Romania- Eurasian Bee-eater

Eurasian Bee-eater ( Merops apiaster) :These spectacularly colored small birds are true to their name and do eat bees, as well as wasps, hornets and other insects which they catch  mid-air when they fly off from an open perch preferably in a dead tree.
Bee-eaters are migratory , breeding in warm climates where they next colonially and build tunnel nests in sandy river banks .Seen here, with the 12-12-12 tri-date and cancelled in Bucharest, on a pre-paid cover plus a matching stamp for correct international postage. Cover commemorates the Bucharest  Ramsar convention July 2012.

USA- Roseate Spoonbill

Another delightful postcard with a very special date, from the Audubon set with a matching stamp of the colorful Roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) which is a gregarious bird of the Ibis and Spoonbill family. Thanks again to Natalie for this great combination. The USA stamp is from the 1987 series.

USA- Northern Cardinal

Northern cardinals  (Cardinalis cardinalis )with their bright red plumage are good subjects for bird stamps. First seen on a USA Wildlife Conservation stamp in 1972 and ten years later in 1982 on state stamps for West Virginia and Kentucky (and other states) The postcard of Audubon's fine painting depicts the birds on one of their food trees. Thanks again to Natalie for taking so much care in sending this card.  Postmarked in Mountain Lakes with the new thin single ring postmark which replaces the  red ink double ring . I'm sorry to see the red postmark disappear, it was always so different to most you get around the world. Please take note of the 2002,  60 cent stamp ..its smaller than the older stamps, which I find  unusual as generally stamps are getting bigger not smaller:)

USA- Tanagers & Snowy owl

here's that unique date again, this time from Mountain Lakes in NJ, USA  a pair of 2002 s/a  Western Tanagers (Piranga ludoviciana) and Scarlet Tanagers ( Piranga olivacea)  together with a Snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus) to send this beautiful postcard of Audubon's Snowy Owl painted in 1831. Thank you dear friend Natalie.

Switzerland-Kingfisher 1966

This is the first bird stamp produced by Switzerland , 1966 River Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) for a publicity issue for the Preservation of Natural Beauty. Other names for this bird are Common Kingfisher and Eurasian kingfisher. Postmarked in Zurich, its a very colorful and popular bird seen on more than 100 different stamps.

Australia-2012 Little Penguins

Thanks to my friend Pelicanus, here is a 12-12-12 dated bird from Australia.

Czech Republic- 2003 Nature Conservation

A double duty cover arrived to day. A trio of travelling birds carried by the 12-12-12-12 postmark from Olomouc in the Czech Republic. Issued in 2003 for nature conservation are the 

Red Kie (Milvus milvus) Peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) and 9Kc  Booted eagle. (Hieraatus pennatus) very attractive stamps with easily identifiable birds. Thanks to Dr  Radim Vasut for this fine cover  which only took 9 days to reach me here in Malaysia

Taiwan-Greater Painted Snipe

2009 stamps featuring a  Greater Painted-snipe ( Rostratula benghalensis) which is a wader species found in the marshes of Africa, Inida, Pakistan and SE Asia.  The birds are  unusual in that they have reversed sexual dimorphism, the female is larger and more brightly colored than the male.

I didn't crop the bird out this time because I consider the cancellations to special to be missed. A once in a lifetime event..never again in my lifetime of yours.

Taiwan-Tawny Owl

A bird with a unique postmark- 12.12.12-12. The  Tawny Owl Strix aluca) is a stocky medium-sized owl commonly found in woodlands across much of Asia. Their diet consists mainly of rodents except in urban areas where birds easier to catch. Thanks to my exchange friend Douglas for sending this delightful cover.

Christmas Island-White- Tailed tropicbird

Every year in December  you'll find some of the Christmas Island endemic birds featured  somewhere  on their Christmas  stamps.  The Christmas Island  2010  stamps did not disappoint their collectors  and here you see the unique Golden Bosun ..also known as the White-tailed tropicbird (Phaethon lepturus fulvus). These elegant birds are distinguished by prominent black bars on the upper wing and a golden tinge to the plumage and golden tail streamers. 

Cuba- Brown Pelican & Cuban Gnatcatcher

Another cover from the Cuban Festival of Birds. The pictorial postmark of the tiny Cuban Gnatcatcher (Polioptila lembeyei) cancelling the very large  2011 Brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis). On the stamp with the ordinary CDS  is the 10c, 2008  Cuban Solitaire (Myadestes elisabeth)
Thanks to my good friend CJ for sending these two Cuban covers

Cuba- Partridge Pigeon & Antillean Hummingbird

To commemorate the World Festival of Endemic Birds in Cuba 2012,a pictorial postmark of a Partridge pigeon ( Starnoenas cyanocephala ) was used to cancel an 2011 Antillean crested hummingbird 

(Orthorhyncus cristatus)

Australia-Wedge-tailed Eagle

My favorite birds, the large eagles of the family Aquila. The Wedge-tailed eagle (Aquila Audax) is huge and ranks amongst the largest eagles in the world. Posted in Wangaratta , Victoria with an inverted date slug :)

Australia-Red-backed Kingfisher

A self-adhesive Red-backed kingfisher from Bright in Victoria which is close to the ski-fields, hence the slogan postmark.

Australia- Spotted Catbird

Blocks of used stamps are always sought after and today I received a cover with 10 spotted catbirds. Although the stamps were issued in 1980, I think they are still valid for postage :) A current stamp with Little penguins was added to make up  the correct postage. Thank you to my new stamp friend for this very creative cover.

Alpine Shire-Pink-eared Duck

The postmarks you see here are all from small towns in the Alpine district of north-central Victoria, Australia. If you've been following this blog you will already have seen the higher value  international stamps from this 2012 set which was issued earlier in the year. 60 cents is the local rate for use within Australia.

Hong Kong -Red Whiskered Bulbul

Here you have a $3  2006 Red-whiskered bulbul which did a solo journey from Hong Kong to Ipoh and arrived  in time for  Xmas.

12-12-12. A unique date

A date to remember when philatelists all around the world exchanged covers  to receive the unique postmark. For local mail I always request the use of definitive stamps and you can see here three of the values from the 2005 set which are still in use today.

     

Australia- Kakadu Birds

Stamp collectors never finish their sorting and arranging and writing up their collections. Rewards  can come  from  sorting out packets and here is todays' surprise. Great clear postmark from Tasmania, in fact the first Tasmanian postmark to get on the map http://g.co/maps/tpjra . Australia is a very large continent, Kakadu is in the very far north compared to Tassie which is as far south as you can go

 Stamps are  from the 1997 series  Kakadu  Birds . Little Kingfisher ( Ceyx pusillus)  Brolga ( Grus rubicunda)   Comb-crested Jacana  ( Irediparra gallinacea )

GB- Four birds on one cover

From my good friend in Birmingham comes this neat arrangement of four birds on one cover.
First is the 1977  9p Grey Partridge (Perdix perdix), next to the elegant  2007 Pied Avocet   ( Recurvirostra avosetta). There's a 30 year age gap between these two !!!. Below them are a pair from the
1980 Wild Bird Protection series , White- throated dipper (Cinclus cinclus) and the Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis)

Romania- Eurasian Hobby

With a name like Eurasian Hobby, you mightn't think it's a bird but this small slim bird is a Falcon

(Falco subbuteo

) and can be found in open farmland, marshes, taiga and savannah.

This bird has great acrobatic skills , can capture swifts and swallows on the wing   and was used  in  falconry, trained to hawk birds such as quails larks and hoopoes.

 Stamp is from the 2007 series  Birds of Prey

Hong Kong-Fork-tailed Sunbird 2009

 A trio of  2006 definitive $1.40 Fork-tailed sunbirds ( Aethopyga christinae) carried a letter in 2009  from Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

India-Demoiselle crane 1975

1975 Inland letter card from India posted to Kuala Lumpur ,up-rated with a pair of  1975 definitive Demoiselle crane (Grus Virgo) stamps. This is one of my favorite bird stamps , have you wondered why there are three legs ?

Indonesia- Endangered Birds 2012

First arrival for December is a cover from Indonesia, this time with the birds on the complete 2012 Bird Life International Endangered Species m/s postmarked from Malang. Birds are Siau Scops Owl, Flores Hawk-eagle, Elegant sunbird and the Invisible Rail. Thanks to my dear friend CJ for sending the cover.