Well its the first show of my season this weekend & the 140 mile trip across to Ipswich.

Its a nice club, good to meet up with some friends & also this one always has a good turn out of British & Softbills, which all helps make it worth the trip.

Been putting the final touches to the show cages this morning & making a few final decisions on what birds are going

I am taking a couple of nice CYB Songies as CYB cinnamon Songie , a cock & a hen cinnamon Blackbird, a CYB Dunnock, a Pied Wagtail & me adult Redstart plus maybe one of me CYB redstarts - the cyb ones both have broke a few tail feathers - they seem prone to this, as one did it last year! Its a shame as one of them is going to be good Will see how they look a bit later, I have given them a bit of a spray to encourage some preening Its no big deal as it takes at least a year for a Redstart to come into its best.

Its a very good practice run as you see how the birds do against some competition

Yesterday was a great show & certainly a good warm up for the big all british shows. Its good to get back out showing after the long rest

Here are a few quick pics I took

Best british hardbill & overall Best in show - T Roberts superb Hawfinch



Best Novice Hardbill - N Prentice - Goldfinch



Best Champion Softbill - Cinnamon Song Thrush - B Howlett



Best Novice Softbill - Redstart - Myself



It was good to put some of my CYB Songthrushes on the bench & compare with the ones I need to beat - I was not to far away, so there is hope for the future

The birds need a few trips out just to see which will take to the shows

I would like to thank Andy & Steve for a great well run show as usual

Also thank you to a member who wished to remain anonymous who made a donation to the site