Birds on the Map

 

1988: Fauna

The Eurasian Hoopoe perched between continents

Ferruginous Pygmy Owl breeds in Arizona, South Texas, down through Mexico, Central America and South America.  The Vulturine Guineafowl is the largest of its species and if startled it will run with those long legs rather than fly. It can be found in Central African forests

2000: Birds

(200) - Wattled Starling a nomadic bird found in eastern and southern Africa but its range is expanding. Like all starlings can be found in large flocks and often nests with other starling species (500) - Common Starling, (900) Red Billed leiothrix goes by many names such as Pekin Robin and Pekin Nightingale and its beautiful song can be found in Southern China and the Himalayas

(4000) Bearded reedling, as the name implies, found in Eurasian reedbeds (1000) - the Guianian cock of the rock nests on rocky cliff faces and caves in the humid forests of South America, the nests are constructed of  mud and plants. In photographs it looks a brighter orange than the stamp. (1500) Alpine accentor (the latin word 'accentor' means a person who sings with another). A robin sized bird of Eurasia and North Africa nesting in bushes or rock crevices.

Sunday Stamps theme of - Birds - fly over to See It On A Postcard for more feathered friends.

Olympics

 

1965: City Arms

We alas say goodbye to Paris.  The sailing ship on the city's coat of arms originates from the symbol of the 12th Century Marchands de l'eau guild who were given the rights to navigate the Seine. The Paris Olympic sailing however took place in the Mediterranean by the shores of Marseilles  

1976: Olympic Games, Montreal, Canada

At the Montreal Olympics they were on Lake Ontario.

1996: 100th Anniversary of the Modern Olympic Games

In 1996 the Olympic venue was in Atlanta and, looking forward, today's  athletes will be putting Los Angeles in their diaries for 2028. The UN must have had a presentiment for surely that is LA's coliseum on the mini sheet

1984: Olympic Games, Los Angeles - USA Gold Medalists

A venue where Carl Lewis won four of his gold medals. An evergreen athlete that would eventually win 9 gold medals and 1 silver in both track and field from three Olympic Games

1932: Summer Olympics, Los Angles

The 2028 games will be using the iconic LA Memorial Coliseum for the third time but it will be given an ambitious upgrade. The plan seen here.

1961: Tourist Publicity - Olympia

The Olympic flame will be extinguished in Paris and the Olympic flag passed on to the next hosts.  Once again Olympia waits for the flame to be reignited.

Sunday Stamps theme is - the Olympics - See It On A Postcard

Winter Olympics

 

1980: 13th Winter Games, Lake Placid (Design Zou Jianjun)

All eyes on China who won their first medal of the games in the short track speed skating mixed relay.  Not an easy combination of words to say quickly, as the sports news broadcasters have discovered.  Time to settle down and watch everyone sliding and

1984: Winter Olympics, Sarajevo

jumping. Look out

1968: Winter Olympics, Grenoble (Design Jacques Combet ;Engraving Andre Freres)

incoming

1960: Winter Olympics, Squaw Valley (Design Jozsef Vertel)

Things will get busy

1983: Winter Olympics, Sarajevo

for the thrills and spills

especially in one of my favourite events, the bobsleigh.

Sunday Stamps theme this week is - Winter Sports - slide into See It On A Postcard

Wooden

2019: SEPAC - Old Residential Houses (Photograph - Ólavur Frederiksen)

The turf roofed house in Kirkjubøur dates to the 11th Century and is one of the oldest still inhabited wooden houses in the world.  A home to bishops in the middle ages until the reformation and since then 17 generations of the Paturssons have lived here.  The medieval parts of the building are open to the public.  The church on the postcard is St Olav, the oldest church in the Faroes dating to 1111.  This southernmost village on Stremoy was once the ecclesiastical and cultural centre of the Faroes.  Legend has it that the wood for the farmhouse came as driftwood from Norway (there are no forests in the Faroes).  Norway has lots of wooden building

1987: Centenary of the Sadvig Collection (Designer and Engraver - S Morken)

including those at Mainhaugen near Lillehammer home to the Sadvig open air museum.  There are 200 building from different eras including traditional 18th and 19th Century wooden buildings and a Stave church.  The collection was started by Anders Sadvig and the stamp shows a horse and rider cut into wood by Kristen Erland Listad (1726-1802) a carver known for his wooden figures, the toy horse is in the Maihaugen Museum

1966: Greek Folk Art

For something both practical and  beautiful these wooden knitting needle boxes would take some beating

1984: World Heritage

and  for pure decoration who could resist a spotted leopard from the coast of Guinea.

Detail of Carved Chinese Wooden Chest, Lever Art Gallery

Sunday Stamps II theme this week is - Things Made from Wood - carve out a path to See It On A Postcard
  

Lion and Lambs

1989: Animals

Well March has certainly entered like a lion with Storm Jorge and snow on the hills so I am hoping it lives up the idiom and leaves like a lamb

2013: Mischievous Animal Babies (Design: Gustaf  Öhrnell; Engraver: Piotr Naszarkowski)

and we see mischievous little lambs in sunshine.

2005: Farmyard Animals (Design - Samuel Sakaria)

Meanwhile in New Zealand lambing time is months in the future.  This stamp was issued as part of the Year of the Rooster set with a farmyard theme which can be seen here.

Oh a little lamb has wandered out of the field and on to a FDC.

2006: 100th Anniversary of Sheepbreeding (Design: Naja Abelsen)

Famously the Vikings took sheep to Greenland in 985 but both people and livestock vanished from history 500 years later and no-one knows why.  It wasn't until 1906 when 12 sheep were brought in from the Faroe Islands by the Reverend Jens Chemnitz and some years later sheep were imported from Iceland.  The flocks today are their descendants.  Sheep in Greenland have to be kept indoors during winter and today they number about 20,000, there is enough pasture land for more but that is required for producing winter fodder and why the postmark features harvest time.  This inspired idea is from the artist Naja Abelsen whose Greenland stamps can be seen here
   

Feeding the Lambs at Old Hall Farm in April 2019

Sunday Stamps II theme this week is - Lions or Lambs - See It On A Postcard

On the Road

I do like a logo and many famous car badges have been used on this sheet, each symbolising its own unique history.  The commemorative sheet was issued for the 150th Birth Anniversary of Gottlieb Daimler (1834-1900),  It was his invention of the high speed petrol engine that made the car possible. He founded the company Daimler Motern Gessellschaft with his partner Wilhelm Maybach and after experimenting with 2 wheeled vehicles, then a stagecoach and ultimately produced their first car for sale, which is the one shown on the stamp. It does not look too dissimilar to a stagecoach, how do you fancy rattling down the road in this?

The first gearbox was produced by Louis Renault (1877-1944) and the automotive industry was on its way. The early lead in production by the French has resulted in us using a lot of French expressions, such as chassis and coupé, they also knew you would need a roof  

This is a Peugeot 'Petroleur' Type 3.  It was brought to the island of Guernsey in 1894 by Major A Thom, a Guernseyman living in Switzerland.  The Major and his horseless carriage spent a couple of weeks on the island giving rides to people and racing the electric tram.  Although the first car to be resident on the island was not until 1900 the Guernsey Post Office celebrated the centenary of the appearance of the first car on the island with a set of stamps. 

The artist, Robin Ollington depicts the cars against Guernsey backgrounds of the relevant periods.  The top line of stamps are the 'Petroleur', which we have already met, and was capable of 12 mph (I can't spot the 'extra' that was available at the time of a whip for chasing away dogs).
Next is the 24p: 1903 Mercedes Simplex which looks a far racier number. The Mercedes name was first used on German-built Daimler cars in 1900.
35p: 1906 Humber.  This 14.4 hp four cylinder tourer has a top speed of 35 mph which happens to be the island's speed limit. 
Bottom row:
41p: 1936 Bentley. This 4¼ litre sports tourer had a reasonably light body and could reach 90 mph.
60p: 1948 MG TC.  During the1930s the MG Midget became Morris's most popular model and was the first quantity produced small British sports car. The TC Midget was introduced in 1943 being a slightly improved version of the pre-war TB. Its top speed was 78 mph.

An entry to Viridian Postcard's Sunday Stamps theme of - cars