⭕️Aerogramme of Giibraltar

From left to right :
Mediterranean Shag (地中海鸕鶿) ; Eurasian Hoopoe (戴勝)
Gibraltar (1992, 2008)
25th August, 2016. Gibraltar

Gibraltar has long been known as a key location for observing birds so we thought what better subject for the 2008 Definitive. The ‘Birds of the Rock’ Definitive focuses on some of the beautiful birds that grace Gibraltar’s skies.

Hoopoe breeds throughout the Mediterranean and is known to many locals as ‘Gallito de Marzo’. They are particularly noticeable around the Alameda Gardens in March during its main migration period every spring.

Mediterranean Shag is a small breeding colony of 5-8 pairs of this threatened seabird breeds in sea caves along the east side of Rock. The Gibraltar colony is possibly the only one left on mainland Iberia.

⭕️Aerogramme of Vanuatu

From left to right :
Pacific Imperial-pigeon (太平洋皇鳩) ; Purple Swamphen (紫水雞)
Streaked Fantail (點胸扇尾鶲)
Vanuatu (2012)
21st September, 2016. Port Vila

The Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres has a fascinating migration story compared to the Vanuatu Petrel Pterodroma occulta which breeds on Vanua Lava while the Vanuatu Scrubfowl Megapodius layardi (Namalao), found on Ambryn Island, predominantly incubates its eggs in geothermally-heated soil. Nambiru or the Purple Swamphen Porphyrio Porphyrio has a very loud explosive call described as a "raucous high-pitched screech”. The Dark-brown Honeyeater Lichmera incana is also loud and noisy in contrast to the endemic Southern Shrikebill Clytorhynchus pachycephaloides which is a beautiful songbird. Long-tailed Triller Lalage leucopyga simillima is endemic to Vanuatu and not threatened.

The Streaked Fantail Rhipidura spilodera is also endemic on all except the smallest islands from Vanua Lava to Efate. These can be compared to the Red-bellied Fruit Dove Ptilinopus greyii, which is considered to be capable of flying between islands. Of the others, the Pacific Imperial Pigeon Ducula pacifica (locally known as Nawemba) dines on fruiting native trees; the Silvereye Zosterops lateralis has a distinctive olive coloured head and white eye-ring and the Striated Mangrove Heron Butorides solomonensis reaches only 45cm in height but has interesting behavioural traits.

⭕️Bird definitive series (3) of Slovenia

€0,25 : European Green Woodpecker (綠啄木鳥) ; €0,30 : European Honey Buzzard (鵰頭鷹)
€0,50 ; Hazel Grouse (花尾榛雞), €0,75 : Firecrest (火冠戴菊)
€1,00 : European Bee-eater (黃喉蜂虎)
Slovenia (2016)
27th May, 2016. Maribor

European Green Woodpecker is one of the largest members of the woodpecker family, growing to a length of 30–33 cm. Its habitat consists of open areas with some trees, preferably old orchards. The female lays clutches of five to seven eggs in unlined tree cavities. It feeds on insects, especially ants, and therefore spends a lot of time on the ground hunting food with the help of its remarkably long tongue. It is a widely distributed species in Slovenia and a common species throughout the year.

European Honey Buzzard lives in open deciduous and mixed woodland bordering pastures and meadows. It usually builds its nest high in a tree and will frequently occupy the abandoned nest of other birds. The female lays one clutch of one to three eggs. It feeds on wasp larvae, adult wasps and bees, and also on amphibians and birds. The European honey buzzard is a summer species that migrates via Gibraltar, Sicily and the Bosporus to southern Africa. It is a relatively common nesting species in Slovenia.

Hazel Grouse is one of the smaller members of the grouse family, growing to a length of 35–37cm. It lives in coniferous and mixed forests with some undergrowth and, unlike the other members of the family, remains within a very small area, of just a few hundred square metres, throughout the year. It lives in pairs and is very shy, and therefore difficult to observe. The female lays clutches of six to ten eggs and both parents care for the chicks. The hazel grouse feeds on a variety of plant food (buds, shoots and seeds). It is relatively widely distributed in Slovenia and is found in all mountainous areas.

Common Firecrest is one of two members of the kinglet family found in Slovenia, it grows to a length of 8.5–9cm and weighs barely more than 5.5 g. Its habitat consists of coniferous and mixed forest, where it tirelessly hunts tiny insects among the needles and leaves of trees. It builds a bowl-shaped nest high up in a tree, where the female lays between seven and eleven eggs. Each female lays two clutches. A relatively common summer species in Slovenia, individual specimens also remain over the winter in southern areas.

European Bee-eater iswonderfully coloured member of the bee-eater family grows to a length of 27–29 cm. Its preferred habitat is open areas with clayey or sandy cliffs in which to dig a breeding burrow. The European bee-eater nests in colonies. The female lays clutches of four to seven eggs and both parents incubate and care for the chicks. Bee-eaters are aerial hunters of prey consisting of the larger insects, such as dragonflies, and also bees. This summer species migrates south in autumn. It is a very rare nesting species in Slovenia.

⭕️ Definitive issue 2015 of St Helena

50p : Red-billed Tropicbird (紅嘴熱帶鳥) ; 40p : Wilson's Storm Petrel (黃蹼洋海燕)
60p : Masked Booby (藍臉鰹鳥) ; 30p : Java Sparrow (爪哇禾雀)
St Helena (2015)
23rd July, 2016. Jamestown

The avifauna of Saint Helena Island include a total of 68 species. Only one endemic species survives today, the Saint Helena plover. Several more endemics are extinct and known only from subfossil remains: the Saint Helena petrel, Olson's petrel, Saint Helena shearwater, Saint Helena crake, Saint Helena swamphen, Saint Helena dove, Saint Helena cuckoo and Saint Helena hoopoe. At least five non-endemics have been extirpated from Saint Helena but still occur elsewhere. Nine species have been introduced by humans and formed established breeding populations while many more species were introduced in the past but failed to become established. Of these, 43 species are rare or accidental visitors.

20p : Brown Booby (白腹鰹鳥) ; 5p : White Tern (白玄鷗)
10p : Zebra Dove (斑姬地鳩) ; 15p : Chukar Partridge (石雞)
St Helena (2015)
19th July, 2016. Sandy Bay

⭕️Definitive issue 2014

30/- : Red and Yellow Barbet (紅黃擬啄木鳥) ; 35/- : Scarlet-chested Sunbird (赤胸花蜜鳥)
50/- : Eastern Yellow-billed Hornbill (黃嘴犀鳥) ; 55/- : Greater Honeyguide (黑喉響蜜鴷)
65/- : Superb Starling (栗頭麗椋鳥) ; 70/- : African Fish Eagle (吼海鵰)
80/- : Lesser Flamingo (小紅鸛)
100/- : Hadada Ibis (鳳頭朱鷺) ; 110/- : Ross's Turaco (短冠紫蕉鵑)
Kenya (2014)
16th February, 2016. Molo

Kenya has the reputation to be the number one country to visit for birds as several World records of twitching (highest bird list seen in a day, in a month...) are from this country. It is undisputably one of the best indeed: birds are numerous, generally not shy and fairly easy to find. Endemic list is not very long (see inset on the right) but Kenya is home of many beautiful and localised species. We describe a selection below: endemics, restricted range species (often shared with Tanzania) and most spectacular Eastern African specialities (often shared with Ethiopia or Somalia). Bird lists are so long that choosing either the bird to list and the photos to illustrate them is difficult!

⭕️Extra definitive stamps of Ireland

Mute Swan (疣鼻天鵝) ;
Great Spotted Woodpecker (大斑啄木鳥)

 Ireland (2015)
1st September, 2015. Dublin

An Post increased the standard domestic letter rate again from 68c to 70c on 2015. As the new rate effective on July 1, An Post released couple of new coils and booklet stamps, those stamps still as well as Biodiversity definitive series. However An Post did not have special postmark to match those stamps, here are the maxicard and cover of the stamps.

Mute Swan is a species of swan, and thus a member of the waterfowl family Anatidae. It is native to much of Europe and Asia, and (as a rare winter visitor) the far north of Africa. It is also an introduced species in North America, Australasia and southern Africa. The name 'mute' derives from it being less vocal than other swan species. Measuring 125 to 170 cm in length, this large swan is wholly white in plumage with an orange bill bordered with black. It is recognisable by its pronounced knob atop the bill.

The Great Spotted Woodpecker can be found in both broadleaved and coniferous woodlands and forests and recently has been spotted in gardens and parks. They feed on seeds, invertebrates, and occasionally bird eggs and nestlings. During spring they can be heard ‘drumming’; a sound produced by rapidly pecking on a dead branch or other resonant object.

Mute Swan (疣鼻天鵝) 

Ireland (2015)

1st July, 2015. Dublin

⭕️Northern Shoveler

Northern Shoveler (琵嘴鴨)
Belgium (2015)
30th May, 2015. Monk

Northern Shoveler is unmistakable in the northern hemisphere due to its large spatulate bill. The breeding drake has an iridescent dark green head, white breast and chestnut belly and flanks. In flight, pale blue forewing feathers are revealed, separated from the green speculum by a white border. In early fall the male will have a white crescent on each side of the face. In non-breeding (eclipse) plumage, the drake resembles the female.

The female is a drab mottled brown like other dabblers, with plumage much like a female mallard, but easily distinguished by the long broad bill, which is gray tinged with orange on cutting edge and lower mandible. The female's forewing is gray.

They are 48 cm long and have a wingspan of 76 cm (30 in) with a weight of 600 g.

⭕️Birds of Slovenia II

From left to right :
€0,01 : Great Crested Grebe (鳳頭鷿鷈); €0,02 : Stock Dove (歐鴿)
€0,05 : Black Stork (黑鸛) ; €0,20 : Kentish Plover (東方環頸鴴)
€0,50 : White-winged Snowfinch (白斑翅雪雀)
Slovenia (2015)
7th July, 2015. Službeno, Maribor

Slovenia continuous its bird definitive series on 2015, five stamps are Great Crested Grebe, Stock Dove, Black Stork, Kentish Plover and White-winged Snowfinch. Great Crested Grebe is the largest member of the grebe family found in the Old World, with some larger species residing in the Americas. They measure 46–51 cm long with a 59–73 cm wingspan and weigh 0.9 to 1.5 kg. It is an excellent swimmer and diver, and pursues its fish prey underwater. The adults are unmistakable in summer with head and neck decorations. In winter, this is whiter than most grebes, with white above the eye, and a pink bill. Stock Dove is the largest within the pigeon family, and has the widest distribution. Its members are typically pale grey or brown, often with white head or neck markings or iridescent green or purple patches on the neck and breast. The neck feathers may be stiffened and aligned to form grooves, but these are absent in this species. The stock dove is less grey in plumage than other pigeons in Europe.

With a body length of 90–100 cm, the black stork is slightly smaller than its cousin the white stork. The black stork is a shy bird that is highly sensitive to human presence and lives inwoodland in the vicinity of small streams or ditches. It builds its large nest in old trees, usually oak, in lowland wooded areas, forests. Occasionally it will build a nest on a suitable rock. It has one brood consisting of three to five chicks. Kentish Plover is 15 to 17 cm long and can be distinguished from the little ringed plover, which also nests in Slovenia, by the dark patches on the side of the breast and, in the male bird, by a sandy-brown cap. Generally speaking it has less black on its body than related species. It nests on the coast, in areas safe from floods, on salty soil with scant vegetation. The nest is simply a hollow in the
ground.

With a body length of 17–19 cm, the snowfinch is the largest passerine species in Slovenia. It inhabits inhospitable areas of rocky grassland and screes above the treeline; it is unconcerned by human presence. It likes to build its nest in crevices close to areas where the snow remains on the ground for a long time and surrounded by steep rock faces. It lays clutches of four to five eggs and has one to two broods a year.

Great Crested Grebe (鳳頭鷿鷈)
Slovenia (2015)
7th July, 2015. Službeno, Maribor

⭕️Wildlife in Norway

Eurasian Eagle-Owl (鵰鴞)
Norway (2015)
2nd January, 2015. Oslo

The Eurasian eagle-owl is the huge bird of prey known as a symbol of wisdom and erudition. Everyone from major publishing houses to Harry Potter has made use of different types of owl to strengthen their profile with knowledge and wisdom.

A fully-grown Eurasian eagle-owl has a wingspan of between 1.50 and 1.80 metres. The easiest way to recognise an eagle-owl is by its high «eyebrows» or its bushy ear tufts that look more like horns. Even in the dark he can see well and his wings are constructed so that the eagle-owl can fly almost silently, even in quite dense forest. In coastal areas the eagle-owl preys on gulls and seabirds; inland, small rodents and hare are at the top of the menu. The eagle-owl does not breed until he is 2-3 years old. An eagle-owl couple is faithful – they stay together for life. It is common to find up to six eggs in the nest in March, but the eggs need take over a month to hatch. Thereafter it takes two months for the young to be able to fly, and four more months before they can cope on their own.

Before becoming a protected in 1971, hunting the eagle-owl was in the process of wiping out the species. In recent years it is the electricity pylon which acts like an electric chair on the eagle-owl. The eagle-owl likes to sit up high to watch over its hunting grounds. They sit like this at length before then moving to an even higher point to get a view from a different angle. Electricity pylons are perfect for this - if only they were not filled with electricity. In 2012, Bergens Tidende ran a story about the first perches in electricity pylons for eagle-owls. The electrified cross-bars of the pylon themselves are fitted with spikes to keep the eagle-owl away, but extended bars have been attached to the end of the crossbars where the eagle-owl can sit in safety. After the first ten perches were installed at Tjeldstø in Øygarden in 2012, finding dead eagle-owls by the electricity pylons is a much rarer event. Today between 1,400 and 2,000 eagle-owls breed in Norway.

⭕️Roseate Tern

Roseate Tern (粉紅燕鷗)
Hong-Kong (2006)
24th July, 2014. Hong-Kong

This is the third set of definitive stamps issued by Hongkong Post since the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, and the new set of Hong Kong definitive stamps, featuring the landscapes of Hong Kong Global Geopark of China, will be released on 24 July 2014. In parallel, the 2006 definitive stamps on birds, officially released on 31 December 2006, will continue to be on sale while stock lasts.

Roseate Tern is an uncommon to scarce summer visitor, breeding on rocky islets in offshore waters. It is an example of a bird which spends most of the time at sea, only coming to shore to lay eggs. At a distance, it appears mostly white apart from a black cap and a red bill. The tail is deeply forked. The breast and the belly are sometimes tinged red. Its flight is graceful, punctuated by plunges into the sea to catch fish.

Roseate Tern (粉紅燕鷗)
Hong-Kong (2006)
24th July, 2014. Sai Kung

⭕️Birds of Slovenia, a new definitive stamp series

From left to right :
A : Crag Martin (岩燕) ; B : Common Merganser (川秋沙)
C : Lesser Kestrel (黃爪隼) ; D : Ural Owl (長尾林鴞) ; 0,36 € : Eurasian Bittern (大麻鳽)
Slovenia (2014)
31st May, 2014. Službeno, Maribor

Slovenia starts their new definitive series after the Wild Flowers, which issued on 2007. The first five are A to D, and 0,36 Euros for basic rates, and perhaps more to be come. Crag Martin is 14–15 cm long and thus a fairly large representative of the swallow family. It is a rare nesting bird in Slovenia, limited to the western and northeastern part of the country. It belongs to the summer species, but it is the only swallow that can also be seen in winter in certain warmer or southern parts of Slovenia. Common Merganser, being 57–69 cm long, the common merganser is the largest of the three merganser species in the duck family that can be found in Slovenia. Lesser Kestrel is 29–32 cm long and so slightly smaller than the common kestrel, commonly found in Slovenia. Unfortunately, it has become extinct as a nesting bird in the country and can only be seen when flying through. Ural Owl is one of the largest representatives of the family of typical owls in Slovenia, and stays here throughout the year. Eurasian Bittern stay in Slovenia the whole year round. They build their nests on the ground, using reeds and twigs. They lay three to four eggs, and raise one to two broods a year.

Birds of Southern Pacific (1)

From left to right :
70¢ : Friendly Ground-dove (睦雞鳩) ; 50¢ : Swamp Harrier (沼澤鷂)
Tonga (1998)
9th May, 2013. Nuku'alofa

Actually I forget how many pacific birds I have been introduced here, so from this time, I reset it as 1, then follow it in future. Tonga is in the Southern Pacific, it is famous in the world as it is the first country go into new day, thus as a result, it also the first country go into next year. In each year many tourists visit this islands to celebrate new year.

Back to the birds, the recent definitive stamp sets of Tonga are bird theme, it is good news to the theme collector or sadly to collector - a lot of new species may featured on stamps but mostly in high value.Friendly Ground-Dove is dove to be found in west or southern pacific, and widely on Malaya Peninsular. Swamp Harrier also to be found in west or southern pacific and Malaya Peninsular, and some records in Australia.

Those two birds are endangered species.

Abyssinian Woodpecker

Abyssinian Woodpecker (金背啄木鳥)
Ethiopia (1998)
9th April, 2013. Addis Ababa

Abyssinian Woodpecker is an endemic species of Ethiopia and Eritrea, but it doesn't endanger as it widely to be found in west of Eritrea and north of Ethiopia, mostly highland of these two countries. The male looks as well as the stamp as above and female only in grey colour.

Only Ethiopia issued Abyssinian Woodpecker stamp in the world and above is one in a set of 23 definitive stamps, when all of them are in same illustration. Please note the registration label using in Addis Ababa is having two versions, one is UPU-standard as above and bearing 'Ethiopian Post' name in below envelope.

Coffee Ceremonies (咖啡禮儀)
Ethiopia (2011)
26th March, 2013. Addis Ababa

Laughing Gull

Laughing Gull (笑鷗)
Kiribati (2008)
7th August, 2011. Bairiki, Tarawa

It is, the laughing gull seem is very normal gull species in the Caribbean Sea, however it is not normal to South Pacific. Anyway, it really have record to find the gull in South Pacific and seashore of Europe, perhaps as they migrate to there during winter seasons.

Only Kiribati issued Laughing Gull stamp in the South Pacific area, which is one of the latest definitive stamp set of the country.

⭕️Definitive stamps of Cayman Islands (2)

80c : Caribbean Dove (白額棕翅鳩)
75c : Grand Cayman Amazon (開曼島亞馬遜鸚鵡)
25c : Bananaquit (蕉森鶯) ; 50c : Vitelline Warbler (卵黃林鶯)
Cayman Islands (2006)
9th October, 2006. George Town

Few years ago, I purchased couple of definitive stamps from Cayman Islands philatelic bureau, which are amazing pretty bird issue of this islands. Hopefully, the stamps until now still available in post office and above CTO cover was great helpful by the philatelic bureau again. Four lowest values are selected and cancelled with first day issued postmark.

The description on the stamps are seem mostly endemic species to Cayman Islands, but except Grand Cayman Amazon, they seem not have big variety and can't to be checked in species list. Only Grand Cayman Amazon is endanger species and others are common to Caribbean area.

World Wetlands Day 2012

$1,40 : Fork-tailed Sunbird (叉尾太陽鳥) ; $1,80 : Roseate Tern (粉紅燕鷗)
$2,40 : Greater Painted Snipe (彩鷸) ; $3 : Red-whiskered Bulbul (紅耳鵯)
Hong-Kong (2006)
2nd February, 2012. Tuen Mun Central

Just for my record, after 2010 and 2011, I decided to make some stuff to record this day in this year, even seems no care this event. And also one more maximum card of this definitive issue to be produced. Dalmatian Pelican, is the largest in pelican family, it is not more famous than Black-faced Spoonbill (黑面琵鷺) but more attractive than most water birds during migrate seasons.

The pelican now listed as Vulnerable class in IUCN list, mostly to be found in Mei-Po or Deep Bay of Hong Kong.

Dalmatian Pelican (卷羽鵜鶘)
Hong-Kong (2006)
2nd February, 2012. Tin Yuet, Tinshuiwai

Laughing Kookaburra

Laughing Kookaburra (笑翠鳥)
Australia (2005)
29th April, 2011. Wellington, New South Wales

Laughing Kookaburra is a common endemic kingfisher in east Australia, and then introduced to Tasmania, south-west of Western Australia, and New Zealand. The closed species is Blue-winged Kookaburra (藍翅笑翠鳥), it has been settled some colonies of Laughing Kookaburra in central northern and north-western Australia.

This interesting postcard especially printed for Wellington Caves originally sent from Dickson, Canberra on the day of issue of stamp issued on 1978. The stamp is 'stamp on stamp' features a 1928 Laughing Kookaburra stamp, to commemorate 50 anniversary of NSE.

Definitives of Kenya

From left to right :
5/- : Avocado (鱷梨) ; 7/- : Malachite Kingfisher (冠翠鳥)
10/- : Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater (桂胸蜂虎) ; 100/- : Coffee (咖啡)
Kenya (1993, 2001)
4th May, 2011. Nairobi

In a long time ago, here shown a pen-pal mail form Kenya features bird definitives issued on 1993, it was 7th set definitive set of this country ; and on 2001, the country issued another set definitive set illustrates variety crops. These two sets stamp are printed by Courvoisier while it closed in 2001. Until now, these two definitive sets are still available in post office counters and above mail is an example features the stamps.

Malachite Kingfisher and Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater are beautiful birds in East Africa, they are ordinary to be found in ponds and edge of forests. They are high adaptable to the unstable sub-Sahara environment. Avocado and coffee are popular crops in the world, especially Kenya's coffee is famous to coffeemates.

⭕️Aerogramme of St Lucia

St. Lucia Parrot (聖盧西亞亞馬遜鸚鵡)
St Lucia (2004, aerogramme 1992)
2nd June, 2011. Castries

After years, I received another mail from this small islands country again. This time is an aerogramme features panorama of the Port of Castries, but the picture probably taken in 80's year of last century. The most interesting and attractive thing to me is, the imprinted stamp is St Lucia Parrot and Mount Gimie. The national bird of St Lucia and the highest mountain of this country. For make-up postage (perhaps do not need), two coil stamps affixed on the aerogramme, they interestingly feature the national symbols again !

St Lucia Parrot is an endemic parrot to St Lucia, sadly the population of the parrot was decreased from 1000 in 1950s to 150 in 1970s. Later on the governor took an action to conserve this national bird and now the population turned back to more than 350 parrots.

St. Margrethen and Kaltbrunn

Common Tern (普通燕鷗)
Switzerland (1992)
26th April, 2011. St. Margrethen

This time, did not do any stupid as last Philippine maxicard. The card photographed real Common Tern and the stamp illustrated same species, although it is a commemorative stamp in 19 years ago ! For me it is not a big problem due to I only collect bird theme stamps.

The maxicard postmarked in St. Margrethen, it is a border town of Swiss near Austria. Not far away is Austrian village In der Schanz and Lac Bodensee, as shown in the map of stamp. There is a small wetland attract couple of migratory birds in each year, Common Tern is one of common visitors of the area.

Not far away from St. Margrethen, Kaltbrunn also in the Canton of St. Gallen. Is a town in the mountain area, nearby the town there has a protected area called Kaltbrunner Ried. It seems a small wetland to wild animals and birds. As this, the postmark which used in Kaltbrunn is feature a sight of the wetland. Two birds on the postmark probably like Black-headed Gull (紅嘴鷗).

Common Cuckoo (普通杜鵑)
Switzerland (2006)
6th December, 2011. Kaltbrunn