Bailiwick Life

Atlantic Puffin (北極海鸚)
Guernsey (2016)
7th February, 2015. Guernsey

This latest issue of Guernsey Post & Go stamps includes six fantastic images of animals, all of which are associated with the Bailiwick of Guernsey.

The first of the stamps features a donkey, partly in recognition of the fact that people of Guernsey are sometimes referred to as donkeys! The inclusion of the donkey in this set is also to pay homage to the original Guernsey golden donkey, which is now extinct.

Other animals with island connections pictured on the stamps include the Guernsey golden goat, the iconic Guernsey cow, the Atlantic grey seal, the puffin and the unusual blonde hedgehog.

World Wetlands Day 2016

From left to right :

Rs.7 : Fulvous Whistling-duck (草黃樹鴨) ; Rs.50 : Caspian Tern (紅咀巨鷗)
Rs.35 : Indian Spot-bill Duck (印度花嘴鴨) ; Rs.10 : Greater Flamingo (大紅鶴)

Sri Lanka (2016)
26th March, 2016. Colombo

Wetlands arereferred to as habitats with permanent or temporary accumulation of water with associated floral and faunal communities. Sri Lanka has a geography which supports the formation of wetlands to a great extent. Due to diverse geographical settings, wetlands of different areas display different characteristics. There are 3 broad categories of wetlands found in the country namely:

• Inland natural fresh water wetlands
• Marine and saltwater wetlands
• Man-made wetlands

The interaction between soil, water, plants and animals in the wetlands enable many functions which are useful to people as well as the entire eco-system. Sri Lanka is a mesmerizing destination for bird watching. However, the wetlands in the country beside the others are among the best places to observe Sri Lanka’s avifauna.

Purple Finch

Purple Finch (紫紅朱雀)

St Pierre et Miquelon (2016)

7th April, 2016. Miquelon

Purple Finch and the other "American rosefinches" are placed in the genus Haemorhous by the American Ornithologists' Union but have usually been included in Carpodacus. It is included in the finch family, Fringillidae, which is made up of passerine birds found in the northern hemisphere and Africa. The purple finch was originally described by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1789.

There are two subspecies of the purple finch, it differs from the nominate subspecies in that it has a longer tail and shorter wing. The plumage of both males and females are darker, and the coloration of the females is more greenish. The bill of C. p. californicus is also longer than that of the nominate subspecies.

Adults have a short forked brown tail and brown wings and are about 15 cm in length and weigh 34 g (1.2 oz). Adult males are raspberry red on the head, breast, back and rump; their back is streaked. Adult females have light brown upperparts and white underparts with dark brown streaks throughout; they have a white line on the face above the eye.

From top to bottom :

Purple Finch (紫紅朱雀) ; Bohemian Waxwing (太平鳥)
Blue Jay (藍松鴉) ; American Redstart (橙尾鴝鶯)

St Pierre et Miquelon (2013-2016)

7th April, 2016. Miquelon

White-tailed Eagle

White-tailed Eagle (白尾鷲)
Sweden (2016)
25th March, 2016. Uppsala

The white-tailed eagle is one of the best examples of where humans not only can cause environmental destruction but also create something fantastic through active environmental improvements. Environmental toxins in the Baltic Sea eradicated almost the entire population of white-tailed eagles. These toxins made the shells of the birds’ eggs so thin that they broke during brooding. Today, white-tailed eagles have made a strong comeback. One reason for this has been in part the decrease in environmental toxins and in part Project Sea Eagle.