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.

Conservation, New Content

Bearded Vultures and Their Conservation

14/11/2023 Gilly Christmas Leave a comment

Written by a former BSS member

About Bearded Vultures

Background

The Bearded Vulture is essentially a scavenger which feeds on the remains of dead mammals, birds and reptiles. Their preference is for bone marrow (and to get at this, they are adept at smashing bones from height, by dropping the larger ones on rocks); but during the mating season, they mainly feed on carrion. The Bearded Vulture is one of the most endangered species in Europe.

Within Europe, the Bearded Vulture can be found in limited numbers in the mountainous areas of Spain and France (Pyrennes), the Alpine regions of Italy, Switzerland and Austria; and in the Balkans (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia, Romania and Bulgaria); and in Greece. Just beyond Europe, it is also native in Turkey and Armenia.

Uncategorized

Bird Stamps of Belgium: TBC Post – Part 2

14/11/2023 Gilly Christmas Leave a comment

The TBC-Post Bird Stamps (continued)

Written by a former BSS member

The second set of stamps from TBC-Post is also based on birds from South Africa. This time, there are five different birds featured on this EU-3 sheetlet that TBC-Post issued on 20 November 2014. When issued, each stamp was sold at €3.21, so the sheetlet had a value of €32.10.

The five different birds shown on these stamps, all of which were apparently photographed in the National Parks of South Africa

New Content

Bird Stamps of Belgium: TBC-Post

09/10/2023 Gilly Christmas Leave a comment

Part One

Written by a former member of the BSS.

Introduction

When you think of Belgian bird stamps, obviously you turn to the long running series of definitives created by André Buzin. But the Buzin issues and Bpost are not the only Belgian source of bird images on stamps. This blog focuses on the bird issues of TBC-Post, of which there are a few to admire and collect.

Who are TBC-Post?

TBC-Post is a private sector postal operator based in Zaventem in Flanders, located just outside and to the North East of the Brussels city region. TBC-Post has been in existence for some 35 years and operates business postal services. TBC-Post also provides postal services to individuals through its appointed retail agents (who sell the TBC-Post stamps as well as act as collecting points for mail).

The TBC-Post Bird Stamp Designs

One of the designs from the TBC-Post catalogue features the African Penguin (Sheniscus demersus), endangered native resident of southern Africa, found along the coastal areas of South Africa (in particular), as well as on the coasts of both Namibia and (less so) Mozambique.

Conservation, Uncategorized

New Zealand Game Bird Habitat Stamps

05/08/2023 Gilly Christmas Leave a comment

Written by Steven Ardron

This article looks at the Game Bird Habitat Stamps available from New Zealand, from 1994 through to the present day, as issued under the authority of the New Zealand Fish and Game Council.

The NZ Fish and Game Council first issued a Game Bird Habitat Stamp in 1994, under authority of the Game Bird Habitat Regulations 1993. Those Regulations allowed the NZ Fish and Game Council to create the Game Bird Habitat Stamp Programme, with the aim of raising funds through the sale of the Game Bird Habitat stamp and related products to help protect and enhance game bird habitats.

Covers, New Issues

BeePost 2023 EUROPA Issues – Peace

14/07/2023 Gilly Christmas Leave a comment

Written by Steven Ardron

Introduction

BeePost is a Lithuanian based private postal operators that operates alongside (and in competition with) the historic, national postal authority, Lithuanian Post (Lietuvos paštas) . BeePost is one of many such commercial operators that has sprung into life following liberalisation of the postal market within the European Union. Not all of these new commercial operators issue postage stamps, but BeePost is one that does. BeePost is, I believe, is part of the Stamperija commercial operation and I have seen the stamps issued by BeePost used for postal purposes.

2023 EUROPA Issue The 2023 EUROPA theme is based around Peace, so it is likely that we will see more than one or two peace doves adorning our EUROPA stamps. The BeePost contribution to this European-wide theme is this pair of BeePost Lithuanian stamps that are based on the topic of and aspiration for “Peace to Ukraine”.

The First Day Cover (FDC), seen below, is dated 24 February 2023, marking the anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine territory by Russian forces.

2023 EUROPA Peace for Ukraine (FDC)

Bird Stamp Society