NORFOLK FOREIGN BIRD ASSOCIATION - 1999 OPEN SHOW

The 1999 Norfolk FBA Open Show had a record entry of 612, far exceeding the previous record. Nearly all sections received an increased entry, with the Bengalese entry being particularly good. Although the leading exhibits were of very high quality, the show was a few weeks early for several exhibits.

The Lovebird section received a good entry of 56. Peach Faced won all the awards, with the leading exhibit being an outstanding Normal owned by D Watlow. This bird was of exceptional size, shape and colour and went on to become second best foreign exhibit. The same exhibitor also won the awards for second and third best Lovebird with an Orange Faced and a Normal, the latter also being best current year bred Lovebird. L Barnsdale staged the fourth best Lovebird with a Normal whilst J Wright was fifth with an Orange Faced.

After the leading current year bred exhibit came J Read with a Lutino whilst D Watlow took the awards for third and fourth with an Orange Faced and a Lutino. J Read won fifth best with a Fischers, the the only special winning Lovebird that was not a Peach Faced.

Once again S & P Fisher had an excellent day in the Parrotlike section which attracted 37 entries. They took the awards for best Parrotlike with a Ringneck and best cuurent year bred Parrotlike with a Canary Winged Parrakeet which was also fourth best Parrotlike. The Barraband of B Eagle pushed the Ringneck all the way to be judged second best Parrotlike. Another Ringneck owned by T Warelow was third best Parrotlike, whilst fifth best was S& P Fisher’s Mountain Parrakeet.

B Eagle took the award for second best current year bred with a Cockatiel and J Cox was third with a Bourkes. Other winners in this section were S & P Fisher’s Vernals Hanging Parrot and another Cockatiel owned by B Eagle.

There were 75 common seedeaters entered with a cock Blue Capped Waxbill owned by N Elliston just beating C & S Allaway’s St Helena Waxbill. Third place went to a Green Singing Finch owned by N Prentice which had already won a large class. In fourth place were a pair of African Silverbills owned by L Barnsdale whilst a nice pair of Silver Java Sparrows were fifth for S & P Fisher.

All the award winners in the current year bred section were African Silverbills. B Rudling staged the leading exhibit, L Barnsdale entries were second, third and fourth with Mr & Mrs Coe being fifth.

The rare seedeater section contained a record entry of 65. The leading exhibit was a Red Winged Pytilla owned by C & S Allaway which won a class of 23 entries. Hybrids took the next two places for L Barnsdale and S & P Fisher. A nice pair of Lavender Finches were fourth for T Warelow whilst Mr & Mrs Coe were fifth with a Red Winged Pytilla.

There were only two current year bred exhibits with S & P Fisher winning with the hybrid that was third best rare.

Leading the 57 Australian entries was a very nice pair of Isabel Cherry Finches owned by D Brown. This entry went on to be awarded best seedeater, best current year bred foreign and fourth best in show. In second place, and best adult Australian was D Nudd with a pair of Hecks Grassfinches. Third best went to Mr & Mrs Hunt with Diamond Firetails whilst fourth was D Brown with another Isabel Cherry Finch. Behind the leading current year bred exhibit were two entries from L Barnsdale being Hecks Grassfinch and Cherry Finch. Foruth were D Brown’s Chestnut Breasted Finches.

Softbill entries showed a large increase with 46 entered. Best in section, and third best foreign was a Rufous Taailed Robin very well staged by Mr & Mrs Tugman. The same exhibitor also won second best with a Niltava whilst K Canham finished third and fifth with a Rufous Tailed Robin and Fulvetta respectively. In fourth place was the Orange Headed ground Thrush owned by C & S Allaway.

15 nectarfeeders were entered. The two leading sunbirds were both owned by C & S Allaway being a Beautiful, which was second best nectarfeeder, and a Marico. Third best was N Elliton’s Gold Wing. The award for best nectarfeeder ad best foreign exhibit went to C & S Allaway with their excellent Black Headed Sugarbird. The same exhibitor also took the award for third best with a Spiderhunter whilst another Black headed Sugarbird was fourth for Mr & Mrs Tugman.

Junior entries showed a very good entry with 36. Leading exhibit was a very nice Mountain Bunting owned by D Lugo. He also won the award for second best and leading current year bred exhibit with Hecks Grassfinch. Best junior Bengalese went to Miss H Sheldrake whilst D Lugo won best Zebra.

There were 111 Zebra Finches entered. Best champion, and best champion adult were Normals owned by P Ankin, with another pair of Normals second best for D Brown. Third best went to J Lacey with Fawns whilst P Ankin was also fourth with Chestnut Flanked Whites.

P Ankin also won the two leading champion breeder awards with Normals. J Lacey was third and fourth with Fawns and Chestnut Flanked Whites respectively.

Leading novice adults were Normals owned by Mr & Mrs Shortland. P Bailey took second place, also with Normals whilst J Moss was third and fourth with Fawns and Chestnut Flanked Whites. The leading novice breeder award went to Fawns owned by J Moss. These birds also won the award for best Zebra Finch. Second best novice breeder went to A Coles with Chestnut Flanked Whites whilst the same colour took third place for Mr & Mrs Shortland. Normals were fourth for J Moss.

The Bengalese section saw the biggest entry with three times the normal entry at 104. Best champion adult and best Bengalese went to S & K Spavin with Chocolate & Whites. T Lockhart staged the second best champion adult with Dilutes and third best with Self White & Creminos. Fourth were S & K Spavin’s Self Chocolate.

The first three champion breeder awards all went to S & K Spavin with Fawn & White, Self Chocolate and Self Chestnut & Self White, whilst T Lockhart was fourth with Dilutes.

Best novice, and best novice adult went to R Hunt with Self Chocolates. The same exhibitor staged another pair of Self Chocolates to win the award for second best novice adult whilst J Fisher was third with Greys. R Hunt was fourth with Self Chestnut & Self White. All the novice breeder awards went to R Hunt with Self Chocolates, Dilutes, Self Chocolate, and Self White & Cremino.

The Foreign judges were E Davison, J Faulkner and E Gallimore whilst Zebra and Bengalese were judged by G Lewsey. Special thanks are due to E Gallimore for stepping in at short notice due to illness of the original judge booked.