I would like to thank the members of ZEWA for once again giving me the privilege of judging their show.
As usual the standard of birds was very high with many of them capable of winning major awards anywhere in the world.
The team of Daniel Lutolf was magnificent and needed to be seen to be believed.  Anybody finishing second behind him should be satisfied by the fact that they have probably been beaten by the very best.

Of Daniel Lutolf’s team, the bird that impressed me most was the young Cinnamon Grey Green Cock which I made Best Young Bird and Best in Show. In my opinion this bird is very close to the WBO ideal. It is well balanced, has excellent deportment and almost perfect proportions. Many English judges would probably have preferred his young Cinnamon Grey Green Hen, but in my opinion the head feather is too excessive and gives a broken cap which detracts from the overall beauty of the bird. Once again this bird had excellent proportions and deportment which is different to what we see in England where birds of this type always have flights and tails that are far too long.
In the adult birds I chose Daniel’s Grey Hen and Grey Cock as Best Adult and Best Opposite Sex Adult. The hen has a wonderful face and a slightly hollow back line which makes it irresistibly attractive whilst the cock has all the wonderful attributes of head feather, depth of mask and deportment that Daniel brings to his birds.

Other young birds that caught my eye included the Sky Blue Cock of Peter Tornseifer which had good features and was benched in excellent condition. Peter’s Yellow Face Blue hen was also an eye catching bird with its strong shoulder line and good spot formation.
In the grey classes, Rainer Graber benched a young cock that has good potential but unfortunately it is flecked and was out of condition.
The young Opaline Cinnamon Hens of Daniel Schweizer have good qualities but unfortunately are flecked. This is a fault I do not like to see on the show bench but these birds must still be wisely used in the breeding room.
The red eyed birds are always my favourite and the Albino Hen of Hans Ruosch was a beautifully compact bird with a nice brow over the eye.

In the young Recessive Pied classes I liked the clear and correct markings of the Light Green Cock shown by Peter Ammann and the neat and tidy Hen shown by Peter Vesti.
In the Adult Section I liked the Light Green Cock of Rainer Graber. This bird had excellent type and feathering and a mask and spot that is reminiscent of the old Snell type Light Greens in England. Of the Dark Green birds I liked the Cock shown by Christian Hug which had style and a good spot layout.

The Adult Sky Blue Cock class was very even in standard but the excellent condition and deportment of Hans Ruosch’s bird made it the pick of the class.
One very unfortunate bird was the Opaline Cinnamon Grey Cock of Weisskopf/Woodtli which was worthy of a first prize but for the fact that it was up against another excellent Cinnamon Grey Green from Daniel Lutolf.

In the Opaline classes the clarity of markings and the lovely round spot of the Opaline Sky Blue Cock shown by Weisskopf/Woodtli was distinctive whilst the stylish Opaline Dark Green Hen of Roman Fuster also caught the eye.
In the Pied classes, Hans Ruosch showed a very large solid Light Green Cock that would be an excellent bird if it had a slightly longer feather.

I could carry on for much longer talking about the birds but feel I would become repetitive and boring so I will finish by mentioning my personal favourite from the show. It is a bird that will never win a major special but to my mind it is a bird that demonstrates how beautiful a budgerigar can be. It has style, type, grace, deportment, compact feathering, subtle colouring and all the features that make a budgerigar a thing of beauty. It was the Yellow Face Albino Hen of Daniel Lutolf.

Finally I would like to thank my team of stewards who made the task of judging so easy. I would also like to thank the members of ZEWA for giving me the splendid trophy that will always remind me of my latest visit to Sarganserland.

It now only remains for me to wish you all a long and enjoyable time in the fancy.

Roger Carr