Who Wants to Show Finches in Texas?

[lovezebs]

Sally

Sounds like you had an absolutely marvellous day .
I'm happy for you. Did you bring a bunch of your kids as well?

Wonderful to hear that one of our forum members did so well.

Was this just a show, or a bird sale as well?

You absolutely deserve to put your feet up and R-E-L-A-XXX !

[Sally]

This was just a show, but an all-bird show. We had divisions for finches, cockatiels, canaries, budgies, and parrots, and other than the canary section, all divisions had lots of entries. We do the two marts, one in spring and one in fall (next month), to get the money to put on this annual show. We have to pay 5 judges and their expenses, rent the hall at the conference center, provide lunch plus many other expenses. Our club built the show benches for each division of the show, and those are stored in a utility trailer that the club also owns. It takes a lot to put on a show, not to mention the volunteer hours that are required. A group of us spent 2 1/2 hours at the hall the night before the show setting up all the show benches. We also have to cover all the tables that the show cages will set on with brown kraft paper (a requirement of the hall).

I did take 6 birds to the show, mainly thinking I was just helping add to the numbers. A few days before the show, I looked to see which birds would not embarrass me too badly, and one Purple Grenadier male just stood out. I also took 2 BCCBs which looked pretty good, and then 2 Goldbreasts and a Strawberry hen just to fill the rest of the cages. I was very surprised and thrilled when my PG male made 3rd place and one of the BCCBs made 7th place on Top Bench. A perfect end to a fantastic day!

[lovezebs]

Sally

I'm glad that you had a lovely day, and that your birdlings did well. It's been a tough year, and you deserve to have some fun .

[SeaChelle]

What a wonderful show! I had a great time and learned so much! It was my second show and I'm still blown away about how much you learn each time from both the judges and the exhibitors. The feedback given by the judges is invaluable.

Sally is just absolutely wonderful with how much she gives to this hobby. With all she is responsible for during the show, she is still just the most pleasant and helpful person to everyone. Thank you a million times over for all that you have done and congrats on your birds that did so well in the show. I was in love with the purple grenadier!

The bird that got 5th on the top bench was colt's breeding, so a congrats to him as well!

[Sally]

SeaChelle It really was a great show! Such good judges and good company. I really love going to the shows. Lots of hard work, but it is so much fun for me! The only bad part about being show secretary is that I am off to the side, so I have to get up from my table and walk around to really see the birds well, and I also miss a lot of the judge's comments. The one down side to our show is that it is an all-bird show, and it is hard to hear over the noise of all the hookbills!

In Houston, they use the Sheraton hotel, and they have separate meeting rooms for each division. That means that the finches have their own room, so much quieter, and you can hear every word of the judge. The Houston bird club has some great people in it too, so I always enjoy going to their show.

I was so thrilled to see you do so well, it is always wonderful to see newbies get on the Top Bench! In addition to the 5th place ribbon, SeaChelle got a nice ribbon for best novice and also a plaque from NFSS for best novice!

Five exhibitors made it onto the Top Bench with their birds, I always like to see that as well. You were up there with a couple of exhibitors who always place on Top Bench, so you gave them a run for their money--congrats!!

[Sally]

I'll be at the Houston Canary and Finch Society show this coming Saturday, Oct. 10. If anyone wants to show birds, I will try to bring a few extra empty cages to the show, so either PM me or just show up Saturday morning with your birds. Entries are from 7:30 to 8:30 I believe, and judging starts at 9am.

[Sally]

A little disappointed to see no Houston forum members attended this show, unless they didn't identify themselves. Laura Watkins did an excellent job of judging and educating, and we had a fun day! My Purple Grenadier (not my breeding, a wild-caught) placed third out of 136 entries, so I was thrilled again. Same bird placed third out of 156 entries several weeks back in Cleburne with a different judge. I'll be taking him again to our last show of the season at Temple, so we'll see how he does under yet a third judge.

I had decided to take a Yellow-bellied Waxbill to the show, and as I was catching birds up to place them in the show cages, this little guy slipped past my hand and zoomed out into my living room, which opens to my dining room and kitchen. He flew around between the three rooms until finally I could not see him, but I thought he was in the living room. I finally checked under the entertainment center, and out he zipped, straight into the mouth of my dog. Horrified, I screamed at Scooter to drop it, and somehow that little bird flew off. After about 30 minutes chasing after him, he finally flew into my utility room. Aha, I thought, gotcha now, as I finally could close a door and have him in a small area.

The little stinker then flew behind the dryer. I managed to pull the dryer away from the wall, but before I could catch him, he flew onto the top of my freezer and then behind it. How I found the strength to move a fully-loaded freezer out from the wall enough to see and eventually catch that bird is beyond me. At this point, I didn't know if he had been injured by the dog or what, but he looked OK, and I told him he was going to that show, like it or not! I figured at least I could keep an eye on him and try to save him if he went downhill, where if I left him at home, I might come home to a dead bird.

I guess he was OK, or maybe the dog's saliva made his feathers look good, because after coming in 2nd in the African section (all 9 entries in that section were mine), he was actually in 10th place on Top Bench until the last minute, when he was bumped out by a Society--rats!

But I had a bit of back luck this show too. When leaving home, with my show cages in the back seat of my truck, I stopped to open the gate to my property. As I opened the door, something flew right past my face. I grabbed for it, barely managed to get my hands on the tail, and of course I was left with a handful of tail feathers as it flew off into the countryside. It was a Black-crowned Waxbill! Somehow, it had managed to squeeze out between the last bars of the cage. Haven't seen it since, so little hope of getting it back.