A RECORD AVIARY VISIT?
I have often stated just how small the World of Budgerigars really is and certainly Budgerigar World must be given due credit for much of the exchange of views, ideas and research that now takes place between many of the Budgerigar keeping countries World-wide. Just as an example of just how this can be illustrated, some of you will know that Yvonne and I travelled to Australia to attend the National Championships that were held in Adelaide. During this trip we were also invited to New Zealand by their National Society - an opportunity not to be missed. One of the fanciers homes that we visited and stayed was that of Lincoln and Fay Baldwin. Now this couple, that we neither new or had met before, made us most welcome and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit to see their birds, some 12,000 miles from our home.
The time was early June and would you believe it but the Baldwins had arranged an extensive OE (Overseas Experience), that took in the UK. The timing of this trip was such that they would be in England when the Budgerigar World All Medal Show was being staged - which they visited. They also travelled to our home and birdroom and this was just 12 weeks after our visit to them. A combined total of some 50,000 miles had been travelled on an exchange birdroom visit - I wonder if this is a record!
LECTURERS
One of the most difficult tasks that Society officials have is to arrange guest speakers at their monthly meeting and the same few names seem to do the circuit, year in and year out. This has prompted me attempt to compile a list of fanciers who give talks or demonstrations. If the response is sufficient this list will be published on this Web-site and in a future edition of Budgerigar World as a reference for Society Officials. If you are prepared to give a lecture at a Budgerigar Club just Email me giving details of the content of your talk etc., whether it is illustrated with slides or other media and the locale in which you are prepared to travel.
BUDGERIGAR JUDGESWhichever section of the hobby one belongs to there are always comments made at some time or another during the course of the year. Over the past few months there have been several remarks aimed at members of the Budgerigar Society Panel of Judges. It is these that I would like to address.
I recall judging a show this year whereby my Chief Steward was asked whether he was intending on embarking on the road to becoming a judge. His reply was, "No way! There are too many other judges in the show hall during the afternoon who think they are better qualified." I guess that as a judge the only people who you can say are totally satisfied with your work are the winners. This situation was typified by the Beginner who wrote suggesting that judges only placed the top awards by the cage numbers, ensuring that Champion birds were always first, and not by the quality of the birds. While I cannot say that this has never happened, it is certainly not with the regularity as suggested.
RETIREMENT
I was interested to read thoughts with regards to the age in which judges should retire from the panel being linked to normal retirement age. Having noted that there are some 240 members on the Budgerigar Society Full Panel and 35 on the Subsidiary Panel it would go some way in reducing the numbers. However, I cannot somehow ignore the fact that fanciers such as Phil Proctor who passed his test in 1994, being a little annoyed at the prospect of having been written off as a judge by 1998, after making the effort of attending the required number of Subsidiary engagements and then sitting the test. This I can assure readers is no easy task and should not be age limited so long as the individual is competent.
On the subject of the BS Judges Test, I believe that the BS should now consider a qualifying level of BS Full Panel Membership, as most of the Professional Bodies do today. Usually there are two types of member, those that are there through default, as they have achieved a certain number of year service and those that are there by demonstrated ability. In this instance all the BS would have to do is add an asterisk onto the judges list indicating which of those had sat and successfully passed the examination. It would almost certainly attract show promoting societies to choose the newer judges and go some way to ensuring that the exhibits are judged to the latest standards.
AND THE NON-EXAMINED?
I guess that some of my previous words may not be received too joyfully by those judges who have years and years of experience, mostly whom do an excellent job but now find themselves discriminated against just because the BS Test was not in operation when they became judges. Here clearly the BS can help. Why not give existing judges an opportunity to sit the examination on a voluntary basis? This then would go some way to evening up the situation and demonstrating a willingness to prove competence. Mind you. I wonder how many volunteers would be lining up at the next BS Club Show to sit the test!
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