Red Book of Moldova

From left to right :
85b : Glossy Ibis (彩䴉) ; 1.20l : Eastern White Pelican (白鵜鶘)
5.40l : Eurasian Spoonbill (白琵鷺) ; 1.20l : Ferruginous Duck (白眼潛鴨)
Moldova (2011)
30th October, 2013. Chisinau

It is the second issue related to birds of 'Red Book of Moldova' stamp series, the first one issued on 2003.

Glossy Ibis is the most widespread ibis species, breeding in scattered sites in warm regions of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Atlantic and Caribbean region of the Americas. It is thought to have originated in the Old World and spread naturally from Africa to northern South America in the 19th century, from where it spread to North America. This species is migratory; most European birds winter in Africa, and in North America birds from north of the Carolinas winter farther south. Eastern White Pelican, breeds from southeastern Europe through Asia and in Africa in swamps and shallow lakes. It usually to be found in and around shallow, (seasonally or tropical) warm fresh water. Well scattered groups of breeding pelicans occur through Eurasia from the eastern Mediterranean to Vietnam. In Eurasia, fresh or brackish waters may be inhabited and the pelicans may be found in lakes, deltas, lagoons and marshes, usually with dense reedbeds nearby for nesting purposes.

Eurasian Spoonbill is a Palearctic species, breeding from the United Kingdom and Spain in the west through to Japan, and also in North Africa. In Europe, only The Netherlands, Spain, Austria, Hungary and Greece have sizeable populations. Ferruginous Duck is a medium-sized diving duck from Eurasia. The species is known colloquially by birders as "Fudge Duck". It breeding habitat is marshes and lakes with a metre or more water depth. These ducks breed in southern and eastern Europe and southern and western Asia. They are somewhat migratory, and winter farther south and into north Africa.

Red-vented Bulbul

Red-vented Bulbul (黑喉紅臀鵯)
Pakistan (2013)
21th October, 2013. Karachi

Red-vented Bulbul is resident breeder across the Indian Subcontinent, including Sri Lanka extending east to Burma and parts of Tibet. It has been introduced in many other parts of the world and has established itself in the wild on several Pacific islands including Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, and Hawaii. It has also established itself in parts of Dubai, the United Arab Emirates and New Zealand. It is included in the list of the world's 100 worst invasive alien species.

⭕️Singapore-Vietnam joint issue

Grey Peacock-pheasant (灰孔雀雉) ; Red Junglefowl (茶花雞)
Singapore (2013)
18th October, 2013. Change Alley

Singapore and Vietnam once again to issue common theme stamps on 2013, to celebrate the 40 years of diplomatic relations between two countries.

Grey Peacock-Pheasant is a large Southeast Asian member of the order Galliformes, the national bird of Myanmar. It is a large pheasant, up to 76 cm long and greyish brown with finely spotted green eyespots, an elongated bushy crest, bare pink or yellow facial skin, white throat, and grey iris, bill and legs. To be distributed in lowland and hill forests of mainland Assam and Southeast Asia, but excluding most of Indochina as well as the entire Malayan Peninsula.

Red Junglefowl is thought to be ancestral to the domestic chicken, with some hybridzation with the Grey Junglefowl. The Red Junglefowl was first domesticated at least five thousand years ago in Asia, then taken around the world, and the domestic form is kept globally as a very productive food source of both meat and eggs.

Kerguelen Tern (Revised)

Kerguelen Tern (克格倫燕鷗)
French Australia and Antarctica Territories (2010)
20th October, 2010. Port-aux-Français, Kerguelen
17th December, 2010. Hongkong

Kerguelen Tern is a dark grey tern with reddish bill mostly appears in Southern Hemisphere, it near endemic to Kerguelen Islands, the part of French Territories in south Indian Ocean. Although the bleeding place is Kerguelen Islands, it also to be found in the Prince Edward Islands and Crozet Islands, while they are in small colonies. Total population of Kerguelen Tern is around 3,500 to 6,000 individuals, however it is not final data as the main breeding place Kerguelen Islands was not include.

The above cover specially thanks to Jean-Pierre of his great help, just spent two month on the way from sub-Antarctica islands to Hongkong. Please note that TAAF still using traditional registration label instead of common UPU standard 13-digit barcode label, it is perhaps there is not possible to install computerised postal system in Antarctica and lack of demand.

Kerguelen Tern (克格倫燕鷗)
French Australia and Antarctica Territories (2010)
18th February, 2013. Port-aux-Français, Kerguelen

Surtsey

Left : Glaucous Gull (北極鷗) ; Right : Surtsey (敘爾特塞)
Iceland (2009, 2013)
12th September, 2013. Reykjavík (First day special postmark)

Surtsey is a volcanic island off the southern coast of Iceland. At 63.303°N 20.6047°W Coordinates: 63.303°N 20.6047°W, is the southernmost point of Iceland. It was formed in a volcanic eruption which began 130 metres below sea level, and reached the surface on 14 November 1963. The eruption lasted until 5 June 1967, when the island reached its maximum size of 2.7 km². Since then, wind and wave erosion have caused the island to steadily diminish in size: as of 2002, its surface area was 1.4 km².

A gull colony has been present since 1984, although gulls were seen briefly on the shores of the new island only weeks after it first appeared. The gull colony has been particularly important in developing the plant life on Surtsey, and the gulls have had much more of an impact on plant colonisation than other breeding species due to their abundance. An expedition in 2004 found the first evidence of nesting Atlantic Puffins, which are extremely common in the rest of the archipelago.

The bird of the year 2013 (Revised)

Postmark : Common Snipe (田鷸)
Germany (2013)
20th July, 2013. Ober-Mörlen

This year, Germany choose Common Snipe as the bird of the year. The bird adults are 25–27cm in length with a 44–47cm wingspan and a weight of 80–140g (up to 180g pre-migration). They have short greenish-grey legs and a very long straight dark bill. The body is mottled brown with straw-yellow stripes on top and pale underneath. They have a dark stripe through the eye, with light stripes above and below it and the wings are pointed.

Overall, the species is not threatened. Populations on the southern fringes of the breeding range in Europe are however declining with local extinction in parts of England and Germany), mainly due to field drainage and agricultural intensification.

Personal stamp : Common Snipe (田鷸)
Germany (2013)
15th September, 2013. Oepfershausen

Pierre Bignon

Gentoo Penguin (巴布亞企鵝)
French Australia and Antarctica Territories (2011)
18th February, 2013. Port-aux-Français, Kerguelen

However, very sorry it is impossible to find biographic of Pierre Bignon, only known he was born in 1921 and died on 1990. He seems a scientist always research in Antarctica area, so the stamp illustrated Gentoo Penguin but his portrait on the tag.

Gentoo Penguin breeds on many sub-Antarctic islands. The main colonies are on the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and Kerguelen Islands; smaller populations are found on Macquarie Island, Heard Islands, South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula. The total breeding population is estimated to be over 300,000 pairs. Nests are usually made from a roughly circular pile of stones and can be quite large, 20 cm high and 25 cm in diameter. The stones are jealously guarded and their ownership can be the subject of noisy disputes between individual penguins. They are also prized by the females, even to the point that a male penguin can obtain the favors of a female by offering her a nice stone.

Birds of Germany

From left to right :
58+27c : Goldfinch (紅額金翅雀) ; 90+40c : Eurasian Bullfinch (紅腹灰雀)
145+55c : Blue Tit (藍山雀)
Germany (2013)
8th August, 2013. Berlin

Finally, I got a cover from Germany with features real bird issue. Three species are selected for the stamps but they are quite ordinary to European area. It seems not necessary to make any descriptions again to these three species, however I received another cover which sent by an eBay seller, it is so pity that the postmark not in good condition but the stamps cancelled on August 6, two days before day of issue. Is it situation ordinary in Germany ?

From left to right :
145+55c : Blue Tit (藍山雀) ; 58+27c : Goldfinch (紅額金翅雀)
90+40c : Eurasian Bullfinch (紅腹灰雀)
Germany (2013)
6th August, 2013. Herten

Goldfinch (紅額金翅雀)
Germany (2013)
8th August, 2013. Walsorde

Eurasian Bullfinch (紅腹灰雀)
Germany (2013)
8th August, 2013. Berlin

 

Blue Tit (藍山雀)
 Germany (2013)
8th August, 2013. Berlin

Owls of Thailand

From left to right :
Collared Scops Owl (領角鴞) ; Collared Owlet (鵂鶹)
Barred Eagle-Owl (馬來雕鴞) ; Barn Owl (倉鴞)
Latvia (2013)
29th August, 2013. Bo Sang, Chiang Mai

Thailand is a paradise for bird lovers. Especially the many natural parks offer plenty of opportunities for birdwatching. The following is an alphabetical list of more than 900 bird species in Thailand*. Many of these can be found in and around Chiang Mai. Favorite spots for birding near Chiang Mai include Doi Inthanon (the highest mountain of Thailand: 2565 m) and Doi Chiang Dao (2175 m).

Above 4 species on the stamps are quite ordinary to be found in Chiang Mai, and near round mountain areas, however they are not endanger species.

SEPAC 2013

Yellow-legged Gull (黄腿鷗)
Monaco (2013)
5th June, 2013. Monte-Carlo

This year, the stamps issued by the postal administrations that are members of SEPAC (Small European Postal Administrations Cooperation) will feature "animals" as their joint theme. Gull is chosen as Monaco stamp, a very common marine bird in this small country. The species depicted on the stamp is the Yellow-legged Gull which is characteristic of the Mediterranean.

Above is the maxicard shown the gulls waiting at pier, once the fishing boats come back, they can fly to see what they can eat as fast as they can, this shot is normally to be found in Southern Europe.

Yellow-legged Gull (黄腿鷗)
Monaco (2013)
5th June, 2013. Monte-Carlo