On reaching the age of sixteen, after several successful years as a junior including Best Junior Breeder at the National Exhibition at Alexandra Palace in London, I was faced with a very simple choice. As the Budgerigar Society rules then stood, I could either show in partnership with my father or go straight into the Champion section myself. As I thought my father was after my good birds, I decided on the latter choice. If you Beginners and Novices think it is difficult, you should try doing what I did. Many people think that my father gave me good birds, but the truth is all I got was the pick of his sales birds plus any sick, lame, or blind birds he no longer required. Indeed, the bird which did me the most good was a Grey Green cock with a broken leg that was held together by a matchstick and string. When this makeshift splint was taken off, the leg was at right angles, but that bird bred as well as any bird I have ever had.

As I decided to go my own way, I thought the furthest away from Normal Blue was Cinnamon Green and so I set about building up a small stud (eight breeding cages only) of my own. To this end I used my current stock, one legged cocks plus some Pieds and a very good Cinnamon cock given to me by the late Mr. Jack Fisher as a thank you for helping to look after his birds while he was in the hospital.

My aim then and indeed now was and is to breed Cinnamons and to that end I paired Cinnamon to Cinnamon and still do. Over the years by careful selection and retention, this method has seen me to the position where I am able to compete with the best and sometimes even win. This position has been reached without either spending or charging a lot of money.

Many so called experts over the years have claimed that the Cinnamon factor fines down the feather in your stud and it should be used carefully. However, my experience is the opposite and I have bred many rough course feathered Cinnamons from my pure Cinnamon pairings. Indeed, when I think back to the Budgerigar Society Club Show a few years ago, I had the privilege to judge one of the best classes ever seen at that show in the Normal Cinnamon Breeder Cock Class. The first seven were all very good birds as were several out of the cards but the first three were exceptional. These birds belonged to T & C Pilkington, M. Wheeler, and D. Robertson. All three proved their quality on the show bench for several years. All these birds, in my opinion, were certainly not fine feathered. More recently my very good friend, David Topliss, won Best Show at both Budgerigar World and the Budgerigar Society Club Show with an outstanding buff feathered Cinnamon cock.

I think with Cinnamons, as with any other colour, the quality of the birds depends on the quality of the breeder to notice the faults within his stud and to rectify them accordingly. We are told we need Grey Greens for size but I have seen some very small Grey Greens that would be no use to anybody. To prove my point further, my father has paired Blue and Blue for many years and his record speaks for itself. The secret of breeding good birds of any colour over a number of years is to recognise the faults your birds have and try your hardest to rectify them. Do not be fooled by show results at whatever status. I well remember the breeding season after my father had won Best in Show at the Budgerigar Society Club Show. The winning Sky Cock was not in the first ten pairs that he paired up because we recognised the faults and we both felt he could pair up more useful pairs for the stud as a whole.

Careful pairing with the occasional outcross, usually from related stock, has put me where I am at present and I hope will see me go on to even better things. One piece of advice from my father that I have always adhered to is never sell your best birds. My first ever Best in Show at a Championship Show was with, unfortunately, a Sky Blue cock and I remember getting a visit from Eric Peake and some Americans just after this cock had won at the same show the second successive year. One of the Americans offered me a blank check for the Blue but I said no. Instead I GAVE it to my father. The bonus in that gesture being as the cock was split Cinnamon every now and again a Cinnamon crops up at my fathers and usually finds its way into my shed.

Although my first big win was a Sky Blue, my biggest thrill so far has been winning at Clwyd with my Cinnamons competing against some of the best in the country. There could be another chapter in the Bowley saga because, although I won the award for best Spangle in Show at the Budgerigar Society Club Show, my son David says the Spangles are his and he only lent me that one. So who knows in a few years time another Bowley could be writing an article on how he started and beat his dad. I certainly hope so.

I would just like to end this short article by thanking my wife for putting up with my Budgie mania and saying to any reader, she makes a good cup of tea so you are warmly invited to visit us at any time you are in the area.