All posts by Gilly Christmas

Previous Editor of Flight. BSS website developer. Live in Hampshire, England. Been a BSS member since 1999. Collecting Interests: Worldwide birds excluding cartoons and stylised birds. Mint only; Selected issues from Stamperija countries. I am excluding doves and poultry from 2020 to try to reduce purchases! I have 3 subsets of stamp albums: a) Paintings with birds; b) Doves, and c) Roosters. Favourite bird stamp countries: All South American countries; Antigua & Barbuda; All Channel Islands; French Antarctic Territory; Falkland Islands; Gambia; Korea (N & S); Malaysia; Namibia; Singapore; South Africa; Sweden and Ukraine. I particularly like Souvenir Sheets, Mini Sheets, and Overprinted stamps. Would be interested in communicating with members with similar collecting interests, and/or meeting with members living within/near Hampshire.
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Marshall Islands

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Birds Definitives Set

22 May 2020

This is more my type of stamp issue: a new definitive stamp set that will hopefully have postal usage.  The Inter-Governmental Philatelic Corporation (IGPC) has recently issued this set of five definitives for the Marshal Islands. They add to an already comprehensive list of bird stamps from this country. 

The five birds featured are:

  • $26.25 Sacred Kingfisher (Todiramphus sanctus)
  • $15.50 Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula)
  • $7.75 Long-tailed Koel (Urodynamis taitensis)
  • $0.06 [6c] Crimson Crowned Fruit Dove (Ptilinopus porphyraceus)           
  • $1.45 Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea)

The Sacred Kingfisher has made a couple of recent appearances on the stamps of the Marshall Islands. This set of four stamps in a souvenir sheet dates from 22 May 2019.  Prior to that, there was one stamp issue in March 2019, as part of a set of six stamps on the theme of birds of the Marshall Islands.

Other countries that have issued Sacred Kingfisher stamps include Australia and New Zealand, as well as Guinea.  The bird is widely found in Oceania and is classified in the “Least Concern” category.

The Tufted Duck is a truly global bird and features on some 30 stamps from around the world.  Interestingly, a few of these issues also show the brown female, including those from Jersey, Maldives, Palau and Romania.  The Tufted Duck is also classed as being in the “Least Concern” group.

The Long-tailed Koel is one of six land birds that is a resident of the Marshall Islands.  It has a broad distribution across the islands and land masses of the Pacific Ocean. The Birdlife Data zone states that the Long-tailed Koel is in the “Least Concern” category, though the population numbers as a whole are suspected of being in decline, owing to habitat destruction, a message that is too common.   

The bird theme website shows that there are ten previous stamps featuring this bird, issued by Tuvalu, Niue, Norfolk Island as well as Micronesia and the Marshall Islands (back in 2002) and Kiribati.  One of the Tuvalu issues was for the “Kosovo Relief Fund”.  The connection between these two countries doesn’t immediately spring to mind. 

The Tongan or Crimson Crowned Fruit Dove is another bird that has featured on a dozen stamp issues from countries in the Pacific, where it is to be found. These issues include ones from Niue, Wallis and Futuna, Fiji and the Marshall Islands (in 199, 2002 and 2008).   It is in the “Least Concern” category.

The Arctic Tern is also well represented on stamps reflecting its broad geographical spread. It is another bird classed as being in the “Least Concern” category, notwithstanding that there is likely a decreasing population trend.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to locate any information on the postal rates for the Marshall Islands Post Office. We can only hope that the odd values in this set do correspond to the real postal rates for 2020.

Sources:

http://www.birdtheme.org/

http://datazone.birdlife.org/

https://www.yvert.com/

Conservation, Stamps

BIRD STAMPS OF PALAU

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Where is Palau?

Palau is a group of coral and volcanic islands that form an archipelago that is located in the Pacific Ocean.  A barrier reef encircles a major part of the archipelago.  The nearest neighbours to Palau are the Philippines to the West and the island of New Guinea to the South.   The principal inhabited islands are Babelthuap (or Babeldoab), Koror, Malakal, Arakabesan, Peleliu, Belilou and Angaur. 

Palau has an estimated population of 18,000 (2019) and uses the US dollar as its currency. The Republic of Palau came into existence as a nation state on 1 October 1994.   The Constitution of Palau is based on a bi-cameral legislative body, known as “The Olbiil Era Kelulau” made up of a House of Delegates and a Senate.  The Senate has authority to provide advice to the President; and consent to Presidential appointments.  The Executive is represented by the President, Vice President, the Ministries and the Council of Chiefs, a body that represents one traditional tribal chief from each of Palau’s island state.

The geography of Palau – the barrier reef and archipelago – are nicely illustrated on this souvenir sheet issued on 14 June 2019, to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the Palau Conservation Society.

Endangered Birds The Souvenir Sheet features one bird on a 55c stamp: the endangered “Bekai” or Palau Megapode (Megapodius laperouse senex).   This is one of the species that the Palau Conservation Society is seeking to protect.  

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Uncategorized

Unloved birds?

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European Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)

The question

Round the corner from the end of the drive where I now live in Dumfries, is this rather intimidating street sign which tells us “Please Don’t Feed the Gulls”.   Where I live is a five-minute walk from the aptly named Dock Park and the River Nith, where there are other similar signs intended to discourage feeding of the Gulls.  Just up from the park, is the river promenade (Whitesands) where in the middle of the river, just down from the caul[1] is an island on which the Herring Gulls generally camp out, occasionally paddling in the river itself, usually against the tide.  Under heavy rains, when the river rises, this island disappears, in which case the Gulls are more often to be seen in aerial formation overhead.

Along Whitesands there are other variations on the sign at the end of my drive.  This got me wondering: alongside Pigeons, are Herring Gulls also our most unloved urban birds? 

The local council (Dumfries and Galloway) certainly thinks so.  Their website[2] tells me that:

“Gulls in Dumfries and Galloway.

Gulls are a nuisance in Dumfries and Galloway. We don’t have a statutory duty to take action against gulls but do have some powers to tackle the problem.”

The Council also says that because of the current Covid-19 situation, they were unable to offer the normal egg and nest removal service in 2020.   The Gulls are protected by law during the nesting season, but outside of that period, unused nests can be cleared away. 

Amongst the advice offered is to stop the Gulls from scavenging, either from food that is visible to them (people eating taking away food as they walk along the street) or from directly feeding them; or from leaving discarded burgers and chips in litter bins. 

[1] Scots language meaning weir or dam in English. You know what it is when you see it.

[2] https://www.dumgal.gov.uk/gulls

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New Issues

New Caledonia – 2020 Christmas Stamp

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Masked Booby

Issued 4th November 2020

This new permanent value international postage stamp was designed by Thierry Mordant, an artist who has created many illustrations and various postage stamps for New Caledonia, France and the Principality of Monaco. On this new stamp, two masked boobies (Sula dactylatra) wearing Christmas beanie hats are engaged in the vital task of carrying traditional seasonal gifts from the shores of New Caledonia.

 These large seabirds are both striking and graceful, with their white and black plumage, yellow beaks and black masks around beak and eyes. They are quite rare within the area covered by New Caledonia’s lagoon. Masked boobies prefer to nest on remote islands and islets (Carey, Chesterfield, Entrecasteaux, Matthew and Hunter), and are expert freefalling plunge divers. They can plunge dive into deep water from a height of over 30 metres to pick off prey from schools of fish or catch large squids!

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Incongruous issues

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Grey Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum)

When I recently wrote an article on “Incongruous issues” I included amongst these this splendid souvenir-sheet based stamp of the Crowned Crane, designed and printed by the Inter-Government Philatelic Corporation (IGPC) for Liberia; and valued at $280.   

The reason I considered that this issue was odd, centres upon the fact that the Grey Crowned Crane is not a native of Liberia, or West Africa, but is found more in Central and Southern parts of the African continent.  Of course, the issue of this stamp well justified by the endangered status of this bird across Africa where it is present; as well as being part of Liberia’s “Birds of the World” series.

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