GRAHAM AND SALLY BELL

One of the most industrious and admired members of the North East Budgerigar Society is Graham Bell. Graham is currently the Ring Steward and Librarian for the club and a much-valued member of our Committee. I have selected Graham as the first of many members to be profiled both in our club magazine and also our Internet web page.

Graham and Sally live in a very comfortable and well-maintained three bedroom house in the outer northern Adelaide suburb of Wynn Vale. They have been there for nearly five years at the time of my visit. A feature of their home is the garden which is meticulously maintained by Sally. This beautiful array of flowers and plants would surely win a prize if it were entered into a competition. The other feature of their home is, of course, the aviary that is located at the rear of the property.

When one thinks of Graham Bell a number of adjectives spring immediately to mind. Organized, purposeful, neat, meticulous, welcoming and obliging to name a few. It is not surprising then when you visit his aviary to see that it is a reflection of all these qualities. There is a place for everything and everything is in its place. The floors are coated in an industrial paint, which besides being hardwearing is also easy to clean.

The aviary, which adjoins the bird room, is designed with many interesting features such as swivelling partitions between each compartment enabling it to be converted from four small aviaries into two with a minimum of effort. The front of the aviary also slopes outward but can be contained within a roll-a-door when conditions get wet or cold to maintain the comfort of the birds. There are lots of shelves around for placing cages upon to transfer birds and an underground drainage system to make it easier to clean the aviaries. And, of course, the aviary is full of magnificent birds. Many of them are either Clearwings or Blackeyes, two varieties in which Graham is especially interested.

Attached to the aviary is the breeding room. This too is spotless. Graham has about 18 breeding cabinets which incorporate his own unique design of breeding box. The nest box is at the side of the cabinet, not the front. It is quite deep and has a two tiered inner layout which keeps the chicks inside until they are quite mature and ready to face the outside world. The Breeding Room also features a sink and tap, air purifier, air cooler and ample storage cabinets. To my mind it is an ideal set-up.

I must admit that I was very impressed with Graham’s establishment. I wondered how such a busy man came to be involved in the hobby of breeding and showing exhibition budgerigars. Well, apparently, it started for Graham as it did for many of us – through his children. It seems that Graham had build a cubby house for his daughter in the back yard and was prevailed upon to construct an aviary in the space below the cubby house. Contacts through friends at work led him to acquiring twenty budgerigars from someone who was moving house. Later, when visiting Moonta on the Yorke Penninsula a friend introduced him to a local breeder at Maitland. This person encouraged him to join a club and so Graham joined the BSSA. This all happened in 1987. Now, being the sort of generous person he is, it didn’t take him long before he was on the committee at the BSSA as the Librarian. He continued in this capacity until around 1995 when, for personal reasons, he joined NEBS. Once again it was only a matter of time before he was elected to the committee and he is now the Ring Steward(a very important and time-consuming role) and Librarian.

Graham counts as a highlight the time one of his birds, a Clearwing, was judged good enough to represent SA in the National Championships in Queensland in the late 90’s. Another achievement of which he is justifiably proud is the computerization of the organization of the National Show held in Adelaide in 1993. Graham’s model was made available to Associations in the other states and has revolutionized the way in which records are kept and processed.

The two varieties of budgerigar in which he is most interested are the Clearwing and Blackeye. He was initially attracted to the Clearwing by the striking contrast, particularly in the Blue series, between the wings and the body colour, It is a little disappointing for him, nowadays, to see the trend towards bigger birds often with “dirtier” wings, at the expense of this important and attractive feature. His ambition for the future is tied up with an effort to improve the standard of the Blackeye to represent SA in the Nationals. He has joined with a group of like-minded breeders from NEBS to share resources and gene pools in this attempt to improve the local product. Let’s hope that their teamwork is rewarded with success on the show bench.

Graham and Sally have three daughters and four grandchildren with another two grandchildren expected during the course of 2002. It sounds like they are going to get even busier than they are already. Thank you Graham and Sally for letting me come to visit your home and your aviary. I am sure that your example will be an inspiration to our members.