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St Vincent and The Grenadines

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The Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus)

St Vincent and The Grenadines is another country with an extensive range of bird stamps.   For this March 2020 issue, I was struck by the powerful design of this miniature sheet and set of four stamps from the Inter-Governmental Philatelic Corporation for the St Vincent and The Grenadines Postal Corporation.  I particularly like the background image, with the imposing photograph of the Black Vulture.  I also think that it is helpful too to have a commentary about the Black Vulture incorporated into the margin.

I then went to the website of the Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds where I found the freely available “Complete Checklist of the birds of the West Indies” in which the Black Vulture is mentioned as a “Rare Breeding Resident”, so I guess that it is conceivable that the Black Vulture might be spotted (from time to time) in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

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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/

Overprints, Stamps

2010 and all that

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Last thoughts on the Lapwings and other Guyana bird surcharges

First an apology and a correction to the previous blog. I had been unsure whether there were any Stanley Gibbons numbers to the Lapwing issues, particularly as there is no current catalogue to refer to. However, a closer look at the well crammed and tiny print spreadsheet provided by Steve Zirinsky revealed a misreading that indicate SG numbers do indeed exist for these issues. I am still unsure about the sequencing, but can at least now show the Scott and SG equivalent catalogue numbers together, as per Table 1 in the attached document.

But let’s move on from these birds – we have surely done them to death now? There are a handful of other surcharged bird stamps that emerged from the Rainforests of Guyana during the period 2010 to 2013. This piece is intended to sweep them all up and present them.

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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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Overprints, Stamps

Scott’s to the rescue!

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More on the Guyana Northern Lapwing surcharges

In truth, this wee update really ought to be entitled, “Gilly to the Rescue,” because she actually found this material and is the fortunate owner of the Scott catalogue that has helped clarify a little further the mysterious Guyana Lapwing surcharges. But perhaps that would have sounded like the title of one of those gymslip tales by Angela Brazil and terribly fifties; not at all right, so Scott’s it has to be.

And there is no denying that Gilly has worked wonders in unearthing more information here, proving yet again what I always thought, that the philately of the America’s is better handled by Scott’s than Stanley Gibbons as additional commentary to the first Lapwing blog confirmed. Scott’s scores even for a philatelic, “Wallpaper” country like Guyana. So what can we now add to the original piece? Firstly, all the Guyanese 1995 Birds of the World singles can be given Scott numbers in addition to SG ones.

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