Gunnedah 2002
Well those 12 months came and went rather too quickly and it was time to consider heading back up to Gunnedah for the 2002 bird sale. You could tell it was close to bird sale time by the inundation of phone calls, most of which started with "Oh, and while you are up there, could you get me a …………………………" You get my gist! Suffice it to say that if I had agreed to a quarter of the requests I would have needed some form of heavy rigid bus to move the number of birds. "See you up there!" became my catch phrase!

This year I decided to travel up on the Spirit of Tasmania (a car ferry) and it was a brilliant move. Could not recommend a trip more highly. One point to remember though is to take everything with you when you first park your car. I disembarked from my car and found my cabin then returned to the car deck to grab my overnight bag. Upon arrival I asked the crewman if I could enter my car - he grinned and said "Help yourself mate." I looked into the car deck and not even a mealworm could have got into or out of my car! So, armed with a book and a jumper, I trudged back to my cabin!

Upon leaving the boat it was up to Alan Webb's at Benalla and on up to Sydney and the mad dash to get onto the Pacific Highway to Cessnock. A few days were spent with John Butler and some aviary visits in the Hunter region, including the impressive set-ups of Gerard Abrams and Kevin Such.

Driving solo to Gunnedah and madly trying to find Triple J (a radio station) amongst a host of country music stations was beginning to tell upon my usually mild disposition - well, that's my story - but another rendition of 'Kiss an angel good morning' and I may have turned back! Eventually I arrived at the new hall in Gunnedah in search of Tony Buxton (Bucko) and some 'legendary and tall finch-type tales'. After inspecting the hall it was off to have a few ales and a chat. The size of the hall was very impressive and, even by early Friday evening; it was filling at a rapid rate.


Checking in the many exhibitors
A small part of the many trade tables
A selection of finches for sale
In order to prevent as much pre-selling as possible sellers were allowed to bench their birds on Saturday morning and then were escorted out of the hall. As a club member I was then asked to help the sellers set their cages up before the sale - doing this really brings home what preplanning has to go into such a sale. In the long run the removal of much of the preselling made for a very fine sale with a far fairer selection of birds than would have been seen without such measures. There were far more bargains and treasures to be found than usual, or maybe it's taken me three visits to get the hang of how things work!

And what a sale! Finches EVERYWHERE! Bucko, Gerard, "Shady" and the Hunter Valley branch of the Australian Finch Society were about with a number of birds and there were dozens of other fincho's scattered about the hall. Lots of Parsons, Stars, Longtails, Emblemas, Parrotfinches, Saints, Nuns,………you get the idea! A few Bloods were acquired and a vast array of mutations were also out there for sale - oh well, to each their own! I wandered around with Kevin Westbury and Glenn Johnson for a while and marveled at their bargaining skills - if only I'd got them to intercede on my behalf!! Just how many Gouldian mutations DID they stash away!! A chat with Les Milton was again another high point of the day.

The range of distributors this year was mind-boggling! Every possible implement and supplement that any bird could possibly want - why, oh why, did I bring my car! It only remained for me to work out HOW I was going to fit it all into the back AND still have room for the birds!! I said this year "I'm NOT going to spend much this time" - yeah right! I came back as broke as ever and felt confident that I had done my bit to prop up the NSW economy single-handed!

The parrot people were again out in force and I spotted a Blue and Gold Macaw, Black Headed Caiques, an Amazon plus a number of unusual Asiatics and Conures. The display by Alan Lynch from Mighty Mutations (the sale sponsor) was, as always, top notch and he presented some fantastic pastel Ringneck mutations. There were a number of Quakers, Sun Conures and Green Cheeked Conures for sale at higher prices than last year but there were an array of Grass parrot and Rosella mutations at competitive prices. A blue Twenty-Eight parrot was also impressive.


A well-presented array of parrots for sale
Tame Black Headed Caique
Pair of Red Lories for sale
The Avitrader and Australian Birdkeeper were well represented and appeared to be doing a roaring trade throughout the day.

Following the sale we emptied the hall and set about the onerous task of packing up then it was off to the Bowls Club for the traditional Saturday night 'bird talk'! I had noticed that the 'boys from Cobar' were not well represented this year so foolishly thought that it might be a quiet night - poor idiot, do I never learn! The finch people gathered for a 'discussion' and Chris Stuart and Kevin Such had us in stitches with their brilliant stories. After wearing out the night life of Gunnedah - much to the evident shock of many of the locals - it was a quick look at the One Day Cricket scores over in South Africa then off to bed. Now, was it right or left to that motel?!

The following 'very bright' morning saw a few hardy finch people at Buckos for a synopsis of the sale and 'what went where and who got what'. The tour through Bucko's aviary was also a high point of the day, especially his bevy of young Orange Cheek Waxbills. It must have been hot because I drank a can of Coke, which was odd, as I can't stand Coke as a rule - oh, dear! Consensus was that the sale had been a roaring success with the finch sellers pretty pleased with their sales and purchases. We felt that if anyone had finches such as Masks, Pictorellas, Blue caps and Pytilias they would have made a killing, such was the demand for the 'better' finches. As is usual with any trip to Gunnedah a few more friendships were made which makes it harder every year to say "Well that's it, I'm not going next year!"


Amazon Parrot on display
Gouldian Mutations
Déjà vu!
Just a note to praise the out going 'sale master' Greg Brandon who has put sweat and blood into making the Gunnedah Bird Sale the huge event that it currently is. His friendly nature and enthusiasm for the sale has been a major reason that it has enjoyed the Australia wide success that it has. Backed up by the tremendous Namoi Valley Avicultural Society members how could he go wrong! My sincere thanks to Greg for all his efforts and good luck to the members crazy enough to take the job on - at least Greg has left an excellent template for any that follows in his footsteps. Guess I'll see you (again!) next year guys!

After a few more days with John and Margarette Butler it was down to meet Kevin Westbury for an escort to the home of Doug Hill - star of Burke's Backyard and, more importantly, president of the Finch Society of Australia. After a few 'mechanical failures' (!) I was able to give a presentation on Finch Breeding in Tasmania to the Finch Society members at their monthly meeting. Feedback was terrific and I hope I managed to convey to the members that we were not just curious oddities down in Tasmania, but rather that we were a pretty dedicated bunch. The informal chat following the meeting was an excellent forum and it was a real pity to leave. The next day was spent with Doug and Glenn Johnson touring some aviaries and dealerships in the Sydney area.

After saying a reluctant farewell to the Sydneysiders it was back down to the Ferry in Melbourne and on to Tasmania with this years 'supply' of finches for the next breeding season. Now what am I looking for next time?!

Written by Marcus Pollard - Copyright remains with the author.

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