The Judges

Once again a phenomenal success for the 18th Show of the Specialist & Rare Variety Open Show with a terrific atmosphere and a real buzz to the weekend. The show received an increase in total entry to 1099, which was slightly up from last year's entry (1000) of which a total of 839 birds were benched from 83 exhibitors.

The Awards

The B.S. President Dave Cottrell donated a quality bird for the most benched birds in the beginner section, which was won by M.J. Peel. Norman & June Cox sponsored the show with the cost of printing the coloured covers for the schedules and catalogues. Financial sponsorship came from Mick Anzara who donated £50 towards the raffle prices, Neil & Keith Johnson who also donated £50 and Jan Hill who donated £25. Other sponsorship came from Ghalib & Janice Al-Nasser, Sue & Rod Clarke and Gren & Pat Norris. The following fanciers were generous with their donation of birds for the raffle; Amos & Thumwood, G. Capes, M & M Chapman, L. Cutler, F, S & K Eatwell, I & P Fielding, W. Gibson, J. Grubb, C & D Jones and C. Thorne.

The Office Workers

Once again the overseas awards were much in evidence and most sought after, with the Australian judge Warren Wilson, CEO of the Budgerigar Rare & Specialist Exhibitors of Australasia (BRASEA) and Feathered Friends Radio, awarding the top BRASEA patronage to the show with 8 coloured paintings, 50 rosettes and 36 medals together with 3 new trophies from Australia. All the judges and committee members received wooden handled pens and special Australian cuddly toys.

The Show Committee extends its sincere gratitude and appreciation to all the above sponsors as well as the Budgerigar Society, the six specialist societies, the ten area societies and Budgerigar World who all gave splendid support in granting their highest patronage to the show. Gratitude is also extended to all the workers, exhibitors and donors for making this year’s show another great success.

Apart from our regular fanciers from Scotland, Wales and Jersey, who travelled long distances to be with us, we also had the pleasure of our regular overseas visitors from Holland & Germany.

Sunday afternoon was the time for trophy presentation and on this occasion the Guest of Honour was Warren Wilson, President of the B.S. of New South Wales, who presented the 43 trophies together with the paintings donated by BRASEA to the show.

As in previous years at this show, partnerships did well in gaining 15 of the 24 CCs on offer and 21 of the CCs were awarded to the champion section.

Next year's show will be staged on 30^th June & 1^st July (week 26).

The Late Mick Mapston in conversation with Yvonne Tuxford

I Saunders

G & P Norris

Peter Thorne judged the 111 lutinos (a drop from last year) and awarded the adult C.C., best Lutino and best Redeye in Show to last year’s young winner of Irv. Saunders. A cock of good colour and style. Jerry Donovan benched a powerful hen in second place and best opposite sex any age. This was followed by the new beginner partnership of Cheatley & Alcorn with a good coloured cock in third place.

Irv Saunders

Gren & Pat Norris won the award for best Lutino young bird (the first of five best of colour awards) and best Redeye young bird in show with a solid and powerful hen. Amos & Thumwood were in second place with a showy cock of good substance. Dave Critchlow was third with another cock, which was slightly out of condition.

Roger Day

I Paynter

Donald McCallum judged the 85 albinos (an increase from last year) and the Best Albino in Show went to Roger Day’s adult cock of good style and shown in good condition. T & A Wilson (beginners) were second with a well-presented cock in good condition. Paul McGrath was third with a good lengthed and stylish cock. Best opposite sex went to W. Bailey.

I. Paynter from the beginner section won the young Albino award with a stylish cock staged in good condition. P. Wrigley’s well-presented cock was placed second followed by the J.W. Mitchell stylish hen of good colour and length in third place.

John Alcock judged the 52 albinos and the Best Albino in Show went to the beginner Sam Wildes’ adult cock of good colour, balance and top end. Roger Day was second with a good colour cock. Dave Critchlow was third with a stylish cock. Best opposite sex went to S. Hedges.

Guppy & Barnes

M & P Freemantle

Our Australian guest judge Warren Wilson (President of the Australian Clearwing BS) judged both the Yellow-wings and Whitewings and picked the top award from the Whitewings. There were 46 Yellow-wings and 44 Whitewings entered which was a drop in entry in both colours.

The adult yellow-wing award and best yellow-wing in show went to Dave Guppy & Dave Barnes’ dark green cock; a strong bird of quality but heavy on the marking. Malcolm & Pam Freemantle were second with a light green hen of strong features. Ben Dufosee was third with a dark green hen of good style.

Malcolm & Pam Freemantle occupied the first two places in the young bird section with a big and bold dark green hen of good blow, followed by another solid dark green cock. Ben Dufosee was third with a nice quality olive green hen.

Roger Day

Guppy & Barnes

Roger Day won the adult BOC award for the Whitewing with a blue cock of good style. Guppy & Barnes were second with a violet hen of good substance but had a dirty face that prevented her from gaining the top award. Another violet hen from R. Bray (novice) was third.

Dave Guppy & Dave Barnes are regular winners at this show with their Clearwings and they won the best Clearwing in Show again with a powerful, big young cobalt hen. Roger Day occupied second spot with a very nice cobalt cock. Ben Dufosee from the intermediate section benched a lovely coloured violet hen in third place.

Dave Guppy

M & H Richard

C & D Jones

Ghalib Al-Nasser judged the 96 Crests (an increase in entry making it 4^th highest entered variety) and awarded the adult C.C. and Best Crest in Show to the Jersey partnership of Mark & Hazel Richard’s circular opaline light green cock. The bird was staged in immaculate condition sporting a neat crest on a big bird of quality with good mask and spots. A circular cinnamon light green cock from Cliff & Darren Jones was second, which was as a good bird as the winner but not having that edge in size. Another full circular dominant pied opaline skyblue cock from the new beginner partnership of Cheatley & Alcorn was third. The Cheatley & Alcorn partnership also staged the opposite sex award with a circular dominant pied oplaine cinnamon skyblue hen. The Eatwell partnership won the best tuft any age award.

Cliff & Darren Jones won the young bird section with a circular opaline white blue hen of good substance and size with deep mask and good spots. The Richard’s partnership was second with a stylish grey green cock sporting a strong tuft. Mick Widdowson, president of the CBC, staged a tufted light green cock of quality in third place. Best junior any age & young bird awards went to E. J. Hooper.

J Donovan

G & P Norris

J Donovan

Guppy & Barnes

Both the Spangle Green & Blue had their own certificates for the first time and B.S. President Dave Cottrell judged the 114 greens, which was the highest entered variety at the show. Jerry Donovan dominated this colour group by winning both certificates. His well known spangle oplaine light green cock of outstanding quality and head features was best spangle green and best overall spangle in show. It had good length, depth of mask and width of head but is lacking on marking as an opaline. His double factor yellow cock was second best, again with that desirable head quality and good solid colour. Mick Anzara from the novice section was third with a quality spangle grey green cock of good marking. Alan Minchin had a hen of quality as the best opposite sex any age.

Jerry Donovan came to the fore again in the young bird section winning the first two places as he did in the any age section. His outstanding double factor yellow hen of wide face was first and best double factor yellow in show and best spangle young bird in show followed by his opaline light green cock of good size but not of the desirable wing marking. A dark green cock from Mark Handley (novice) of good spangle marking was third.

Donald McCallum judged the 73 spangle blues and awarded the best spangle blue to Gren & Pat Norris’ double factor white cock of outstanding quality with good style, blow and length. Fred, Sheila & Kevin Eatwell staged a long, stylish blue cock in second place followed by Alec & Dave Woan’s blue hen of substance. E. J. Hooper was best junior any age overall with a spangle blue cock.

Warren Wilson judged the young bird section and awarded the Guppy & Barnes partnership skyblue hen of good style and wide mask the best of colour. Jerry Donovan had a quality double factor white cock of good style in second place winning the overall best double factor spangle in show award. The bird was only penalised for the blue coloration in the body. Steve Amos & Ron Thumwood were third with a cobalt cock of nice mask and width. E. J. Hooper had the junior spangle young bird award.

B A Wilson

 
A & D Woan

Margaret Dark judged the 82 dominant pieds and awarded Brian Wilson’s skyblue cock from the novice section as best dominant pied any age. This bird, staged in good show condition, possessed good length and spots. Mark Handley (novice) staged a light green hen of good width of shoulders and spots in second place followed by Alec & Dave Woan’s light green cock of good top end. Jeff Attwood benched another Frosted (Dutch) Pied, green cock, was the best Clearflight any age and best overall. Ben Kyle had a blue cock in the junior any age section.

Alec & Dave Woan came to the fore to win the young bird award and best dominant pied in show with a wide headed light green hen of good width of shoulders and depth of mask. A light green cock of good size and width from the Thorpe & Stanley partnership was second. Mark Handley was third with a light green cock staged in good condition. Ben Kyle staged a light green cock to win the best overall junior young bird in show.

Brian Wilson

F S & K Eatwell

Geoff Capes

Once again the Recessive Pied entry exceeded that of the Dominant Pied and there were 84 (drop in entry from last year) for Dave Cottrell to judge. The Eatwell partnership headed this section with a cinnamon grey cock that also took the award for best recessive pied in show and also best overall pied in show. An outstanding quality bird with good shoulders and lots of blow over the eyes. Michael & Margaret Chapman were second with a dark green cock of good marking. A dark-eyed clear white cock of good solid colour from the international partnership of Bill Searle and Terry Knott was placed third and best dark-eyed clear in show. The opposite sex award went to Dave Spruce’s grey green hen of good quality but of solid black wing marking.

Geoff Capes headed the young bird section with a dark green hen of quality with good size and deep mask. The Eatwell family were second with another quality cinnamon grey cock of good length but short on flights on both wings. The Searle & Knott partnership was third with another dark-eyed clear white cock of good wide shoulders but short in tail.

G & P Norris

 
Thorpe & Stanley

Peter Thorne judged the 43 yellowfaces (drop in entry due to the removal of the rainbows from this colour group) and awarded the adult C.C. and best yellowface in show to Gren & Pat Norris’s powerful cinnamon grey cock of good size and style. Cy Thorne was second with an opaline grey hen of good size but slightly untidy in the mask area. Sam Wildes (beginner) was third with a skyblue cock of good mask. E.J. Hooper was best junior any age in this colour group.

A cobalt cock from N & J East took the young bird C.C. A good show bird that stood well and had good face quality. George Booth was second with an oplaine skyblue hen of good mask & spots. A grey cock belonging to J.W. Mitchell was third of good type and condition but short in the mask. Ben Kyle was best junior young bird in this section.

G J Tilson

 
G & P Norris

Margaret Dark judged the 99 Rares, which was an increase from last year due to the extra classes for the Rainbow and Easley clearbody.

The adult winner went to a well proportional Texas Clearbody light green hen of Geoff Tilson, a bird of good stance and condition. The runners up were the Norris’s Easley Clearbody grey green cock of good length but lacking in condition. Paul McGrath was third with a Texas Clearbody grey hen of quality and staged in good condition apart from a missing spot.

Gren & Pat Norris were the winners of the young bird certificate (and best Rare overall) with a wide headed Easley Clearbody light green cock of wide shoulders. A slate hen of good length and depth of mask from Bob Allen was second followed by Les Cutler’s smart Texas Clearbody oplaine light green hen staged in good condition.

Best English Fallow, Mrs. J. Hill; best German Fallow, R.J. Allen; best Slate, D. Mullee; best Easley Clearbody, G. & P. Norris; best Texas Clearbody, G. J. Tilson; best Rainbow, M. Anzara; best Saddleback, Mrs. J. Hill.

G & P Norris

Alex & David Woan

 
Thorpe & Stanley

There was a slight increase in the entry for this section to 92 for Ghalib Al-Nasser to judge. The winner of the any age section and best overall A.O.C. was a wonderful young violet hen bred by the Norris partnership (their 5^th BOC award), which missed out on the challenge certificate, as she was unrung. Apart from the beauty of the colour she had a wide head with good width across the shoulders, deep mask, large spots and staged in perfect condition. The runner up and the certificate winner was the quality white blue cock of Alec & Dave Woan staged in good condition and possessing a good head and depth of mask. J. Farnham’s lacewing yellow cock was third; a bird with good colour contrast.

The Thorpe & Stanley partnership won the young bird C.C. with an opaline grey white cock of quality with good head features. A greywing light green hen of substance bred by A. MacVicar was the runner up followed by the Thorpe & Stanley’s opaline grey yellow hen in third place.

Best Olive, L. Cutler; best Mauve, J. Farnham; Best Violet, G. & P. Norris; best Lacewing, J. Farnham; best Greywing, C. Hawkins; best Yellow, R. Day; best White, A. & D. Woan.