Hedgehogs

The first two words that crossed my mind for today were Horse and Halloween.Until while browsing through my stamps I came across the Hedgehogs. And I knew that this was it!
I love horses, but I am a real die-hard fan of hedgehogs, so there was no doubt what the choice would be between those two.


First is this FDC from Hungary, issued by Magyar Post on 9th April 2013.
Magyar Posta periodically presents the breeds and species of animal indigenous to Hungary and on this occasion the protected predatory and insectivorous mammals the stoat, pygmy shrew, European lynx and greater mouse-eared bat feature on the stamps in the series, the the northern white-breasted hedgehog is shown on the numbered stamp block.

Well, except in Hungary, the hedgehog is also widespread in Poland, Austria, the former Yugoslavia (as we will see below), Greece and the Adriatic Islands, including populations on Crete, Corfu and Rhodes. It is found eastwards through Russia and Ukraine, as far east as the Ob River in Siberia. There are no signs of a significant population decline, fortunately.

The second FDC comes from Bosnia and Herzegovina, issued on 17th April 2018, and presenting as well the White-breasted Hedgehog! I wonder if hedgehog stamps are kinda naturally issued in April for some reason :D

Every summer, there are hedgehogs passing through my backyard (though not that frequently this summer), and sometimes I have the chance to pet them. I wish I could squeeze them and hug them and all but they were just not meant to be for that :) But if I could keep a hedgehog as a pet, I definitely would! They are just beyond beyond adorable! ❤❤❤❤❤❤

Well, enough about hedgehogs. For more H-related posts, visit today's edition of Sunday Stamps... and have a great Sunday! 

Coral Reefs, USA

Well we are already into our third week of the new A-Z round, and it is time for some C's today

And my C today is dedicated to these Coral Reefs issued by the USPS on 26th August 1980.
Four different beautiful Coral Reefs are featured, starting with the Grooved Brain Coral, or the Diploria labyrinthiformi, that can be found in the western Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Se. It has a very interesting maze-like appearance.
Next is the Elkhorn Coral, or the Acropora palmata, a prominent Caribbean reef-building coral, whose structure resembles that of elk antler.
The bottom stamps show the Chalice Coral (Echinophyllia aspera), it is a species of large polyp stony corals. It is a colonial coral which is partly encrusting and partly forms laminate plates or tiers. It is native to the western and central Indo-Pacific.
The last stamp is dedicated to the Finger Coral, or Porites compressa, which can be found growing on coral reefs and in shallow lagoons in tropical parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans.  

It may not be seen very clearly on the scan, but this cover with Coral Reefs stamps also comes in with a very appropriate cancellation from the Coral Gables Branch in Florida. (all thanks to Bryon and his cool postal experiments :)))

For more cool posts for the letter C, hop over to the Sunday Stamps' blog! 

ps. there is also the very cute dolphin stamp which nicely contributes to the marine life theme on the cover :))

Wildlife Conservation, USA

I did Owls for the previous O-post, and here we are with Owls again - how could I not post owls again with such a cover in hand?! :D

Will leave you guessing whose fault it is (though if you are a regular here, I am pretty sure that would be one easy guess :))

Few weeks ago I went bird-watching in our city park here but being it was a daytime activity, no owls were spotted of course but it was really cool nevertheless. And I do hope to have the chance to join one of those nocturnal expeditions and hang out with some owls as well :)

And back to the stamps now...on the right you can see the set of stamps issued on 26 August 1978, under the name Wildlife Conservation, featuring four different owls:

- The great grey owl (Strix nebulosa) is a very large owl, documented as the world's largest species of owl by length. It is distributed across the Northern Hemisphere, and it is the only species in the genus Strix found in both Eastern and Western Hemispheres. In some areas it is also called Phantom of the North, cinereous owl, spectral owl, Lapland owl, spruce owl, bearded owl, and sooty owl.

- The northern saw-whet owl (Aegolius acadicus) is a small owl native to North America.
Weighing from 54 to 151 g, with an average of around 80 g, they are one of the smallest owls in North America.

- The barred owl (Strix varia), also known as northern barred owl or hoot owl, is a true owl native to eastern North America but they have expanded their range to the west coast of the United States and Canada, where they are considered invasive. Mature forests are their preferred habitat, but they are also found in open woodland areas.

- The great horned owl (Bubo virginianus), also known as the tiger owl or the hoot owl, is a large owl native to the Americas. It is an extremely adaptable bird with a vast range and is the most widely distributed true owl in the Americas.
Its primary diet is rabbits and hares, rats and mice and voles, although it freely hunts any animal it can overtake, including rodents and other small mammals, larger mid-sized mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates

You know, I never imagine owls as birds which actually feed on anything bigger than a worm, let alone a rabbit...

From what I could see, for all these four owls, the conservation status falls into the Least Concerned category, which is very good.

Now, on the left side, you can also see another owl stamp, this one coming from the 2001 issue, Nature of America, which itself is stunning! The owl featured here is the burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia) which is a small, long-legged owl found throughout open landscapes of North and South America. Unlike most owls, burrowing owls are often active during the day, although they tend to avoid the midday heat.

And even though is not an owl, I do have to mention the Old Glory stamp from 1994, which is another O for today - this flag stamp was issued in a set of 6, with a variety of the letter G - the red “G” on the stamp indicates it was printed by Stamp Venturers.
 The United States Postal Service started selling the G rate stamps on December 13, 1994. This series was produced by more printers and in formats than any previous rate change stamps.
The reason this Non-Denominated booklet stamp was issued because of a postal rate change that was scheduled to take effect on January 1, 1995 - I guess the US residents would be more familiar with this than me.

Now last but not least, what makes this cover so special, is the cancellation - this cover was posted in Owl's Head - a small town in Maine, with a population of 1580. I just guess the person cancelling it was feeling kinda anxious at the moment and cancelled this left and right :D But way better than just crossing it out with a pen - that one makes my teeth cringe!

I have one or two more treats of this kind, so just keep on following the Sunday Stamps and will share them with you when the time comes :)

In the meantime, check out today's edition of Sunday Stamps!

I rarely do scheduled posts, so hopefully this one will come out just right :)

Butterflies, Spain

My initial thought of 'i have so many butterflies' stamps' in the end proved terribly wrong but luckily I did find a few things for today's edition of Sunday's Post and eventually the choice fell on this Spanish FDC issued on 1st of April 2010.

I love butterflies! They are just so delicate and beautiful and sometimes with such vibrant and amazing colours....and it when I was a child it was such a challenge to be able to catch one for a few seconds and let it crawl over your hands while you admire its beauty

On this Spanish FDC you can see two different kinds of butterflies, namely the Euphydryas aurinia /The marsh fritillary which is widespread in the Palaearctic region from Ireland in the West to Yakutia in the East, and to North-west China and Mongolia in the South.(the top one on the big image on the FDC and the one on the right stamp), and the Zerynthia rumina / the Spanish Festoon which is a widespread species in Spain and frequents most habitats. (the one at the bottom on the big image and the one on the left stamp).

Btw, I love the Spanish word 'mariposa' compared to the German one for example, 'Schmetterling' - there is just nothing gentle about it :D.

Wanna see more beauties like this? Well just check out today's episode of Sunday Stamps :)

Blue Whale, Canada

Few days ago I received this fantastic cover from Glenn...and it came in very handy for this Sunday's theme of Viridian's blog, featuring Stamps of the Great White North...so apart from Canada being eligible for this category, the stamp itself feels very northy, so I simply had to choose it for today....and believe it or not, this cover took EXACTLY two months to reach me...from Canada!! I'll never understand the postal service, but im definitely more than happy it had arrived coz it is such a beautiful stamp and such a nice and clear cancellation! It would have been more than a pity if this had gotten lost somewhere..

On October 4, 2010 Canada Post issued a $10 definitive stamp depicting the world's largest creature, the Blue Whale (Balænoptera musculus). The stamp is the largest in size and highest denomination Canada Post has ever produced.
10 $ of face value certainly is A LOT and makes this stamp mainly interesting for collectors only coz I highly doubt it will be used for regular mail often.

The stamp was produced using a combination of intaglio (for the whale in the foreground) and offset lithography (for the colours in the background). The intaglio process (which was used to produce Canada’s first postage stamp) was recently reinvented using a new, state-of-the-art laser engraving technology.
A special printing technique called microtype was used to write the Latin name for blue whale - a feature that is normally impossible to reproduce by any other means than intaglio.
Additionally, a large cluster of krill (the whale’s food of choice), along with a diver, were introduced using tagging inks. These can only be seen under an ultraviolet lamp.

 here is an image of the stamp under UV:

pretty cool, no? :)

This mammal weighs between 80 and 180 metric tonnes and reaches lengths of more than 30 metres. It can travel at speeds of 33 km/hr, accelerating to 48 km/hr when chased, making it among the fastest of whale species. This fascinating giant of the deep is also unmatched in the projection of its voice, emitting low-frequency sounds that can travel hundreds of miles (and possibly entire oceans) under water. Yet despite its outstanding stature and might, sightings of the elusive blue whale are very rare—another reason why it has fascinated us since the dawn of time. In Canada, the blue whale roams the waters along the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence near eastern Nova Scotia, the south coast of Newfoundland, and in the Davis Strait between Baffin Island and Greenland. In the west it habits the coast of British Columbia.

Maybe not so appealing as dolphins coz whales are a bit scary, but I love them too....and im appalled each time when I read how in some part of the world there are mass killings of these animals...the latest I read was regarding the dolphins' killing in the Faroe Islands/Denmark...disgusted is the least i could say I've been...man's nature is just so twisted...

well, a few more technical details about the stamp:

Date of Issue  4 October 2010
Width            128.0 mm
Height            49.0 mm
Denomination 10.00 CAD
Perforations    13 by 13

For more north-related stamps, please visit Viridian's blog:

Have a great Sunday!

Fauna, Croatia

Well ok, Ill admit that this is a cover im EXTREMELY biased towards to...and when I found it in my mailbox, i honestly didnt pay any attention to the stamps, and also, i totally forgot about the rest of mail...I was simply blinded by that bottom left corner *cough cough*.

the guilty one for all this is of course Goran...and apart from putting the effort to make this such an adorable cover, I love the stamps he used to and I love that here I actually have the whole set of them.
These are stamps issued in 2007, under the subject of Croatian fauna, showing the River Crayfish (stamp on the left), Lobster (middle stamp) and Norway Lobster - Scampi (stamp on the right).
Really, I couldnt have wished for a lovelier cover :)

Hvala ti Gorane!!!!!!!!