GUNNEDAH 2003

THE NEW ZEALAND CONNECTION!

You might think that this is a strange place for a New Zealand bird magazine to end up but perhaps some of the history of the sale might help you change your mind!! Way back in the year 2000 a good friend and finch breeder extraordinaire, John Butler, suggested that I should leave the frozen southland of Tasmania and attend the Gunnedah Bird Sale. His comment of "Well, its gunna be a big one son!" really meant nothing to me and my first question was "Where??" Now I wouldn’t miss it for quids!

To those like me that had never heard of Gunnedah it is in the north west of country NSW about 5 hours from Sydney and 6 hours from Brisbane, the capital of Queensland. At the time the Namoi Valley Avicultural Society numbered 17 members and one, namely me, lived way away in Tasmania! How, you may rightly ask, could a club with so few members turn on the biggest bird sale on the Australian Avicultural calendar? Well, I guess the presence of somebody like Greg Brandon on any committee would get any show on the road! His energy and drive have meant a fantastic sale for as many years as I have been going and he has seen fit to hand over the reigns in 2003 after leaving a terrific legacy for future sale directors to follow.

Since 2000 there has been a marked increase in attendance, not only by the public eager for a bargain, but by stall holders and bird sellers. In 2002 the sale moved locations to a far larger double basketball stadium which has made for far better public access and setting out of the various display areas. This year there were 28 trade tables which ranged from Peppers Seed Products, Tunbridge Seeds, Petcare Direct (mail order bird supplies and rings), Colliers nest boxes and seed hoppers, The Queensland Finch Society, The Australian Parrot Society, Mighty Mutations – Indian Ringneck Mutations, excellent bird paintings, Thompson’s Aviary Products – maker of exceptional aviary items and brilliant hospital boxes, Wombaroo Wildlife Products, both Australian bird magazines through to the Automatic Daylight Extender stall which featured me and a pile of NZ Birdz magazines!

On the bird front there were African Greys, Pastel Indian Ringnecks, Pearly Conures, Red & Blue Lories, peach fronted Conures, mutation Caiques, plus mutations of every conceivable parrot type – including some bizarre looking Rainbow Lorikeets - and, most importantly, a host of finches - ranging from Russell Kingston’s Pileated finches, Pin-tailed Whydahs and Tanimbar parrotfinches through to Red-winged pytilias, Pictorellas, Blood finches, Mask finches, Diggles, Parsons and a host of Red-faced parrotfinches, Yellow Saints, Emblemas and various coloured Stars. Normal Australian parrots were well represented with there being some excellent Kings, Crimson wings, Rosella species, Black Cockatoos, Gang gangs and Lorikeets seen. The latest batch of Neophema mutations abounded for considerable prices but a friend failed to find one pair of normal Elegant parrots – she could have had pieds, yellows and blues but not one normal!

Now that I’ve given you the run down and before you become lost in the pictures from the sale I better give you some of the fact and figures as supplied by the Namoi Valley Avicultural Society. There were 3300 birds benched, 28 trade tables and around 1650 people went through the doors over the day and there was an around 60-70% clearance rate with very few finches remaining unsold.

Following the sale there was the traditional Saturday evening BBQ at the Bowls Club where all manner of ‘tall tales and true’ were told throughout the course of the evening. I’m sure somebody even dared to tell me there were 10 pair of Violet-eared waxbills there – "Honest mate, saw em with me own two eyes, oh, is it my shout already?" You get the drift of the Saturday evening entertainment!! So, if you find yourself lurking about over here in the Land of Oz around that first weekend in April then you couldn’t do much worse than attend the Gunnedah Bird Sale. Sure, you cant take anything home but the opportunity to share a Tooheys Old Ale with a hoard of bird people is a chance not to be missed and the hospitality of the Gunnedah people is legendary.

Oh, guess you are wondering what the verdict was on the copies of NZ Birdz that we had there? Well, there was such a rush on people trying to get a hold of them we had to secrete some away for later in the sale! Most people were impressed with the local content supported by the writers own pictures and many came back trying to pries a few more copies out of us! But one question was repeatedly asked "Are there any articles on Kakapos" – guess that aint a finch, right?!

The Gunnedah Sale started out small too but look at it now!!

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