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April has been a very good month in the life of the Parrot Society. Firstly I would like to mention our forthcoming show at Stafford on June 29th. In the first month of advertising this show, we have sold well over one hundred breeders tables, and with two months left to go I am quite confident we will double this number. Also we have a good interest from the trade. So I am sure it will once again be a very good day out for bird keepers and give those attending the opportunity to purchase enough food and utensils necessary to see you through until the Bird Show of the Year on October 12th. The display in the centre of the hall last year was well received and we will be having birds on display again. The various Bird Clubs and Societies that support this show will again be in attendance to welcome their members and give advice.
I would like to thank our Council for voting in favour of my idea of opening up the sale tables to non members as an experiment to sell Budgies, Canaries and foreign finches. These tables at £12.00 each are 50% higher cost than to members. They will be grouped together, the Parrot Society rules apply to these tables and will be sent out with each application. All members that I have spoken to are in full agreement with this idea, if you would like to contact me with your views please give me a call my number is on the inside front cover of our magazine or email me at colin@parrotmutations.co.uk this move will give the show a more rounded appeal to all bird keepers and can only be good for our hobby.
The new group that was formed at the open meeting at Coventry in March to write the Strategy for Bird Keeping on behalf of The English Implementation Group is proceeding very well, we have had our first committee meeting and to date have written about half of the main document. I will be giving a presentation to the main EIG in London on the 14th. May on the progress the group has made. The Cage and Aviary birds magazine has continued to cover this project which allows the whole of the birdworld to keep up with progress on this very important task.
Our conservation work continues with Council voting their support of the St Vincent Amazon Parrot project at the Botanical Gardens in Kingstown on the island of St Vincent. Some years ago we supplied them with a fridge that has now come to the end of its useful life and needs to be replaced, so we have donated them one thousand pounds to help the Trust to continue their valuable work with this very endangered Amazon parrot.
CHAIRMAN’S
APRIL MESSAGE
In this months magazine we have articles by both of our Bird Show of the Year Sponsors. Malcolm Green of The Birdcare Company sees a renewed interest in our hobby that is very rewarding to hear. Richard Johnston of Johnston and Jeff Ltd also sees renewed enthusiasm but warns of seed prices rising, not such good news.
A word of warning to anyone tempted to think of buying birds on the internet there are currently cockatoos being offered at just below the market value supposedly with health and cites certificates the seller is asking for the monies to be paid into Western Union before delivery. This is definitely a scam.
The DEFRA meeting we held last month was a great success, The meeting was organised and funded by The Parrot Society in partnership with the National Council for Aviculture. Its aim was to form a Strategy for birds and bird keepers. This Strategy will carry considerable weight with DEFRA when Non Commercial bird keeping is added to the Animal Welfare Act under secondary legislation.
It is envisaged that the Main Submission Strategy will be a ‘living document’ and once produced will be reviewed on an annual basis to ensure that it is kept up to date, this would be especially important where our knowledge of a problem increases fairly swiftly, Avian Influenza is an excellent example. The Strategy will be maintained on a website to enable changes to be made quickly and cheaply.
I was delighted with the unity shown from all those who attended and although there would be a considerable amount of work for those who volunteered to join the Committee I was sure that by Christmas we would be able look back on our contribution with pride and a great deal of satisfaction. I particularly want to thank Cage and Aviary Birds for their support and recent publicity for this meeting, there is no doubt that without their assistance it would have been impossible to bring the meeting to the attention of so many bird keepers and thus ensure a highly successful turnout. If anyone would like to receive a copy of the minutes of the meeting please e-mail me at colin@parrotmutations.co.uk I will be pleased to send you a copy.
In this magazine you will see the invitation to apply for tables at the Stafford Summer Show. June 29th. Please make this show work. Although it is a smaller event than our October show, those that came last year all told us they had an enjoyable day. Do not leave it until the last minute to book your table. To keep this show alive, it is up to members to support it.
Finally; please remember those who breed Grass Parrakeets that Splendid’s usually do not start to incubate until they have almost laid the full clutch. Unlike Bourke’s that start to sit on the second egg. So a Splendid may not start to sit until 12 days after the first egg. Every year I speak to people that have taken eggs away only to find that they would have hatched.
CHAIRMAN’S
MARCH MESSAGE
I have to start this month’s page with the sad news. We have had to cancel the Pickering Show. The Council left this decision to cancel until the last moment before the production of this magazine, in the hope we would have had a last minute influx of requests for tables. Sadly we have only sold 11 tables. It is such a pity as we made such a good start last year. I am sure all our members appreciate that for a show to be staged we do need at least 100 tables. With less than this number it is unfair to ask birdkeepers to attend with the cost of travel so expensive these days. The away day at Flamingo Land will go ahead, and council members will be in attendance.
Arrangements for the DEFRA meeting being held on March the 8th; has now completed. This meeting is being held in partnership with the NCA. Full details can be seen in last month’s magazine on pages 52 and 84. If you would like to listen to Mr Peter Scott from DEFRA give a presentation on the future of Aviculture and be able to ask a question on issues raised please book your seat by contacting our office or myself.
I would like to thank Tony Pittman for all the help and advice he gave me over the last year as Vice Chairman. The Vice Chairman for this year is Alan Jones with his past experience he will be more than able to hold the fort while I am on my travels. Ray Holland has stepped down from Council because of moving home. I would like to thank Ray for all his help during his time as a Council Member; His place has been taken by Peter Newlands a long-standing Parrot Society member, coming from a banking background with a special interest in pet birds; I feel his input will be most welcome. Over the last few years our membership has changed somewhat, many of our members are pet bird keepers, so his knowledge will strengthen this area of our activities.
Over the last few weeks we have been upgrading our website to make it more user friendly. Our web site plays an increasing part of the life of the Parrot Society. Many members have used this facility to renew their subscriptions this year. Those with access to the Web please have a look at the site and give us some feed back with ideas on what would improve it further?
The first meeting of the clubs that are going to take part in the showing exhibition at Stafford in October has taken place. I am delighted by the interest and enthusiasm shown by these clubs. All the clubs that joined last year will once again be taking part, expressing their thanks for having been given the opportunity to promote their society in such a large arena. We have doubled the number of societies wishing to take part this year to include The Zebra Finch Society and the Australian Finch Society and many other Varieties of the Canary world.
Chairmans
Februarys Report
With all the festivities now seeming a long way past, it is time to prepare for the most exciting time of the year for our members that breed their birds With final pairings to be sorted, looking for new birds that may be required to make up pairs, nest boxes to be checked and Sale/Show days again starting after the winter break. However, not wishing to sound to much like Victor Meldrew, thankfully bonfire night and New Years Eve fireworks are over for another year. All in all February is a good month for parrot keepers.
It is very important for the Parrot Society to keep its number of members, please ask your friends if they have rejoined, if they have not been a member encourage them to join. Becoming a member is so easy now as it is possible to pay subscriptions on line, just go to the website www.theparrotsociety.org and follow the links fro the top right-hand side of our home page.
DEFRA has asked the Parrot Society in conjunction with the N.C.A to organise an important meeting to inform all bird keepers of its latest developments with regard to the Animal Welfare Bill. This meeting is also to form a strategy committee made up of the full range of bird keepers, pigeons, parrots, birds of prey, and poultry etc. This committee will gather information from all these types of bird keepers, which will then be presented to the Companion Animal Strategy Committee at DEFRA.
Mr Peter Scott is chairman of the DEFRA Strategy Committee and will give a presentation to the meeting explaining the way forward. This meeting is open to all bird keepers, not just officials of societies, the PS and the NCA want all bird keepers to feel they are able to have their say and ask questions. The proposals put forward by this newly formed committee will go forward to make up part of the Animal Welfare Bill.
The meeting is to be held on Saturday March 8th at The Quality Inn, Allesley, Coventry, commencing at 1-30pm. This is the same Hotel as the Parrot Society uses for our AGM, details of its location are on page 450 of the October Magazine. If you would like to come along it is important to reserve your seat. At this time we have no idea of the numbers wishing to attend, so booking early is advised. To reserve a seat , phone the office on 01442 872245 or myself on 01787 277148.
We are now taking bookings for our Show at Pickering to be held on 20th April full details appear on pages 80 to 83 of this magazine. Please help to make this show an annual event by booking a table even if you only have a few birds for sale.
CHAIRMANS PAGE JANUARY 2008
A very happy New Year to all members
Every New Year brings excitement for bird keepers, a time to forget the disappointments of the old year and dream of things to come. This magazine was posted early so that you have something to read and enjoy while finishing the Christmas leftovers. 2007 was a good year for the Parrot Society. The Magazine is going from strength to strength. The Away days were very well attended and we have already arranged special admission to those attractions again for 2008.
The invitation for members to apply for tables at Pickering will be in the February Magazine. Last year I believe that our first attempt to hold a show in that area was hampered by the fact that Newark show was the following Sunday. For us to make Pickering an annual event we do need support from members. Even if you only have a few birds for sale please book a table, it is member’s tables that make the main thrust to our events.
Tame birds are always a great attraction at our shows, although sadly it is not possible to offer pet birds for sale. We are allowed to have them on display; do we have a member local to Pickering that is willing to bring along some tame birds for the public to admire? If so please contact the office, and one final request, we need help in
setting up the show on the Saturday and help to run the show on the Sunday. Do we have any volunteers please?
Stafford arrangements are going very well, we will have double the number of birds in the Competitive Exhibition on the 12th October 2008 making Stafford Show an event with something for all bird keepers. Do we have a member that is prepared to organise a section for the competitive showing of parrot-like for the Parrot Society, I will give all the assistance and guidance necessary? It would be excellent to see a Parrot Show in the exhibition hall, giving both our members and the public the opportunity to see parrot species in perfect condition.
Now is the time to think about buying your supply of rings for next breeding season. There is nothing worse than watching for the Postman, hoping he has your supply of rings because chicks in the nest are growing fast. I am an advocate of ringing. I fully appreciate it is not possible or practical to ring some varieties of birds but it is not the case with any of the parrot family. A rung bird has identity; it gives age, and in most cases details of the breeder. I started the parrot society ring scheme many years ago. All birds wearing a PSUK closed ring enable our office to tell to whom the ring was supplied, obviously valuable information especially if it is recovered after being lost.