As a direct result, it has been decided to discontinue the facility for taking payment via credit and debit cards with immediate effect.

All purchasers should therefore click on the advertisement for “The Challenge” on the home page, and follow the revised instructions for payments. Payments differ depending upon where the purchaser resides.

If, after reading the detailed instructions regarding purchasing, you have any queries, please contact Gerald directly and he will be happy to help.

Full details are shown below (click to enlarge).

Results and reports from previous shows (back to 2001) may be viewed at the end of this article.

UK Specialist & Rare Variety Open Show Reports

2001 to 2002 & 2004 to 2010 courtesy of Budgerigar World:

• 2001 Report (PDF 223Kb)
• 2002 Report (PDF 857Kb)
• 2004 Report (PDF 486Kb)
• 2005 Report (PDF 458Kb)
• 2006 Report (PDF 525Kb)
• 2007 Report (PDF 258Kb)
• 2008 Report (PDF 95Kb)
• 2009 Report (PDF 421Kb)
• 2010 Report (PDF 516Kb)

2011 Show report on Budgerigar.co.uk:

• 2011 Report

Votes were cast as follows (click to enlarge):

The show was held in Oberwangen (3173), a few miles south west of Bern in the west of Switzerland.

Results

The major results were as follows:

• Best in Show & Best Any Age – Daniel Lütolf
• Best Young Bird – Daniel Lütolf
• Best Any Age Opposite Sex – Daniel Lütolf
• Best Young Bird Opposite Sex – Bühler & Pearce

The full results can be viewed here.

Judges

The judges were:

• Jan van Meeteren, Holland (NGC-DBS)
• Han Schrijver, Holland (NGC-DBS)

Photographs

All photographs below were taken & kindly supplied to us by Marcel Bühler.

Click on any image to enlarge it.

Best in Show
Daniel Lütolf

Best Opp. Sex Any Age
Daniel Lütolf

Best Young Bird
Daniel Lütolf

Best Opp. Sex Young Bird
Bühler & Pearce

These birds had a Yellow Face with no yellow in the cap.

The cap was white – in fact almost whiter than white if this could be so.

Kerle Faced Blue

On asking Kevin where these birds originated, he told me they were from Graeme Kerle of Townsville in Queensland.

In 2003, Graham produced the following from a Yellow Faced Opaline Cobalt hen (purchased at auction from Ernie Wise of New South Wales) and a Spangle Grey cock (non yellow faced, purchased from Robert Manvel also of New South Wales in one of his sale lots):

• 2 x Spangle Yellow Faced Sky cocks
• 1 x Spangle Yellow Faced Sky hen
• 1 x Spangle Sky cock

The Yellow Faced progeny were all visual “Seafoam” and were quite obviously different when viewed in the nest – the mask being yellow, the cap white and the body colour “Seafoam”.

Neither parent had any visual variations to what would be described as “normal” for their respective variety.

The initial resultant offspring from this pairing suggest that the Spangle was not a Double Factor Yellow face.

Seafoam Yellow Face

The term “Seafoam” was nominated by Jennie Liebich as soon as she sighted them.

The body colour in each resembled the colour of the sea, just below the foam of a breaking wave.

“Seafoam” does not reflect the mask and cap colouration, but the body colour only.

Realistically they could be called “Kerle Faced Blue” to reflect the origins – or “Seafoam Yellow Face” to embrace Jennie’s initial artistic interpretation.

Seafoam Pairings

The pairings at Graeme’s, resulted in nests averaging 70% visual “Seafoam” – with the non-visual still carrying the trait, as “Seafoams” were bred from these non-visual pairings.

Visual “Seafoams” to Normal Green series birds, resulted in visual Blue series (“non-Seafoam”), and Opaline Green hens. These paired back to Blue series (“non-visual Seafoam”), then gave a very high visual result in “Seafoam” of about 60% – this being Graeme’s assessment.

Jennie’s Pairings

When the first of these “Seafoam” birds were produced, Graeme, as I understand it, gave a couple to a backyard breeder not knowing what he had produced.

Kevin noticed some on a visit to Graeme’s and was fortunate enough to obtain some to breed with. Kevin then was kind enough to gift a couple to Jennie for her to work with.

The pair that arrived with Jennie back to Mount Gambier, were both visual “Seafoams” (one being Normal and the other a Spangle), and when these produced chicks she and I were overjoyed to see that a couple were “Seafoams”.

Regretably, these chicks did not seem to have a long life expectancy, thus a number of outcrosses occurred quickly, to try to ensure that the strain remained.

Note that Graeme did not have the same issue – it may have been that the birds that arrived at Mount Gambier were a little close.

On pairing non-visual to visual, there are now a couple of “out crossed” visual birds to work with.

There are others that have been paired to non-visuals with no resultant visuals as yet – thus more “proofing” will be required to fully ascertain breeding possibilities.

Further Birds

Graham and Kevin have sent down some further birds (“non-visual”) that have produced this new variety for them. Jennie and I cannot thank these two gentlemen enough for giving us the opportunity to work with these and the previous pair of birds.

One interesting occurrence, is that we now have a Green with a Yellow Mask and White cap – produced from two blues!

Sharing the News

This information is being released in order to share this new mutation with others – and to also see if changes are occurring elsewhere in the world of a similar nature.

It is a bit premature to determine the breeding habits of this variety, noting that it is Dominant but other surprises might present.

I believe the Spangle has something to do with this mutation – other aviaries that I have visited recently have changes occurring, and all of these go back to the Spangle parentage.

It is also interesting, as Roy Aplin (of the United Kingdom) painted birds similar to these some years ago – predicting such a change might occur.

Photographs

All photographs below were kindly supplied to us by Nigel Tonkin.

Click on any image to enlarge it.

"Seafoam" Opaline Light Green
front view

"Seafoam" Opaline Light Green
back view

"Seafoam" opaline baby
stage 1

"Seafoam" opaline baby
stage 2

"Seafoam" opaline baby
stage 3

"Seafoam" dam

"Seafoam" - Primary, Secondary
and Tertiary Tail Feathers
and Upper Tail Coverts

Buckton’s Sponsorship Ceases

It is with regret that the sponsorship with Bucktons will cease as from end of April.

This sponsorship deal, going back to 2000, has been fruitful to the Budgerigar Society as well as its members.

The Society has purchased pop-up banners to pass on to its General Council members to take to shows, together with question boxes to promote the Society and consult the general membership.

Long Service Awards

National Council for Aviculture (NCA) Long Service Badges were awarded to:

• Gold (25 years service)
  • Roger Carr
  • Bob Francis
  • Dave Herring
• Silver (20 years service)
  • Ghalib Al-Nasser
  • Gren Norris
  • Dave Whittaker
• Bronze (15 years service)
  • Janice Al-Nasser
  • George Booth
  • Grant Findlay
  • Donald McCallum
  • Alex Woan

Roger Carr was also installed on the NCA Roll of Honour for his long and outstanding services to the fancy.

UK Breeders at World Show

Four UK budgerigar fanciers recently entered their birds at the World Show in Spain.

Geoff Capes & Roger Carr won Gold Medals and Roy Aplin won a Silver & two Bronze medals.

Birds in Team Classes to be included in Benched Figures

After receiving correspondence from Land O’Burns BS, it was agreed that correctly entered birds in team classes will count towards the benched figure at shows.

This means that the number of birds rather than the number of teams will count towards the final benched figures.

All paper work related to patronage returns have been amended to take this into consideration.

Anthracite Variety Recognised / Rare Varieties Class Changes

The Rare Variety & Colour BS submitted a request to recognise the Anthracite variety, having met all the criteria for recognition of a new mutation, and also a Colour Standard for the variety.

They also requested that the variety to be exhibited in the Rare Variety classes.

The Council accepted both recommendations and decided that, to give the varieties grouped in the Rare Variety classes a chance of competing on an equal footing, the Clearbody variety (both Texas & Easley) will now be exhibited in the Any Other Classes.

All these changes to take immediate effect.

Biosecurity & Cleaning Changes

Some amendments were made to the Biosecurity Guidelines so that cage covers can now be removed inside the hall at a designated area before checking in and checking out.

Both the top and slope of the show cages now need to be cleaned.

It was also agreed that designated treated areas of the floor may be used as well if necessary.

Judges Panel Changes

Both Miranda Humphreys & Graham Turner were admitted to the Subsidiary Judges Panel.

The following were admitted to the Retired Judges Panel:

• John Grubb
• Horace Holland
• Robert McLean
• John Mason
• Frank Punchard
• Les Stanley

The following were removed from the Judges Panel either for failure to pay subscription or failure to complete the Judges Return Form:

• Duncan Folley
• Steve Speed
• Rodney Harris

Both John Bowie & Derek Hardie resigned from the Judges Panel.

The Budgerigar

All members of the society receive a full colour magazine (“The Budgerigar”) which is published bi-monthly.

The March issue of “The Budgerigar” has been sent to all paid up members containing the ballot forms to elect the new General Council from 20 candidates.

There are also nine resolutions put forward for members to vote on.

BS 2012 Spring Event & AGM

Plans are well ahead with the next Spring Event to be held on 11th – 13th May 2012 at Seaton Burn within the Northern BS area.

The speakers are:

• Gerd Bleicher (Germany)
• Carlos Ramôa (Portugal)
• Ghalib & Janice Al-Nasser (Guidelines)

The judges booked are:

• Dave Cottrell
• Terry & Linda Jukes
• Ron Pearce
• Fred Wright

The format will be similar to the event held in Woking last spring.

The Society’s AGM will be held on Saturday 12th May.

BS Club Show 2012

The Club Show this year is going back to its old date on 17th & 18th November.

The committee accepted a trophy donated by Joe Nevin for Best Yellowface Any Age and have also decided to accept birds on the Saturday morning as well as on Friday.

Judges booked for this year are:

• Maurice Roberts (President)
• Ian Clarke (Trainee Judge of the Year)
• Marcel Buhler & Carlos Ramôa (overseas judges)
• Linda Jukes
• Robert Ellis
• Pete Hutchinson
• Dave Wall
• Kevin Shillings
• Dave Guppy
• Adrian Terheege
• Ron Pearce
• Phil Reaney
• Colin Parsons

Section judges will be:

• Bob McCabe
• Doug Pringle
• Geoff Tuplin
• Clifton Wixon

Dr. Marcellus Bürkle, a specialist bird vet from Germany, will be the speaker at the morning seminar.

Judges for 2013 were also nominated and selected.

The exhibitor’s package of free entry to the show on Sunday for benching 15 or more birds (excluding sales) will still be in operation. First time exhibitors at the Club Show will be given a voucher for a free catalogue when checking in their birds.

Subscriptions

The 2012 subscription fees are:

• Single – £25
• Partnership same address – £37.50
• Senior member & OAP – £20
• Junior – £16.25

The veterinary diagnostic service fee is £10 per annum.

More information can be obtained from the society’s website (www.budgerigarsociety.com) or by contacting the Budgerigar Society office.

The show took place in the Bernie Mullane Sports Complex in Kellyville – a northern suburb of Sydney, Australia.

410 birds were benched from 46 exhibitors.

Results

The major results were as follows:

• Best in Show & Best Any Age – I Hanington
• Best Young Bird – A & C Druery
• Best Any Age Opposite Sex – A & C Druery
• Best Young Bird Opposite Sex – Welshman Family

The full results can be viewed here.

Judges

The judges were:

• Terry Bevan
• Craig Buckingham
• Andrew Plunket
• Allan Reid

Photographs

All photographs below were taken by Nola Bradford & kindly supplied to us by Santo Calabrese.

Click on any image to enlarge it.

Best in Show

Jean Painter & Ian Hanington

Jean Painter & Alan Druery

Jean Painter & Ray Welshman

Judges in action

Show Manager, Kathy Manton and
Assistant Show Manager,
James Matthews

I personally have to edit all the items that you read – either originated by me or submitted by our excellent contributors. This includes obtaining photographs of appropriate winners, or, photos of relevance to illustrate such articles.

The continuing popularity of this site has amazed both myself and my first class webmaster, Greg Kendall.

I have therefore decided to further expand the site and the team behind it, as it is the 21st century way of communicating a hobby such as ours, to all parts of the world.

I am therefore pleased to announce that Terry and Yvonne Tuxford will be the new International Editors – adding an additional dimension to this acclaimed website.

With more than 20 years experience at the editorial helm of Budgerigar World Magazine (founded by myself in 1982), and a combined 50 years of experience and knowledge of the hobby worldwide, they will be involved mainly on the international scene to bring additional worldwide focus to our magnificent hobby.

This is an exciting time in the development of this website. With Terry & Yvonne’s help, I can see the future possibility, once fully expanded, to market our hobby to the general public in all 70 plus countries where we know budgerigars are bred.

I hope that the site will become the definitive source of all things budgerigar throughout the modern world and will help to cultivate our great hobby into a myriad of untapped regions.

GSB

The next Spangle Day and AGM will be held on Sunday 22nd April at the Loddington Village Hall, High Street, near Kettering, Northants NN14 1LE. The morning session will be allocated to a guest speaker. Birds will be accepted between 10.00 and 10.30 am and will be judged by the President Bob Allen. All members, fanciers and guests are welcome. The afternoon session will be allocated to the AGM commencing at 2.30 pm.

The spangles fared well at the Association’s 2011 club show, which was held in conjunction with the Budgerigar Society Club Show, when two of the major awards were won by spangles. This was the Best Young Bird in Show (where Geoff Bowley won the award with a superb Spangle Light Green cock) and it was another spangle hen of the same colour that won the Best Opposite Sex in Show for Geoff & Anne Moore.

The total entry of 214 was slightly higher than in the previous year, with Philip Dye judging the Spangle Greens and Terry Tuxford judging the Spangle Blues. Our congratulations are extended to all our members who did well with their spangles at this prestigious show.

The honour of staging the Best Spangle in Show and Best Spangle Blue by a member went to Geoff & Anne Moore, who benched a nice Spangle Grey cock to win the young bird challenge certificate. The Best Spangle Green in Show went to Jerry Donovan with a Spangle Light Green cock. The Best Double Factor Spangle in Show went to Brian Wilson with a Yellow cock.

Once again winning members were treated to some wonderfully designed certificates. The Best Spangle in Show and four major winners also received special certificates enclosed in glass frames, which added a further special touch to the awards. Our special thanks are extended to John Cosby for producing those wonderful certificates.

John Cosby, as always, manned our stand throughout the weekend and we extend our thanks to him as well as to Rod and Sue Clarke for dealing with our patronage and trophies, assisted by Cy Thorne; and to all other committee members for their assistance.

Members are reminded that subscriptions are now due as from 1st January and should be sent to the Membership Secretary John Cosby at (“Shambles”, 7 Oakwood Lane, Moston, Sandbach, Cheshire CW11 3PR). The new rates are: single £8; partnership (same address) £12; partnership (different addresses) sum of total members; juniors, registered disabled & OAP £5. The society also offers a life membership at 20 times the current subscription.

The Association has its own website, which can be visited at www.spanglebudgerigars.co.uk. For all other information other than subscriptions & patronage please contact the chairman Ghalib Al-Nasser.

Mick Widdowson will be judging the show.

The Society’s 2011 club show was held in conjunction with the Budgerigar Society Club Show and entries in the rare section had a further increase to 81 for Philip Dye to judge – while the Any Other Colour section (which caters for the Greywings and Lacewings) had an entry of 56 for John Lees to judge.

As always there were some good quality Texas Clearbodies benched and, as with the 2010 show, both challenge certificate winners of the rare sections were of this variety.

The honour for staging the Best Rare in Show by a member and Best Rare Young Bird went to the World Champion at the show, Les Martin, with his quality Texas Clearbody Skyblue hen, while the Best Rare Any Age by a member went to John Dunnell, with his Texas Clearbody Yellowface Skyblue cock. Anthracites were benched again at the Club Show thanks to Ghalib & Janice Al-Nasser, Alison Carr and A. Wood.

Other trophy winners by members at the club show were:

• Jim Mitchell, Lacewing
• David Turner, Greywing
• Ghalib & Janice Al-Nasser, English Fallow & Saddleback
• Les Martin, Texas Clearbody
• Deamonn Mullee, Slate
• Roger Day, Rainbow

Subscriptions are now due and can be sent to Bob Allen, membership secretary (14 Brockley Close, Little Stoke, Bristol BS34 6EZ). The new rates are single £8, any partnership living at same address £12, any partnership living at different addresses £16, OAP partnership £9, OAP / Disabled / Junior £6.

All communications, other than matters relating to subscription & patronage, to be sent to the chairman Ghalib Al-Nasser (Evenstar, Pinkuah Lane, Pentlow, Sudbury CO10 7JW).