The LCA Classic 2024

This year’s LCA Classic brought a few changes. I was judging rather than showing; and there was a new timetable aimed at enabling exhibitors to view the birds much earlier than in recent years. I can’t speak for my judging, but the latter was a big success.

Some things didn’t change though: the friendly atmosphere, the chance to catch up with old friends, and the good work put in by so many members.  A special note of thanks must go to Alex Maclean and Noel Sidney who had set up the staging on Saturday evening which meant that staging the birds on the Sunday morning could proceed as soon as the birds arrived.  A big time saver.  Ian Adcock’s organisational skills ensured that everything ran smoothly, while Chris Jordan and David Newton maintained a steady flow of birds to and from the judging stands.  Noel kept everyone fuelled with food and drink, and didn’t skimp on the banter either.  Alex also ran the silent auction, a chance for members to bid for some good Lizards for next year’s breeding team.

There were, sadly, some notable absences:  Jeremy and Debbie Goacher had to offer their apologies due to Jeremy’s ill-health.  A similar fate befell Rob and Ian Wright; all the more galling after their excellent start to the 2024 show season when they won Best Lizard at the National Exhibition.  We wish them a better 2025, and hope to see them at next year’s show.

My co-judge was David Allen, a good partner for the task ahead.  We conferred on any tricky decisions, and invariably agreed on the winners of the Special prizes.  That’s just as well because there were so many Specials that sorting them out was complex and time consuming.  The process needs to be simplified and this is something that I will be taking up with the LCA’s Council of Management ahead of the 2025 Classic.

Winning Lizard canaries at the LCA Classic show 2024
Best Lizard, a colour-fed broken cap gold female by Danny Higgins. (the feathers on the flank were smooth when judged)
LCA Classic 2024 show report
Second Best Lizard, a colour-fed non cap gold female, by Nigel Higgins
LCA Classic 2024 show report
Third Best Lizard, a colour-fed non cap silver male, by Danny Higgins

It proved to be a great day for the Higgins family with Danny taking Best and Third Best Lizard with a broken cap gold hen and non cap silver cock respectively, while his father Nigel took Second Best Lizard with a non cap gold hen. Alex Maclean just missed out on the medals with his lovely broken cap silver hen taking Fourth Best Champion.  They were all colour-fed birds.  In the Novice/Junior colour-fed section, Ray Anthony won Best with an eye-catching clear cap gold cock, while Mick Tiffany continuing his excellent start as a Lizard exhibitor winning Second Best with his attractive broken cap gold hen.  

LCA Classic 2024 show report
Fourth Best Champion Lizard, a colour-fed broken cap silver female, by Alex Maclean

The Champion natural coloured Lizards were dominated by Tony Horton, winning Best and Second Best, while the Novice/Junior natural coloured section was won by Toby Ashpole with Bob Sneddon taking Second Best.  Toby’s achievement is all the more worthy because he is still a Junior (1).

Behind the headlines, some interesting stories unfolded.  I’ll start with the story of the Best Lizard.  The labyrinthine Specials process meant that the Best Champion Lizards were judged quite early.  David and I were in no doubt that Danny’s broken cap gold hen was the Best and that Nigel’s non cap gold hen was Second Best.  By the time we got to selecting Best Lizard, Danny’s broken cap was getting tired and struggling to maintain the lineage of her spangles, while Nigel’s non cap was still in top form.  It is a dilemma that most judges will be familiar with, but the fact remains that when both birds were looking their best, her combination of regular spangles, rich colour and profuse rowings made her the better bird.  A deserved winner.

Ray’s Best Novice Lizard was a well-marked clear cap gold cock with excellent spangles, deep colour and good rowings.  Unfortunately his cap displayed a ‘tab’ of clear feathers extending on to his neck.  The LCA’s show standard describes this as a serious fault, and it prevented him from competing for the top honours.  A pity.

LCA Classic Lizard canary show 2024
Best Novice Lizard, a colour-fed clear cap gold male, by Ray Anthony

There’s no doubt that the unluckiest bird on the day was Tony Horton’s natural non cap gold cock.  He was a bold bird with probably the best spangles of the show.  I had judged the class and had little doubt that he would be in contention for Best Lizard.  Then one of those twists of fate intervened.  David and I had been judging with our backs to some glazed doors which offered the best light for assessing the birds.  It meant that the birds were looking out on to the car park, and while we were judging for Best Lizard something spooked them, we don’t know what.  The birds became agitated, but soon settled down. Alas Tony’s non cap did not.  We gave him time to recover but his composure had gone, and so had his chance of victory.

LCA Classic Lizard canary show report
Best Natural Lizard canary, a non cap gold male, by Tony Horton (still not at his best when photographed).

On a happier note, it’s always nice to see one of the unsung heroes of the Lizard fancy doing well.   On this occasion it was Noel Sidney’s over-year clear cap gold cock, one of those jaunty Lizards that caught the eye every time we looked at him.  The white tips to his flights and tail meant that he had to give way to the younger birds for the top prizes, but David and I had no hesitation in awarding him the Highly Commended prize.  Well done Noel.

LCA Classic Lizard canary show report
Best over-year and Highly Commended, a clear cap gold male by Noel Sidney

Anyone wishing to see more of the birds and prize winners will find them on Andy Beesley’s excellent Classic Lizard Canary channel here.

That’s it for another year.  Roll on 2025.

Footnotes:

  1. The LCA’s Rules allow Juniors to compete in the Novice classes if no Junior classes are provided at a show.  This does not compromise their Junior status. Toby won two classes in the Novice/Junior section; a commendable performance.
  1. Talking of unsung heroes, Noel’s generous work on behalf of the LCA was duly recognised when he was awarded the Yates Shield by the 2023 recipient, Chris Jordan.  An universally popular choice; well deserved.

6 thoughts on “The LCA Classic 2024

  1. Those of us who Judge Lizards will all agree they are “the” breed that will cause discussions at a show, many times awards have been made and in the afternoon other birds shine making one doubt ones self, like you Huw we’ve had that many times over the years. when i judged Luik your winning BCSH looked terrible in the afternoon ( yes there was a reason as we know) but when judged was outstanding, also when i 1st judged the CLASSIC i remember standing with Gary Mc and David N when the sun burst through that window and the birds being judged all started sunbathing ,,,,it was funny but disturbed the birds, then last year, Tonys outstanding Natural NONCAP winning BIS and looking amazing being put on the display stand beside that door only for Alex/David to point out a bit later that the birds had damaged it back toe (defo not there during judging by two judges) looking at the birds last yr and a very brief glance at the EALCA this year (as im judging soon myself) the standard of Lizards is very high at the moment, best iv seen in many years so im sure you and David had some tough decisions in some classes. from the pics iv seen it was a good win for all the winners so congrats to them all.

  2. Egregio signor Huw Evans, la ringrazio per l’argomento.
    Lei mi aveva colpito quando ho letto che il suo allevamento è piccolo, in una casa esterna in legno, accende la radio per abituarsi gli uccelli al brusio delle mostre, ma soprattutto lei alleva per divertimento, hobby !!! Mentre oggi prende il sopravvento l’aspetto economico!!
    La invito a scrivere più frequentemente, aiuta molto noi allevatori principianti che ci avviciniamo ai Lizard per divertimento e non per lucro. Buona fortuna , mi piacerebbe un giorno conoscerla. Cordiali saluti FABRIZIO BOSISIO VD35

  3. Nice report Huw,

    It was a great show again and it was good to be in amongst good people

    Congratulations to the winners on the day and many thanks to everyone who entered their birds, the banter was 1st class all day

    Thanks to yourself and David for judging

    Much appreciated

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