What's in the issue

Here come the shows! The main season is just around the corner, and that means the National Exhibition is on the horizon. The event at Stafford on October 5 is by far Britain’s biggest all-variety open show and in this issue we have details of all the clubs that are putting on a section - that’s 18 clubs, 18 sections, a record! So whatever your variety, you can start to sort your show team and contact the organisers for the big day. Far from Stafford (you’d think) is the world of the fabulous Inca tern, a superb seabird native to Peru and Chile. Yet the reason we’re featuring it is that it’s a popular and easily kept bird in collections, which can probably be enjoyed at a zoo near you. Plenty more this week, too: on Bengalese and zebra finches, native hardbills and prepping for Stafford.