Here at the Bird Stamp Society, some members are challenging themselves to find the stamp illustrating the most birds, and it has to be different birds. There are many many stamps featuring four different birds, and these featured in the latest version of the BSS Flight magazine, but take a look at this stamp ….. 16 different birds! Steve Strauss describes the stamp details in this Blog. Can this number be beaten? …. the race is on to find more!
In this blog Steve Strauss shows a picture depicting the 16 birds on the Faroe Islands Queen Margrethe II Anniversary stamp, and includes explanatory text taken from the Faroe Islands postal website.
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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)
Written by Steven Ardron
Introduction
On 15 March 2023, Åland Post issued a single stamp featuring a fascinating bird, the Parrot Crossbill (Loxia pytyopsittacus) from the family of Finches and Euphonias and allies (Fringillidae), which comprises some 229 species.
This is the first time that Parrot Crossbill has appeared on a stamp.
The Parrot Crossbill resides in the countries of Scandinavia and in the three Baltic States. There may also be an outpost of this bird in North Eastern Scotland. It feeds primarily on seeds, buds and shoots of various trees and shrubs, including Scots pine, spruce, larch, alder, crowberry, bilberry. In summer, the Parrot Crossbill also feeds on a variety of insects.
Written by Steven Ardron
On 13 March 2023, the Inter-Governmental Philatelic Corporation (IGPC), which issues stamps for the Ghana postal authority, issued two sheetlets featuring the Coqui Francolin (Campocolinus coqui), a member of the Phasianidae family (pheasants and allies). This bird is native to Africa, primarily countries in central, southern and eastern Africa: Angola, Eswatini, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe. However, there are also small populations of the Coqui Francolin located in Western Africa, including Burkina Faso, Gabon, Nigeria and Togo.
According to the IUCN Red List, the Coqui Francolin has Least Concern conservation status, though scientists have yet to quantify the population of this bird. That said, the IUCN Red List indicates that the scientific community consider the population stable.