3rd place came M Nee’s Cobalt – a large bird but let down by bad markings
Best Thorpe & Stanley 2nd , & Best Opp Sex of Colour, G Jenkins 3rd M Nee 4th J & L McGeehan 5th J S Purvis 6th S Finlay 7th G C Grieff 8th A D M Tait
There was good quality at the top of this section, but was let down by flecking lower down the order.”
Best Opaline Grey Harry Hockaday also judged this Colour and writes:- “An excellent Opaline Grey Cock from M J & S L Banks took this certificate. Unfortunately, this bird is flecked, but in the line-up, I felt that he had to take first place
2nd was R & M Miller’s cock, a nice clean bird but unfortunately not with enough power to challenge the winner
3rd came an excellent bird from H W & M Hough. Unfortunately, this bird was heavily flecked and therefore could not take a higher placing
4th , & Best Opp Sex of Colour, was staged by G Jenkins. Quite a good hen this, a good, clean example of the variety
Other placings 5th D Hart. The numbers in this colour group were very disappointing. I do not like putting flecked birds first but due to lack of competition, even after penalising it, the winner selected had to take this spot.”
Best Normal Cinnamon Green Bob Francis comments:- “Best B E Sweeting took this certificate with a large, very well presented Cinnamon Greygreen cock which was in excellent feather condition. Very good all round qualities marked this bird out.
2nd came B Kyle’s nicely presented Cinnamon Grey Green Cock. Unfortunately, its spots were not quite fully down.
3rd , & Best Opp Sex of Colour, P D White’s Cinnamon Light Green Hen, which displayed superb yellow feathering, presented in good condition, but it could have been bigger!
Other placings:- 4th P Greenwood 5th B A Wilson 6th P Ward 7th S McMullen 8th C P Spruce 9th I Olbison 10th L A Murray
I felt that the overall quality was not as good as in previous years. Many birds had flights missing – the winning bird was the exception.”
Best Normal Cinnamon Blue The awards in this section were made by Ian Standley, who comments:-Best of Colour was a Cinnamon Grey Cock benched by A & D Woan. A bird of very good length, he was well balanced , with a nice face. A lovely bird, which showed himself well
2nd S McMullen’s contribution to this group was also a Cinnamon Grey cock, similar in style to the Best of Colour winner, ‘Pussy’ faced, but of less width. It did push for the first place.
3rd P Cunliffe’s Cinnamon Grey was a powerful, not quite finished above the cere and the head. This bird has good width of head, but the spots were weaker in comparison
4th , & Best Opp Sex of Colour, P Watts’ Cinnamon Skyblue hen, which showed good shoulder, balance and was benched in good condition. However, it slightly failed on markings, being somewhat opalescent in the neck
Other placings 5th M J & S L Banks 6th S & B Squires 7th S McMullen 8th Gary Cameron
The standard of Cinnamons was quite pleasing in all sections, from Champion to Junior.”
Best Opaline Cinnamon Green Series Bob Francis writes:- B E Sweeting’s Opaline Cinnamon Light Green Cock was well presented. A nice bird which was clearly the best bird on the day.
2nd , & Best Opp Sex of Colour, was from P D White and Opaline Cinnamon Grey Green Hen which could have been better in head qualities. Additionally, it had flights missing.
3rd A E Barrett staged an Opaline Grey Green Hen, a good bird which was not very big and had slight ticking
4th G P Sutton
This section was of rather poor standard with many birds out of condition.
Best Opaline Cinnamon Blue Series These awards were placed by Geoff Capes and he recalls :- “Best of Colour went to T & A Luke’s Op Cinn Grey hen, which was a bird of good quality throughout, except for very slight ticking. Good width and balance and that balance was carried throughout.
2nd was P Cunliffe’s bird, again a Opal Cinn Grey hen, which was also in other respects very similar to the winner. Again, slightly ticked, it was narrower in face that the first but still of good quality.
3rd , & Best Opp Sex of Colour, was another T & A Luke bird, an Opal Cinn Grey Cock. This was a nice clean cock, but lacked depth of spot of the two birds ahead of it.
Other placings 4th A D M Tait 5th D A Turner 6th Gary Cameron 7th M Hibbs
There was a good quality overall in this group, but ticking was a problem, although not enough to bother about all I all.. The top three birds were of very good standard for the variety.”
Best Lutino Bev Hutt had the task of sorting out this colour group, and reports:- “ I Fordham took the Any Age certificate with his much admired Hen, which was in good condition and showed very well. An all round solid quality hen, of fair colour.
2nd , & Best Opp Sex of Colour, was I Fordham again with a cock bird of much better colour than was the hen. He has a lovely front cap, and was of good length, but he had a tendency at times to hold one wing high.
3rd was another cock, this time shown by G N Turner, in good condition but not possessing the length of the first cock. It lacked a little in head, but was nevertheless a solid cock.
Other placings:- 4th P Hunt 5th Ward & Rogers 6th B Shutt 7th P Hunt 8th G N Turner 9th Gary Cameron 10th Gary Cameron
The final line-up was a selection of good condition lutinos, which fell away rather sharply after the first three”
Best Albino This colour was adjudicated by Jim Shepherd, who comments:-“ Best of Colour came from the Junior ranks, Gary Cameron’s very nice Albino cock being a good winner. Perhaps a little shady, but a very nice cap. 2nd was T & A Wilson’s Cock, a bird of good colour but not having the style of the winner
3rd , & Best Opp Sex of Colour, was A M White’s very nice hen – a good all round bird.
4th R Day 5th Gary Cameron, 6th J Cosby 7th A M White
I felt that the overall quality was only average, taking into account the time of year”
Best Yellow Wing John Grubb judged this colour group and summarised his findings:- “Best of Colour was a Yellow wing Dark Green Cock from R Bray. Shown in good condition, it displays good contrast 2nd , & Best Opp Sex of Colour, was M & P Freemantle’s Dark Green Hen, a good bird which was unfortunately let down by her tail and underflight
3rd was again from M & P Freemantle, this time a Yellow wing Light Green Cock, which was not up to the standard of the first and second in the line-up”
4th K & D Russ 5th A M White 6th A Hoskins 7th A M White
Best White Wing Adjudication of this colour fell to Neil Johnson who commented:- “Best was R Day’s White wing Cobalt Cock, a nicely balanced bird in very good condition, and shown in perfect condition. Its only fault was that it was lacking in body colour.
2nd , & Best Opp Sex of Colour, a Cobalt hen, again from R Day. This, again, was a nice bird in very good condition, but not of the same size as the winner.
3rd R Bray’s Cobalt cock, a very nice long bird with good colour but a little out of condition
Other placings :-4th A M White 5th M & D Walker 6th A M White 7th A Hoskins
This was an interesting colour group to judge, with some very nice birds competing.
Best Crested or Tuft Grant Findlay comments:- Cheatley & Alcorn headed this good colour group with a Full Circular Skyblue Crest Cock, staged in immaculate condition. This was a large bird with excellent backskull and width – a very deserving winner
2nd in this field came G & J Al-Nasser’s Tufted Skyblue Cock , a very strong bird and with very good all-round quality
3rd S & R Clarke took this placing with their Full Circular Skyblue cock exhibiting a lovely crest. However, it was not as large as the first two birds
Best Opposite Sec took 6th place in the overall line-up and was a Cinnamon Full Circular Grey Green Hen, staged by A & G Adams, A nice bird, but lacking in size
Other placings:-4th Cheatley & Alcorn 5th A M White, A & G Adams 7th A M White 8th Cheatley & Alcorn 9th D & L Rafis 10th M Anzara 11th A M White 12th Gary Cameron
Best Spangle Green Series Geoff Capes judged this variety and commented “ Best B A Wilson benched a super bird here, a Double factor spangle cock with overall quality, marred only by a couple of missing flights ( as did the second bird).The head quality sealed the decision.
2nd was J H Woods bird of real quality, a good all-round bird and had it been complete in feather it would have possibly done better – but a very good example
3rd , & Best Opp Sex of Colour went to G Booth’s Double Factor hen, a bird of good quality but not up to the standard of the first two.
Other placings:- 4th J & L McGeehan 5th D Mullally 6th P Cunliffe 7th Ward & Rogers 8th B Cattell 9th S Finlay 10th Ward & Rogers 11th J Copeland 12th J Fielding 14th S Roberts15th S Finlay
There was a very good standard of bird in the first six placings. The BOC was a super quality bird, slightly spoilt because of the missing flights, but excellent in other departments, hence its first placing.”
Best Spangle Blue Series Grant Findlay placed these awards and described his findings as follows:- Best in a strong line-up was J Donovan’s Sky Blue Cock which is a truly outstanding bird, with wonderful width of ‘blow’ and its superb head qualities and balance was in addition to very good markings
2nd , & Best Opp Sex of Colour came S Bailey, with a very powerful Cinn Skyblue Hen , which displayed strong backskull in addition to other very desirable features
3rd P Tiller took the third spot in a very strong field with another Single factor Cock and well deserved its placing in the line-up “
Other placings:-4th B Cattell 5th C T Atkinson 6th A & D Woan 7th G & J Al-Nasser 8th S Roberts 9th E Mullally 10th A Fretten 11th G P Sutton 12th M Anzara 13th J Fielding
Best Dominant Pied or Clearflight Eric Peake writes:- Best of colour was staged by Freakley & Ainley -a Normal Grey Green Dominant Pied cock, a superbly headed bird with wonderful style and character, a worthy winner. The condition of this bird was excellent.
2nd , & Best Opp Sex of Colour came A Easdon’s Normal Cinnamon Grey Green Hen – another excellent bird in wonderful conditions, with style and deportment. This was both feminine and classy
3rd B Cattell’s Normal Light Green – a lovely bird with an excellent colour, and well worthy of third place.
4th Quigley & Watson 5th A Easdon 6th S Wildes 7th S Wildes 8th B Cattell 9th S Finlay 10th 11th A E Barrett 12th D Norman
This group of birds showed a wonderful selection of quality birds, the largest group of this variety were in this section. Excellent normal varieties in all colours.”
Best Recessive Pied or Dark Eyed Clear Neil Johnson placed the awards, and commented:- “Best of Colour was R W Brown’s Dark Green cock – a very nice example of the variety, well balanced and staged in perfect condition.
2nd place went to T & A Wilson’s Yellow face Cobalt cock is a very tidy bird, well marked and staged in perfect condition. Its only fault was that it did not sit well all the time.
3rd came C & D Jones Cobalt cock, a nicely balanced bird, well marked but with slight marking on its head.
4th, & Best Opp Sex of Colour was a hen staged by R W Brown, a Cinnamon Grey Green of good size and shape in very good condition. Both well marked and spotted
5th A Hoskins 6th S Wildes 7th J Mears 8th C & S Tipton 9th 253-1 J Mears 10th I & P Fielding 11th J Mears 12th S Hart 13th M Anzara 14th A Wood
In classes 52 & 53, the first three birds in the class were of a very high standard.”
Best Yellow Face Dave Herring placed these awards, and comments “ K Humphries’ Golden faced Grey Cock took this BOC award. A good, strong all-round bird this staged in excellent condition, with a good bloom to the feather, enhanced by a strong head of good width. Deportment was equally good – a true showman and one of those gifts to a judge, in that from the time it was judged until the end of the show, it continued to improve, thus confirming the decision. By the end of the show it looked as if it felt ready to ‘take on the world!’!
2nd R Tonks cock bird of the same colour had pressed quite closely, with its overall quality features, but does not quite have the head of the winner
3rd , & Best Opp Sex of Colour came Cheatley & Alcorn’s Opaline Skyblue Yellowface hen. A good hen this, but very slight ticking marred colour and marking properties which were otherwise very pleasing, -including Opaline features.”
Other placings:- 4th A Fretten 5th P D White 6th Gary Cameron 7th Gary Cameron”
Best Rare Eric Peake judged this group and reports :-“ Best of colour was T G Graham, with a Clearbody Dark Green Cock, a bird with full body and good colour throughout. He is a very stylish bird with clear conformation
2nd , & Best Opp Sex of Colour was C Thorne’s Clearbody Light \green hen, a stylish bird with clear colour patterns. A strong hen who showed well.
3rd came S & R Clarke’s Slate hen, a very good example of this variety, both in size and colour, especially colour 4th K & D Russ 5th D Norman 6th M Nee 7th G & J Al-Nasser 8th D & L Rafis 9th M Anzara 10th N Johnston 11th M Anzara 12th M Anzara 13th R Day 14th G & J Al-Nasser
The overall standard of the birds was excellent. Some were better than others, of course. Slates were good in colour but numerically numbers were dominated by Clearbodies”
Best Any Other Colour John Grubb writes “Thorpe & Stanley staged the winner here a Dilute cock of very good quality, slightly rough around the tail and flights but well ahead of the rest of this field.
2nd came D A Turner’s Greywing Grey, which exhibits good colour, and was put out in good condition, but the mask was a little down
3rd, & Best Opp Sex of Colour Thorpe & Stanley’s Opaline Yellow Hen, benched in good condition, but somewhat down in size
Other placings:- 4th C Thorne 5th P McHale 6th G & J Al-Nasser 7th M Anzara 8th P Field
The rest of the birds were well down on the first three”
YOUNG BIRD
Best Light Green Geoff Bowley comments. “ This colour group was headed by C & M Snell’s young Green cock, a nice, smart bird shown in good feather condition for its age – he felt that it was not fully through its first moult, and that, had the show taken place in November, this bird would probably have vied for the Best Young Bird in Show award.
In 2nd place, and Best Opp Sex of Colour came the same partnership’s young hen, a very nice bird, while third pace was taken by D A Turner’s hen which Geoff felt was the best hen in the line-up, but restricted in the placing it could achieve by being out of condition
3rd , & Best Opp Sex of Colour, was D A Turner's hen - the best hen in the line-up, but unfortunately out of condition
Other placings: 4th L A Murray 5th A E Barrett 6th S McMullen 7th S Bailey 8th M & D Boulton 9th M Nee
Geoff Bowley’s additional comments:- From the birds that I judged in the YB line-up, I think it shows that this is the wrong time of year for the Club show to be held. Very few birds were in any sort of condition. My thanks go to a very good band of stewards ably led by Gary Warren (if only I could understand what he is saying) Perhaps that is why I only had one cup of coffee!”
Best Dark or Olive Green Alan Michael selected a young Dark Green cock from the Norwood stud as the leader of this colour group, and described this bird as his favourite in the show, being a real showman at the time of judging. Staged in superb condition, it displayed a typical ‘buffalo’ head quality and additional all round features
In second place, Alan selected R & M Miller’s Dark Green hen, which was best opposite sex of its group. He comments that it went on to annex the ‘Best Opposite Sex Young Bird in Show’ award adds “ What a lovely bird, just lacking on the back of its head, but with otherwise excellent face and head features, and shown in superb condition”
The same partnership took third place in the line-up with their Dark Green Cock, a lovely bird, shown in superb condition but slightly shorter in stature than the first two
Other placings: 4th P Field 5th L & P Martin 6th S McMullen 7th T Salem 8th T Salem 9th S & B Squires. Alan adds “ This was a good section to judge. Condition proved to be better than in the Adult section, but a few of the birds were rather unsteady and didn’t do themselves justice. I felt that the young birds were better generally than their Adult counterparts
Best Skyblue John Cooke states:- “Best was an excellent Skyblue cock from L & P Martin, with good width, shoulders and good sized head, shown in very good condition. This bird stands well on the perch overall 2nd , & Best Opp Sex of Colour C & M Snell 3rd B A Wilson 4th P Field 5th D Norman 6th R & M Miller 7th W J Mear 8th T & A Wilson 9th C T Atkinson 10th L A Murray
and proved a very good bird for this variety.
Best Cobalt, Mauve or Violet Alan Michael comments:-“ Although reluctant to stand at time, this bird from the R & M Miller team was an easy winner. What a head and face – it proved to be a real showman.
2nd was J & L McGeehan’s Violet Cock, which did not have the same head qualities of the winner, but it was shown in lovely condition – a quality bird.
3rd , & Best Opp Sex of Colour, again from R & M Miller was a Violet Hen, a lovely hen of even colour, but without the facial qualities of the winner.
Other placings:- 4th L A Murray 5th P Field 6th P Watts 7th D Norman 8th P Field 9th A Fretten 10th B Sincock
A really good colour group to judge with the winner being a bird of outstanding quality . I felt that the young birds were better than the adults, once again birds proved to be rather unsteady and difficult to perch”
Best Grey Green Mark Bridgeman writes:- “The Young Bird group was headed by B E Sweeting, with a powerful bird with wonderful length of feather, good body length, width of head and shoulder, enhanced by excellent deportment and lovely depth of mask and spots. He showed very well
2nd K Fagan’s cock bird has excellent face with lovely width of head and super cap feathering. A super bird, let down by poor deportment
3rd , & Best Opp Sex of Colour came Freakley & Ainley’s hen, a wonderful bird with magnificent feather length and direction, good width of head and shoulder. Unfortunately, it had a short tail and two spots missing.”
Other placings 4th S & B Squires 5th R Tonks 6th P Cunliffe 7th M Nee 8th L A Murray 9th R Tonks
Mark concludes :- “ Feather condition was the major issue across the board. There were some really strong birds throughout. This was a great show. Thanks very much to my stewards who were tremendous. It was an honour and privilege to judge. Thank you”
Best Grey Harry Hockaday comments:- “Best of Colour was a good quality cock from J Copeland, a bird with good depth of mask. It would have looked better if he had shown himself – did not always stand to best advantage.
2nd , & Best Opp Sex of Colour W Grove This bird displayed good width of head with the desired directional feathering. Unfortunately, it was slightly flecked, a fault that resulted in her being placed second in the line-up.
3rd was another good hen, this time from K Humphreys A very good hen with good depth of mask, but could be bigger.
Other placings:- 4th S Bailey 5th M Hibbs 6th A G Price 7th L A Murray 8th The Richardson Partnership 9th D Norman 10th T & A Wilson
I felt that the young birds were disappointing. The first three in the line-up were good but in general this selection did not have the power of the Any Age birds”
Best Opaline Green Series (exc.Grey Green) Dave Herring writes ;- “ A strong, clean Opaline Light Green Cock from C L Bowman annexed this Best of Colour award. A bird showing good mask, very clean cap. More Yellow on the nape of the neck would have completed an excellent picture here, but birds like this, as with the Ant Age certificate winner, should attract more fanciers towards keeping this attractive variety.
2nd , & Best Opp Sex of Colour came D Page’s Opaline Dark green hen, 9which at first appeared more a very rich Light green) This was a very strong hen, which will hopefully pass on its advantages in the breeding room. A little grizzled down the back
3rd M Nee Another strong dark green hen. The back line was somewhat broken, rather than having a smooth line, but this was a beautiful beginner bird with a good face. A slightly deeper mask would have enhanced it further.
Other placings :- 4th B Cattell 5th A & D Woan 6th R Tonks 7th R Wilson 8th M Hibbs
A good, if numerically challenged, group overall”
Best Opaline Grey Green Ian Standley writes:- Best of Colour was bred and staged by G Jenkins, an easy winner of this colour group. This Opaline displayed lovely capping over the eyes, was very clean, and good in Opaline variety properties. It will surely grow on to be even better.
2nd & Best Opp Sex of Colour was C B Dew’s powerful quality hen, especially, I would say, for breeding with. It was slightly ticked and missing some flight which confirmed that 2nd was as high as it could go.
3rd A & D Woan’s young cock which has a good face but was lacking in body substance
Other placings:- 4th 515-1 T & A Wilson 5th L A Murray 6th K Jackson 7th D Scott 8th D Farrell”
As with the Adults, the quality dropped off after the winners.
Best Opaline Blue Series (Exc.Grey) was judged by Jim Shepherd, who state.:- “ Best of Colour went to L & P Martin’s good quality Skyblue hen, which was soiled by a little grizzling
2nd place, & Best Opp Sex of Colour was taken by T & L Jukes with a nice young Skyblue cock. This bird did not, however, possess the substance of the winner
In 3rd place came D Norman’s a large bird but let down by bad markings
4th D J Brick 5th G Jenkins 6th G Jenkins
Best Opaline Grey Harry Hockaday recalls :- An Opaline grey Hen took this award for Newton & Shepherdson . This was a pleasing, good example of the variety exhibiting the correct, clear ‘V’ and wing markings. Would have benefited from bigger spots.
2nd , & Best Opp Sex of Colour was taken by A G Price’s young cock which displayed a clean cap but not the correct markings at the back of the neck
3rd came A Fretten’s pleasing young Opaline cock, a bird displaying good mask and condition
Other placings :- 4th C G Holland 5th The Richardson Partnership
Again, like the Any Age section, numbers were down in this section, but in general there were not the same problems with flecking as with the adults.
Finally, the show was very well run and my thanks to my stewards, Stephen Holland, John Thompson and Chief Steward Nigel Beevers, without whose help my job would have been much more difficult”
Best Normal Cinnamon Green Bob Francis notes :- “Best of Colour here was A & D Woan’s Cinnamon Grey Green Cock, a lovely bird this, well presented but pushed hard by the second bird in the line-up
2nd , staged by M J & S L Banks, was a Cinnamon Light Green Cock, a large, well-presented, bird in good feather condition. This bird stood out from the start of judging, but not quite good enough to be 1st .
3rd , & Best Opp Sex of Colour was P Greenwood’s Cinnamon Light Green Hen, a well presented hen but still a little soft in condition.
Other placings:- 4th B A Wilson 5th S McMullen 6th L A Murray 7th B Kyle 8th T & A Wilson
Again, the quality of the birds, as benched, was not very good, except for a few like the 2nd in the line up. Which went on to take the award as Best Beginner Young Bird.”
Best Normal Cinnamon Blue Ian Standley’s observations:- “ For Best of Colour, I selected A Easdon’s Cinnamon Violet. This is an outstanding budgerigar, above the rest of the Cinnamons on show. It was, however a difficult choice in that it let itself down slightly as the feathering in the head was not complete - but still the best.
2nd P Cunliffe staged a good length bird for second place, in good condition, but let down by small spots
3rd , & Best Opp Sex of Colour L & P Martin’s solid and pleasant hen, which stood well while being judged
Other placings 4th D Norman 5th A E Barrett 6th Newton & Shepherdson 7th D A Turner 8th Prince & Stain 9th A Fretten
A good standard of Cinnamon Young birds, which were nice to judge.”
Best Opaline Cinnamon Green Series Bob Francis placed these awards as follows :- “Best was an Opaline Cinnamon Light Green Cock from the successful R & M Miller partnership. This is a good yellow feathered bird which won largely on condition. It could have done with a bigger head.
2nd , & Best Opp Sex of Colour went to T & A Luke, whose Opaline Cinnamon Light Green Hen was a nice young hen. Again, it could have done with a better head.
3rd T & A Luke again, this time with an Opal Cinn Light Green Cock, which was nicely presented, but could be wider.
Other placings:- 4th S Bailey 5th P Field
The Opaline Cinnamons in general were not very good and rather poor in condition.
Best Opaline Cinnamon Blue Series Geoff Capes comments:- Best of Colour was C & M Snell’s Opaline Cinnamon Skyblue hen which was a bird of quality and well deserving the Challenge Certificate, despite there being so few birds in the group
2nd , & Best Opp Sex of Colour came T & A Luke’s Opaline Skyblue Cock, a good bird which lacked show preparation, with only one tail. The colouring of the bird was somewhat wishy-washy
3rd D A Turner’s Opaline Cinn Cobalt hen was a good bird, but down on width and in depth of spot
4th R Tonks
Bad preparation, as well a s flecking, stood out in this group, and it was sad to see so few in a Colour group at the BS Club Show, only four birds competing for the award.”.
Best Lutino Bev Hutt writes :- I Fordham took the Young Bird CC as well as the Any Age, but this time with a cock, a bird in excellent condition for the feather of the bird, with a good solid colour. excellent show cock – a worthy winner
2nd , & Best Opp Sex of Colour was I Fordham, completing the full set. This was a very stylish hen – not the feather of the cock, but nevertheless a quality hen
3rd T & A Wilson presented a Lutino cock of good size and in good condition, but lacking the feather and head of the winner
Other placings:- 4th M & D Walker 5th B Shutt 6th G N Turner 7th L A Murray 8th L A Murray 9th P Hunt 10th A M White
As with the Any Age group, the condition was good throughout, with some lovely young birds on view. In some of the classes, however, a number of the birds would have benefited from a good wash”
Best Albino Jim Shepherd says :- I awarded the Best of Colour to M & M Chapman’s young Albino hen, which is a bird of reasonable colour.
2nd went to T & A Wilson’s hen, a nice bird but not possessing the substance of the winner
3rd , & Best Opp Sex of Colour from T & A Wilson was a nice young colour Albino cock, spoilt by missing flights
4th I C Bellamy 5th I C Bellamy 6th S Hart 7th K Austin 8th M Humby 9th K Austin
As expected, the young birds were a little lacking in size for youngsters, but generally of good colour.
Best Yellow Wing John Grubb comments :- “ A Yellow wing Dark Green Hen took the certificate for Guppy & Barnes. This hen was staged in good condition and displays good markings. A very good bird, shown to win.
2nd, & Best Opp Sex of Colour came from Guppy & Barnes and was a Yellow wing Dark Green Cock shown in good condition but not possessing all the quality of the winner.
3rd K & D Russ ‘s YW Light Green Cock, which has good markings, but not able to compete with the first two.
Other placings:- 4th A Hoskins 5th A M White 6th A Hoskins 7th A D M Tait
This group rapidly fell away in quality after the first three placings”
Best White Wing Neil Johnson completed his certificates with this group, commenting:-“Best of colour was R Bray’s Cobalt hen, a hen with nice face and very good body colour. She additionally sat well throughout judging.
2nd , & Best Opp Sex of Colour was another bird from R Bray, this time a Cobalt cock, which was a nice bird which unfortunately would not settle well while judging. It lacked the colour of the leading hen.
3rd place went to R Day’s Cobalt cock, another nice bird in good condition, but not as large as the first two.
Other placings:- 4th M & P Freemantle 5th A M White 6th P Gordon
After the first two birds in the certificate rundown, the quality fell away quite quickly.”
Best Crested or Tuft Grant Findlay writes:- “A Full Circular Yellow Faced Albino took the Best of Colour award for D Moss. This is a lovely well balanced bird with a neat crest. A solid budgie and a worthy winner
2nd ,& Best Opp Sex of Colour, went to the S & R Clarke partnership, whose Cinnamon Opaline Full Circular Hen demonstrated good size, shape and deportment with excellent full circular crest
3rd came A & G Adams with a Tufted Cinnamon Grey Green Spangle Cock. This bird carries a strikingly large tuft, but was benched slightly lacking in condition.”
Other placings:- 4th Cheatley & Alcorn 5th C Thorne 6th C & S Tipton 7th D & L Rafis
Best Spangle Green Series Judged by Geoff Capes who writes:- “J Donovan staged a very stylish winner of this colour group; a bird of very good balance and bullet spots enhanced it. Generally the birds here were not in the best of condition
2nd B Smith’s Spangle Greygreen Cock, which unfortunately had pen feathers and a twisted tail. A big bird, but cumbersome
3rd ,& Best Opp Sex of Colour, L & P Martin’s hen was overall a good bird, but had a short tail
Other placings:-4th J Donovan 5th G J Tilson 6th 7th B Cattell 8th L & S Devaney 9th P Cunliffe 10th S & B Squires 11th G & A Hill 12th S Finlay 13th S Finlay 14th S Finlay 5th D Scott 16th B Sincock
The standard, apart from the first three, was quite poor in regards to Spangle standards and ran off quickly in quality. It was a very close thing for the first place.”
Best Spangled Blue Series Grant Findlay explains his placings:- Freakley & Ainley’s Spangle Cinnamon Yellowface Grey was a beautiful hen – well admired - which deservedly took this certificate, and went on to be adjudged Second Best Champion Young Bird
2nd ,& Best Opp Sex of Colour, came J Donovan’s Double Factor White Cock , a solid bird which challenged the hen hard for the top award. A very good example this, snowy-white in colour.
3rd A & D Woan’s Opaline Grey Spangle Cock,, which displayed a fantastic Spangle spot, but had slightly less backskull than the top two. This was another fine example in a very strong line-up
Other placings:- 4th B A Wilson 5th P Cunliffe 6th J Donovan 7th D Farrell 8th S Wildes 9th S & B Squires 10th L A Murray 11th A E Barrett 12th J Fielding 13th J Fielding
Best Dominant Pied or Clearflight Eric Peake writes:- “Best of colour was B Cattell’s Light Green Pied hen, a lovely hen with size and width of skull, in excellent condition, colour and style
2nd ,& Best Opp Sex of Colour, D Page’s Grey Cock, a classy bird of excellent style and size – a good example of the pied variety
3rd Freakley & Ainley’s Grey cock. This is a quality bird in head standards, with an excellent stance – but not as good as the second bird.
4th B E Sweeting 5th A Easdon 6th S Wildes 7th B Cattell 8th S Wildes 9th D Norman 10th L & S Devaney 11th D Norman 12th I Olbison 13th A & B Whattam 14th A E Barrett
This was a colour group of good quality – a good band of birds. These uoung birds were rather immature, but some excellent examples of pieds”
Best Recessive Pied or Dark Eyed Clear Neil Johnson writes:- Best of colour was C & D Jones’ Dark Green cock, a very nice bird in good condition, but with one flight short. However, a bird of good shape and deportment.
2nd A D Newell’s Grey cock, a very nicely shaped cock again, in very good condition, but again a bit heavily marked on the wing.
3rd, & Best Opp Sex of Colour, was once again staged by A D Newell, this time a Recessive Pied Cobalt hen, a fully spotted but a little overweight, which caused it to be unbalanced 4th I & P Fielding 5th A. Hoskins 6th J Mears 7th D Farrow-Browne 8th A Hoskins 9th J Mears 10th 11th A Wood 12th J Mears
This was a nice set of birds, throughout this group. A bird to be noted was the 4t in the run-down, a yellow Dark-eyed clear. This was a very nice bird but not the size of the first three.”
Best Yellow Face Dave Herring comments :-The Norwood Stud led this Colour group with a Yellowfaced Skyblue cock, a strong bird, excellent in head qualities which were in balance and thus did not overshadow its other strong structural qualities. Marred only by very slight shadowing on the cap, which was taken into consideration as a fault in making the award. Had it not been for this element, it would have led this group more clearly.
Nevertheless, D Norman’s Yellow faced Cobalt cock, from the Junior ranks, did its owner proud . A beautifully feathered bird this, with good round head, it was just ‘pipped’ by the winner, overall. 3rd ,& Best Opp Sex of Colour, S Bailey’s Yellow faced Opaline Skyblue Hen was just a little out of condition so not able to press the first two stronger. However, a good hen this and added well to the overall quality of the group
Other placings:- 4th P Ward 5th R & M Miller 6th MJ & SL Banks 7th D Page 8th D J Brick 9th K Brockwell 10th Gary Cameron
There was good quality throughout this section which was ,unfortunately, restricted in numbers. Some very good birds failed to achieve their full potential because of feathering faults, such as missing or untidy flights and tails. Some challenging Golden Faces throughout the two section (AA & YB)”
Best Rare Eric Peake writes- Best of Colour went to G & J Al-Nasser’s Saddleback Dark green Cock, a superb bird with character and poise. The saddle was evident, but not in strength. A bird well worthy of the award, and a useful breeding member of any stud.
2nd ,& Best Opp Sex of Colour, came R Day’s Clearbody Cobalt hen, a beautiful, strong, feminine hen with good contrast and style – a good all-round hen.
3rd L J Cutler’s Clearbody Skyblue cock. This bird showed plenty of style & shape, colour very good and a nice young bird.
4th D & L Rafis 5th D Norman 6th R Day 7th R Day 8th M Anzara 9th S Finlay 10th G & A Hill 11th M Anzara 12th M Anzara
The overall young birds had a few excellent members, but quality after four or five birds slowly got lower. A nice slate but not big enough, as were the rainbows. The winner and second place were well above the others.”
Best Any Other Colour John Grubb states:- “Best in the line up was A & G Adams with a Golden Faced Greywing cock, shown in very good condition – but not a big bird
2nd ,& Best Opp Sex of Colour, Thorp & Stanley’s Opaline Yellow Hen. A typy bird, but its tail was in poor order.
3rd B E Sweeting’s Grey Yellow Cock, rather down on size and not as good as the winner
4th P McHale 5th M Anzara 6th M Anzara 7th M Anzara 8th Cheatley & Alcorn 9th P McHale
Once again, the standard in this group soon fell away”
Best Novice Any Age D Mullally - Spangle Green Cock
Best Novice Young Bird 540-1 B. Smith -Spangle Green Cock
Best Beginner Any Age 632-1 A N White -Albino Hen
Best Beginner Young Bird 721-3 M J & S L Banks- Normal Cinnamon Cock
Best Junior Any Age 801-2 C P Spruce - Light Green Cock
Best Junior Young Bird 957-1 D Norman Yellowface Cobalt Cock
SECTION AWARDS
Best Champion Any Age Freakley & Ainley- Grey Green Dominant Pied Cock, 2nd Best Champion Any Age A Easdon – Grey Cock, 3rd Best Champion Any Age Quigley & Watson Dominant Pied Cock 4th Best Champion Any Age R Keeber 5th Best Champion Any Age A & D Woan 6th Best Champion Any Age N J Freeborn 7th Best Champion Any Age B E Sweeting 8th Best Champion Any Age B E Sweeting 9th Best Champion Any Age I Fordham 10th Best Champion Any Age K Humphreys
Best Champion Young Bird B E Sweeting –Grey Green Cock, 2nd Best Champion Young Bird Freakley & Ainley –Spangle Blue Hen, 3rd Best Champion Young Bird L & P Martin –Skyblue Cock, 4th Best Champion Young Bird Norwood Stud 5th Best Champion Young Bird T & L Jukes 6th Best Champion Young Bird Freakley & Ainley 7th Best Champion Young Bird Freakley & Ainley, 8th Best Champion Young Bird A Easdon, 9th Best Champion Young Bird Norwood Stud,10th Best Champion Young Bird J Copeland
Best Intermediate Any Age K Fagan – Grey Cock, 2nd Best Intermediate Any Age 242-1 B A Wilson –DF Spangle Yellow 3rd Best Intermediate Any Age R & M Miller Violet Cock 4th Best Intermediate Any Age S Bailey 5th Best Intermediate Any Age S Bailey 6th Best Intermediate Any Age P Cunliffe, 7th Best Intermediate Any Age B Cattell 8th Best Intermediate Any Age B Cattell 9th Best Intermediate Any Age R Wilson 10th Best Intermediate Any Age P Cunliffe
Best Intermediate Young Bird K Fagan – Grey Green Cock 2nd Best Intermediate Young Bird R & M Miller – Dark Green Hen 3rd Best Intermediate Young Bird S Bailey – Grey Cock, 4th Best Intermediate Young Bird R & M Miller 5th Best Intermediate Young Bird R & M Miller 6th Best Intermediate Young Bird B A Wilson, 7th Best Intermediate Young Bird G Jenkins 8th Best Intermediate Young Bird S Bailey 9th Best Intermediate Young Bird R & M Miller 10th Best Intermediate Young Bird R & M Miller
Best Novice Any Age D Mullally –Spangle Green Cock 2nd Best Novice Any Age T & A Wilson – Light Green Cock 3rd Best Novice Any Age P Field – Skyblue Cock 4th Best Novice Any Age D Mullally 5th Best Novice Any Age S Wildes 6th Best Novice Any Age S Wildes 7th Best Novice Any Age S Roberts 8th Best Novice Any Age D Farrow-Browne, 9th Best Novice Any Age S Wildes 10th Best Novice Any Age D Page
Best Novice Young Bird B Smith – Spangle Green Cock, 2nd Best Novice Young Bird S Wildes Dominant Pied Cock 3rd Best Novice Young Bird S Wildes Dominant Pied Hen 4th Best Novice Young Bird D Page, 5th Best Novice Young Bird B Smith 6th Best Novice Young Bird D Page 7th Best Novice Young Bird D A Turner 8th Best Novice Young Bird S Wildes 9th Best Novice Young Bird P Field, 10th Best Novice Young Bird S McMullen
Best Beginner Any Age M J & S L Banks – Opaline Grey Cock 2nd Best Beginner Any Age M Nee – Opaline Blue Cock 3rd Best Beginner Any Age A M White – Albino Hen 4th Best Beginner Any Age Ward & Rogers 5th Best Beginner Any Age B Kyle 6th Best Beginner Any Age C T Atkinson 7th Best Beginner Any Age Ward & Rogers 8th Best Beginner Any Age Ward & Rogers 9th Best Beginner Any Age C & S Tipton 10th Best Beginner Any Age AM White
Best Beginner Young Bird M J & S L Banks – Cinnamon Green Cock 2nd Best Beginner Young Bird W Grove – Grey Hen 3rd Best Beginner Young Bird M Nee Opaline Green Hen 4th Best Beginner Young Bird K Jackson 5th Best Beginner Young Bird L & S Devaney 6th Best Beginner Young Bird L & S Devaney 7th Best Beginner Young Bird A E Barrett 8th Best Beginner Young Bird A Fretten 9th Best Beginner Young Bird N L & S L Banks 10th Best Beginner Young Bird S & B Squires
Best Junior Any Age C P Spruce - Green Hen 2nd Best Junior Any Age Gary Cameron 3rd Best Junior Any Age Gary Cameron
Best Junior Young Bird D Norman Yellowface Cock 2nd Best Junior Young Bird D Norman 3rd Best Junior Young Bird L A Murray
AN ALL –TOO - BRIEF LOOK AROUND THE SHOW !
And this is what it was for me, as Publicity Officer, because after I had completed my task as one of the judges of this year’s event, came the duty of compiling show results, judges comment and so on for the “The Budgerigar” report, well aided by John, my brother and partner. This task having been given its final ‘rough polish’ and despatched to our editor, my wife and I have now put on our Christmas puddings to steam, leaving me a little time to review some of the pictures that I was able to take for Publicity purposes (but not birds as this was, quite correctly, restricted) on a brief walk around the show, in a break from typing.
The first thing that I noticed in the show hall - and this is usually the case- was the number of happy, smiling faces at the show, Witnessing this serves to raise the spirits of anyone feeling a little glum – perhaps “not quite so successful as expected” exhibitors. Not that there were many signs of misery – happiness is definitely contagious!! Pass it on!
It would remiss if I did not include in this the BS Society stand, so ably manned by Dave Whittaker and his willing band of helpers, including Jerry Langley, below right who has assisted with security for very many years, as referred to in my article "Looking Back".
Thanks, all! I called at the stand which was, as usual, in the foyer seeking Judges report forms, but instead of these, I was given another job – the pleasurable duty of accompanying Janice Al-Nasser who had been delegated , in the absence of the Chairman, to present the certificates to the Society stands winners and runners up.
The results of these competitions were:-
Best Area Society Stand, South Midlands Budgerigar Society, 2ndLincolnshire & East Anglia Budgerigar Society, 3rd Western Counties BS
Best Trade Stand was the Birdcare Company, 2nd came MPC UK, with Sunrise taking the 3rd spot
Best Area Society Stand - South Midlands BS 2nd Best Area Society Stand Lincs & East Anglia BS
followed by the Trade Stand winners and runners up.
Best - the Birdcare Company 2nd - MPC UK
The stands play such an important part at this event, and hopefully the endeavours of those responsible for them is well rewarded! We do appreciate their continuing presence at this event
I then had a quick walk around the hall. It was good to note so many other old friends/ reliable suppliers of equipment, etc among those making the show such a colourful event. And not just suppliers of foods and equipment, but those who do so much to broadcast the good news about the fancy, including the basic facts of its existence, such as Gwyn Evans of Budgerigar World, to new… how good to see Kim Forrester (Editor of Cage & Aviary Birds) and her team with a stand at the show. Both magazines have given the society invaluable support in publishing reports of the society and we acknowledge this, with thanks
..and Old Friends. Its always great to see old friends at this event, tear in, year out and in fact for some folk this is one of the main reasons for coming to this event. The likes of Eddie Geary, who once again had a team of birds in, Mary Snell - working for the fancy as hard as ever - Eddie Geary, Don Ashby , Mary Snell - so good to see her again going up to the podium as a successful fancier - among so many more. For me, however, this was capped by feelings of surprise and delight in seeing an old friend, Don Ashby (pictured in the main, introductory, compilation) out and about once again recuperating nicely from a long spell of illness during which he, sadly, lost his wife. Don is one of the society’s great benefactors and the main meeting room at the Society's office is named The Ashby Suite in his honour. There was, not surprisingly, at times a queue of folk waiting to greet this highly valued member.
FUNDRAISING (1)
Tombola winners. An invaluable arm of the Fundraising effort is the annual Tombola, run by Norman & June Cox, Thanks again, both!) whose indefatigable efforts, with their assistants, over the years has consistently boosted the show funds. Many happy faces were observed on folk leaving this stall with cherished prizes, and I was lucky enough to be there at one such ‘ right time’. While walking near to the Tombola Stand Norman Cox advised me to hang around – someone had just won an elephant ! I did, and was rewarded by the sight of a true ‘Jumbo’, with their proud winners. They were Lewis and Wendy Morris, who were visiting the show from the lovely town of Wellington (near the Wrekin). Lewis told me that he is a fancier, although not an exhibitor, and has had several spells in the fancy, most recently for the past two or three years. It’s difficult to shake of ‘the bug’ once you catch it’
Asked about their plans for the monster, they said that they have a very good charity in mind and will donate it to that worthy cause. Good work all round! Thanks, folks.
FUNDRAISING (2)
Geoff Capes has, for some years, been one the societies hardest and most effectual workers and it was very pleasing to note that in this, his Presidential year, he has not been prepared to rest on his laurels but has ‘mucked in’ as well as ever, to make this show a success.
For years, he has been at the hub of fundraising with his Auction of Promises, and there is a theory that some folk turn up at this event just to watch this “Geoff Capes Cabaret spot”, with the aid of his ‘lovely assistant’ John Alcock. In the event, 2008 did not disappoint. His natural verve, acumen and very persuasive manner resulted in a highly successful auction which boosted the coffers for our 2009 event, by something in the region of £3,800. Thanks for everything, Geoff ! -- and our thanks to this team for their endeavours, not forgetting, of course, the generous folk who ‘shelled out’ for this worthy cause.
AUSTRALIAN FINCH SOCIETY For reasons previously stated I didn’t get to see this display. However it was good to note a positive response to this addition to the list of attractions on offer at this event so if only for this, I hope they will be with us next year.
SALES SECTION - much Selling! I did not actually visit this section on this occasion – I did not have a pound in my pocket, but I was pleased to see how well sales appeared to have gone this year. Admittedly, there were fewer entries in this section than in the past, but a very high proportion of the birds seem to have found new homes, judging by the appearance of those empty cages.
Catering. I heard much praise. Were they made hungry at seeing the fish in the lake outside the Dome? Whatever the reason, the bar and carver appeared to do a tremendous amount of business and I heard many favourable comments about the quality of the refreshments available. I partook of liquid only, while I court up with football results, but it was very welcome (not the football results – my team lost !!)
....ALMOST FINALLY, the birds themselves -- the star turns, and of course this means the exhibitors as well as their exhibits. It is great that so many of our members managed to get a team to the show - but where were those who for years had called upon the BS to go for an earlier date? There is no doubt that having a team of birds in the show gives another level of enjoyment, making the sense of participation complete. Have YOU shared in this experience yet. If not, perhaps you can be tempted to send/bring a team next year?
EPILOGUE - but it’s more of a prologue. Judging the BS Club Show is one of life’s more pleasurable activities, but there is that element of judgement at all phases. I have, in my main report, referred to the Judges ‘being judged’ as they select the major awards. It may be interesting for fanciers to know what happens to judges before they are ‘Summoned’ to the arena. They sit in a corridor, which anyone who has witnessed such, is rather like the corridor outside some courtrooms – where one awaits the call either to trial or to give evidence. At this, trial, there was no sign of the nerves which normally accompany this ordeal – but perhaps we were hiding it well !?
What do you think?
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THE SEMINARS
“Two completely new presentations given by two very experienced fanciers from Brazil and Australia” , was the statement in the schedule, etc seminars, and neither of these gentlemen failed to live up to our expectations:
John Herring attended and reported on the first of the two, when Jorge de Pina talked about
‘Breeding budgerigars the Jorge de Pina way’ and writes:-
“Jorge de Pina could, I suppose, be said to have a ‘larger than average birdroom: a total of 100 feet in length, ……………………… The floor is tiled, and in order to cope with the very high temperatures in Brazil, not always conducive to the breeding of budgerigars, he has a very large, cooling, fan in use for much of the time.
This extensive birdroom caters for 130/150 (?) breeding cages of all wire construction, which are arranged in front of 7 flights. Additionally he provides a Baby flight which serves as a halfway house between the security of the breeding cage and the rough and tumble of full flights.
There is, of course, much work involved in servicing these cages and he has the help of one full-time member of staff in the birdroom – at one time, there were three! So much work in any establishment demand the right equipment and he built in ten metres of working surface to allow the efficient completion of day-to-day tasks. this is aided by 10 metres of working surface (opposite ??) . That length of 100 feet would be trying for many – and provide perhaps too much exercise, so he limits this by the use of three wheeled trolleys; these are one for water for various birdroom tasks, one for softfood, and one for the paperwork needed to keep records of such a vast stock up to date and correctly recorded.
The quality of drinking water in such a climate is particularly important, and Jorge employs an automatic watering system which delivers filtered water efficiently and with low maintenance. He cleans all pipework in the system yearly.
The softfood that Jorge uses is a ‘local’ mix, augmented by him and including sweetcorn, offered. If he wishes to administer any additives, he does so via the softfood, as he thinks this is a surer way of ensuring that it is ingested as desired.
This successful Brazilian fancier established his stud many years ago and used foundation stock and outcrosses from top studs throughout the world,as required, until a government departmental ban on the import of birds was imposed. He now has a stud which he uses as basically three different lines , uses inbreeding methods within those lines, and keeping them those lines separate apart from the occasional visit to a line in order to employ a bird as an outcross to one of the other two lines. This done, breeding is returned to emphasis on breeding within the line to which the’outcross’ was introduced. Thus, pedigree is very important and his breeding records are an essential tool. His breeding programme is quite largely dependant, as well as using fertile birds, on the employment of many 30 pairs of feeders – birds which are very healthy, not feather-pluckers and which he can trust to raise healthy youngsters
The temperature is, indeed, hot and humid, which brings its own problems. Among aids to comfort, he provides roomy nest boxes which are divided to allow for older chicks to be separated from their younger siblings.
Artificial Insemination. Still a controversial subject in the United Kingdom, and a practise which remains banned by the Budgerigar Society, is something which Jorge de Pina heartily recommends. He considers that this is the way forward to ensure healthy and improved stock from birds which have something special to offer and provides solutions to many problems encountered in breeding. Cock birds are always tested for their fertility before pairing up , ensuring that infertile birds do not waste time in the breeding season. He argues that it is a process used in all other livestock – so why not budgerigars, he asks? Jorge added that birds used in this way are also used for breeding by the more natural method.
As to the show scene, Brazil is, of course, a vast country. There are relatively few budgerigar breeders in the country – about 500. Showing brings its own problems, compared with the United Kingdom, because it is necessary to send or take birds in suitable travelling containers for hundreds of miles to reach the show, by both air and road, taking at least several hours to reach their destination. On arrival, they are caged up in show cages provided by the show promoting society, who need to carry a stock of up to 2,000 cages, otherwise the show could simply not be held. The membership being limited, there is a shortage of fancier workers, but labour in Brazil is cheap so people are paid to store cages and keep them in good condition, and also to carry out the work at the show
The show preparation that Jorge carries out with his stud follows a similar pattern to most fanciers over here. He selects his team some fifty days before the event so that he can build them up and do his utmost to bring them into the desired feather condition.
The talk was, of course, illustrated with excellent images. This report can only give a flavour of the presentation and I commend it to anyone who has the opportunity of enjoying it in the future
This talk had been introduced by George Booth, BS Chairman, who also thanked Ron Pearce for his continuing excellent work for the society in planning these Seminars, not the least in the superb choices he makes in booking such knowledgeable and interesting speakers, the like of whom the average fancier would not get a chance to hear. “
John Herring
Mark Bridgeman & Family The "One & Only..." our Seminar Organiser , Ron Pearce
Sunday’s PowerPoint presentation was also very well attended, but as usual there were not as many as on the Saturday. Those who did not manage to attend missed a very informative presentation by Mark Bridgeman, from Victoria, Australia, as to how the exhibition fancy in Australia is organised . Those of us who were able to catch this talk were left in no doubt as to how easy exhibitors in the U K have things, especially in the very small distances that we have to travel to attend the shows of our choice.
Mark’s presentation was largely concerned with how the exhibition fancy is organised in Australia. There are some 1200 members of the National society in Australia, and most of the zone societies (there are seven such zones in Australia) were formed relatively recently, the earliest being Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia in 1975. It is therefore a comparatively new fancy as an organised body in the original home of the budgerigar! As said, each state has its own local clubs – Victoria, for example has seventeen local clubs.
I, for one, was surprised to learn that unlike our own Club Show, the Australian National Show is a show competed by teams from the various zones, or State societies. Those teams have been selected from birds shown at the state show by local societies, and there is apparently strong competition at each stage. The best three birds in each colour class are there selected to represent the state at the Australian National Show. The details of the birds selected, ring numbers etc, are sent in advance to The Australian National show office. (A similar procedure has already taken place at local society level, with the ring details etc supplied to the state office)
In common with other very large counties, show birds in Australia usually have to travel vast distances to reach a show. They travel in suitable containers and at their destination, they are kept in holding cages, under the scrutiny of the members (usually three) appointed by the state society to be the carers (and in effect, the managers of the show team), who then decide which two of the three birds sent in each class will go on to represent the state at the National Show.
While the prime reason for the state shows is to select that team, individual fanciers do gain, or fail to gain, status points at these shows in the various classes, all hinging, naturally, on the success of their team. These points are very important, because they determine whether of not a fancier can move up in status, and also, perhaps more important, whether he/she maintains the status so far achieved! (Will this ever come about in the U.K. , I wonder ?).
The result of the selections is a National Show which has fourteen birds in each Colour class , that is, two birds per colour from each zone. The actual selection and entry of the teams takes place on the morning of the show, and this gives the carers a further choice as to into which class to enter birds. For example there is a Best Hen class into which hens may be entered rather than represent their colour.
The actual judging of these classes is very much an Open affair. In the same way that the BS Club Show has public viewing of the selection of major awards, so does the Australian National show for their classes. The main difference is that those judges have to give a commentary as they make, and change, their selections and give reasons for all such movements! Mark commented that this is valued highly; fanciers feel that they learn much from the experience.
He showed us a goodly number of slides of their show birds, and the first thing that he pointed out was that the sloping rood of their cages is not as severe as ours and reached a point much higher up the back of the cage. This, they feel, allows the bird to take a position further back in the cage and the lessened restriction allow it to show its head qualities more freely.
As to the birds themselves, amongst some beautiful birds, were some equally beautiful one, mainly Opalines, which were heavily ticked, and would not therefore be successful as show birds in this country. Mark did, however, add that their quality of show bench only developed within the last few years, and from a comparatively restricted selection of birds, which included the flecking factor. It will therefore take some time before they find themselves at the same stage as we in the UK whose journey down that road to clean Opalines has gone some way, but much work yet needs to be done.
In judging, (perhaps ticking apart) variety content is of great importance in all colours, that is, throughout the range. Mark showed a number of slides which demonstrate the difference in many of our varieties, as to what is and is not acceptable. The differences were particularly apparent in the Clearwings; he reckons that our Yellow wings and Whitewings would usually be disqualified on variety content in Australia, particularly because of the colour is our tails and flights. However, the differences are largely confined to the rarer varieties and in normal features and more popular colours, there is little to choose in our approach.
As he showed us further slides, Mark stressed that in Australia there is a very strong feeling for integrity of variety, and this attitudes spills into the breeding programme as well as the show scene.
A very enjoyable and informative presentation which gives other “variety fans" such as myself further food for thought -- and encouragement! Thanks, Mark
Dave Herring
Saturday, 04 October 2008
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