This year 103 Lizards had been entered into the show – a number not seen since pre-Covi. And of those 32 were novice birds. The judge was Danny Higgins – his first full engagement as an LCA panel judge. Danny did a sterling job in working through all the birds and making his selections.
This year, for the first time, Andy Beesley had banners produced featuring Lizard Canaries. Show secretary Andy Beesley and his team are to be congratulated for a well organised and well-run section with everything running smoothly.
National Exhibition Show Report 2025
I immediately noticed the new LCA banners under the lizard staging and I must say they look very impressive and professional and they really made the Lizard Canary Section stand out from the rest of the other sections.
So now it was time to start judging ,I think there was just under 100 birds on the staging to judge , so firstly I had a little walk up and down the birds just to have a little look and to see if any caught my eye and I must say there were some really nice quality birds so I knew this was going to be a tough day.
As the birds were being brought up It was evident that there were a lot of birds that needed that extra couple of weeks to fully finish their moult. Most will look completely different birds in the next couple of weeks.
My top 3 Champion were a non-cap Gold Hen which was a lovely bird with excellent ground colour and very good rowings with good spangles that lined up well, it , this bird belonged to Carlos De Santa Ana ,2nd best was a broken cap silver cock, a bird that showed itself well with excellent spangles that lined up all day this belonged to Ray Anthony ,and a clear cap silver Hen belonging to Andy Williamson that was an excellent bird with good size and excellent rowings .
My top 3 novice were a really nice broken cap gold hen this had excellent rowings and good spangles belonging to Colin Whitehouse who also took second best novice with an over year silver cock and 3rd best went to Mick Tiffanys gold hen also another over year bird that was in great condition.
Best Natural went to Andy Williamson with a good sized non cap silver Hen with excellent rowings. This will be a very good bird and will definitely improve at the coming shows.
2nd Best natural went to Lloyd le Page with a clear cap silver another good example.
Best Junior was awarded to Toby Ashpole who continues to improve the quality of his birds each year, well done Toby!!
Picking my top four was a difficult task as Carlos hen was starting to look a little tired in the afternoon , and Colin Whitehouse hen still looking good but had a slight over run on the cap and Andy Williamsons clear cap hen also giving me problems as she was a stunning bird but had an over year feather on her back which was preventing her spangles from lining up , but I stuck to my guns and awarded Carlos with Best Lizard , Colin Whitehouse was 2nd best and Ray Anthony 3rd best and Andy Williamson 4th Best.
It was also Great to see that Carlos’s hen had been awarded best canary in Show, which was thoroughly deserved, I was so Happy for him.
I would like to Thank the Stewards on the day Andy Beesley, Bob Bulloch, Chris Jordan you all did and amazing job. But a special mention to Andy Beesley for the time and effort he put in to ensure we all had a good day. Thank you.
Danny Higgins – LCA Panel Judge
