Battle scars
You may recognise this bird. He featured in an article entitled ‘If it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have no luck at all’ exactly a year ago. His luck hasn’t got much better.... Read More
Practice
A visit to Marko
Let me start by declaring an interest. I have known Marko for twenty years; we are good friends and visit each other every year. Marko and his family are some of the nicest people you will ever meet. In short, I am biased.... Read More
Practice: how much does a Lizard canary drink?
How much does a Lizard canary drink? A silly question? We all know that it is not much. We fill the drinkers in morning, and by the evening the level has dropped, but there is usually plenty left. I was curious, but an internet search came up with only a single result for canaries. It […]... Read More
Memories of the Knighton partnership
In 1990 Cage & Aviary Birds published a ‘four page pull-out’ featuring the Lizard canary. It was organised by John Scott on behalf of the LCA. It contained articles by John, Stan Bolton, a poem in Black Country dialect by Brian Gisby (brilliant), a summary of the Lizard canary show standard, and an article on […]... Read More
If it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have no luck at all
“Born under a bad sign I been down since I begin to crawl If it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have no luck at all” If you recognise the lyric, you will almost certainly be humming the tune. The stanza is taken from Born Under a Bad Sign, a blues classic (1). Even if you don’t know […]... Read More
Practice: Ray’s way
“My style of judging, as those who know me will testify, is to give the breeders and their birds the utmost respect and time they deserve.” You might recognise the quotation; it was published on FSS only a week ago. ... Read More
Practice: putting ideas to the test
Testing leads to failure, and failure leads to understanding. Burt Rutan (and before you ask, I’d never heard of him either, but he’s worth looking up).... Read More