The Scots Fancy Specialist Club Show took place on 22 October 2022. An entry of 64 saw 57 birds benched and they were ably judged by Norman Wallace of Gloster Fancy fame and now a breeder and exhibitor of Scots Fancies. The event was hosted within Grangemouth CBS and was the busiest show I have attended in a long time. 

Best Novice was awarded to Lauren Wight with her current year bred [CYB] Buff and the Best Novice trophy and the novice special rosettes for the Best Novice White and Buff.  Lauren also won a new style STA show cage gifted by member Sandy Devidge.

The Club has, this year, introduced the awards of Second and Third Best in Show in an effort to address the longstanding issue of "winner takes it all" with just a Best in Show winner. This worked at Carlisle but not at the Club Show where Best in Show, 2^nd Best and 3^rd Best were all awarded to me with my CYB Buff hen, CYB Buff Piebald and Flighted Buff cock. I also won the trophies for Best Champion, Best in Show, Best Cinnamon, Best CYB Yellow, Best Piebald and Most Points.

Gordon Alexander took the trophy for Best CYB White while the remaining champion colour specials were awarded to me. 

My Belgians were entered in the Any Other Variety classes of the Grangemouth CBS show and one won Best Any Other Variety and his son won his class, both against competition. 

Sunday 9th October 2022 saw the first specialist show of the UK Scots Fancy show season. This was the Scots Fancy Specialist Club's [SFSC's] southern show held in association with the Northern Gloster Fancy Canary Club at Rockcliffe, Carlisle. It's a lovely venue and a very nice show which is held to enable the southern members of the SFSC to exhibit at a club show without having to travel to Scotland. Disappointingly, not one of the southern members took part. All the exhibitors were from Scotland. The Club will need to consider whether it keeps hosting this show if the members have no interest in taking part.

Best in Show and Best Old Variety was won by Gordon Alexander's cinnamon and Second Best in Show was novice Lauren Wight's Buff and Third Best in Show was my Buff hen. 

There were 45 Scots exhibited and 7 North Dutch Frills and 10 Belgians, the latter two varieties included in the show by the addition of classes for old varieties, in which one exhibitor was from south of the Border. Best Frill was awarded to Sandy Innes and that bird was also awarded 3rd Best Old Variety. My Belgian was Best Belgian and 2nd Best Old Variety in show.

The colour specials were awarded as follows:-

Best Champion Cinnamon - Gordon Alexander

Best Novice White - Lauren Wight

Best Champion Yellow, Buff and White - Donald Skinner-Reid 

 After a successful - in parts - breeding season 2022, the show season began with the major show of the year - The National Exhibition held at Stafford on 2 October 2022. This year I entered only 16 birds and while the overall number of birds exhibited was clearly up from 2021, it remained down from 2019. 

There were only 19 Scots Fancies exhibited by three exhibitors but as a proportion of the Old Varieties Show within the National, the figures held up. 

I was delighted to win Best Scots Fancy in Show and Best Belgian Fancy while my Giboso took second place in his class. More impressively, the Belgian, a son of my World Champion bird, was in the run-off for Best White Canary in Show which he didn't win but to be in the running was a great honour.

 I completed the 2021 show season at the North of England Gloster Club and OVCA North show held in Northumberland on 14 November. I won Best Scots Fancy, Best Old Variety and Second Best Old Variety with a Belgian. It was pretty much a clean sweep for me and I was very pleased. In the only two shows of my season, I won best in show twice. 

Below is the results sheet.

                                      My Giboso which won best Giboso photographed below

       This white Belgian, son of the World Champion, took Best Belgian and Second Best Old Variety

                                                     

                                                           

My winning Scots Fancy hen 

 

Unfortunately, the Scots Fancy Specialist Club's annual show which was to have taken place in January 2022, had to be cancelled due to the pandemic and avian flu concerns. We held a virtual show and I was delighted to win Best in Show with the same bird as won the National Exhibition last October. All in all, my birds are at the top of the ranking for the moment. 

This is the virtual show winner in action. 

 

 It's been a long time since I last updated this blog. Despite the pandemic, canary breeding kept going on quietly across the country but there were no exhibitions in 2020. 2021 looked to be doomed to a similar fate but fortunately circumstances and the vaccine finally permitted the UK National Exhibition to take place. I was unable to attend but with the help of a friend sent six birds in order to take part. 

A bird I bred in 2020 came up trumps winning Best Scots Fancy in Show and Second Best Old Variety in Show. This is my fourth win of Best Scots in Show at the National, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2021. I'm delighted. 

My Belgians took 1st and 4th places in one class and second in another and a further Scots won its class as well. All in all a great start to what is a very reduced show season this year. 

This is a film of him made last year.

This post isn't entirely Scots Fancy related. I entered 3 birds at the World Show held last weekend in Matosinhos, Porto, Portugal. My two Scots were awarded 88 points each which isn't really very good.

As many will know, however, I keep Belgian Fancies also known as the Bossu Belge or Belgian Bump. The Scots Fancy mutated from the Belgian. Out of 76 Belgian birds exhibited, my white, unflighted cock bird was awarded 94 points. That is the top score which I bird can achieve and has to be signed off by the senior judge as well as the class judge. Only one other Bossu was awarded 94 points. As you can see below, the bird is a World Champion. I am amazed and delighted.

Today was Kelso Ornithological Society show at the Tait Hall. It's the last show on my UK season. I won all eight classes, against competition, which I entered and took the awards for Best Scots Fancy, Best Opposite Sex Scots Fancy (that means the opposite sex to the overall winner) and Best Any Other Variety with a Belgian.

Kelso is a lovely town with excellent shopping and watering holes. Well worth the visit.

Time for some rest now after all the travelling around the UK.