Bermuda bluebird

Eastern Bluebird (東方藍鴝)
Bermuda (2014)
13th August, 2014. Hamilton

The first and most drastic decline of the bluebird population occurred in the late 19th century when the House sparrow was introduced. The aggressive and adaptable sparrow multiplied rapidly and soon became the most abundant bird in Bermuda. The sparrow, as a hole-nester, rapidly displaced the bluebirds from the eaves of houses and soon began taking over the cliff holes and hollow of the cedar trees as well.

By the 1930's the natural bluebird nestlings were confined almost exclusively to holes in the trunks of cedar trees. The cedar scale endemic in the late 1940's and early 1950's killed over 90% of Bermuda's cedar forest. In an attempt to remove the eyesore and reforest the island the Government and private landowners felled most of the dead cedars destroying many ideal-nesting hollows.

 

Eastern Bluebird (東方藍鴝)
Bermuda (2014)
13th August, 2014. Hamilton

BALTEX 2014

Pictorial postmark : White Stork (白鸛)
Germany (2014)
29th August, 2014. Bonn

BALTEX 2014 is a national stampexhibition that have be held in Malmö, Sweden's third largest city in the center of the vibrant Öresund region. The exhibition was opened 29-31 August 2014.

In 1954 the last breeding attempt by the White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) in Sweden failed and the species was declared extinct from the Swedish fauna. Reasons for the extinction are thought to be a combination of issues such as habitat conversion, increased mortality and an overall decline of the European White Stork populations. Since 1989 an ongoing reintroduction programme for the White Stork has been established in Scania, southern Sweden. The aim of the reintroduction programme is to reestablish a naturally breeding population of White Storks. The approach is based on captive breeding and release of established pairs that settle and breed in the vicinity to the release sites. The White Stork is also used as a flagship species for the restoration of the Swedish wetlands that have been severely affected by drainage to the point that 90% has disappeared from the area.

Blue Lorikeet

Blue Lorikeet (塔布吸蜜鸚鵡)
Aitutaki (2002)
16th July, 2014. Aitutaki

Blue lorikeet is a small lorikeet from French Polynesia and the Cook Islands. It is also known as the Tahiti lorikeet, violet lorikeet, Tahitian lory, blue lory, nunbird, and the indigo lory. It was formerly found on 23 islands around Tahiti, but now restricted to perhaps eight islands: Motu, Manuae, Tikehau, Rangiroa, Aratua, Kaukura, Apataki, Aitutaki, and possibly Harvey Island and Manihi. Its plumage is mainly dark blue and it has a white area over its upper chest, throat and face. The first captive breeding in the UK was by the Marquess of Tavistock in the 1930s. He was awarded a silver medal by the Foreign Bird League for this achievement.

Environmental care

Lesser Adjutant (禿鸛) ; Giant Mud Crab (鋸緣青蟹)
Indonesia (2014)
30th August, 2014. Jakarta

Llesser adjutant is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. Like other members of its genus, it has a bare neck and head. It is however more closely associated with wetland habitats where it is solitary and is less likely to scavenge than the related greater adjutant. It is a widespread species found from India through Southeast Asia to Java.

Giant Mud Crab is an economically important species of crab found in the estuaries and mangroves of Africa, Australia and Asia. In their most common form, the shell colour varies from a deep, mottled green to very dark brown. The natural range of Giant Mud Crab is in the Indo-Pacific. It is found from South Africa, around the coast of the Indian Ocean to the Malay Archipelago, as well as from southern Japan to south-eastern Australia, and as far east as Fiji and Samoa. The species has also been introduced to Hawaii and Florida.