The Stunning - Bald Eagle

The name "Bald Eagle" is what amused me when I first saw this beautiful bird. "Bald" in the English name is derived from the word PIEBALD, and refers to the white head and tail feathers and their contrast with the darker body.

All the facts about this bird are very intriguing and when one sees this majestic bird one can truly say that it is a contender to be considered to rule the air. 

The Bald Eagle is a carnivore with the capacity to predate a great variety of prey. Throughout their range, fish often compromise the lion's share of the eagle's diet. That is why they are mostly found near the seacoasts, rivers, large lakes or marshes or other large bodies of open water with abundant fish .

The Bald Eagle is important in various Native American cultures and, as the national bird of the United States, is prominent in seals and logos, coinage, postage stamps, and other items relating to the U.S. federal government.

USA 6 cents Bald Eagle(upper  left corner ) from the 1970 set.

The Best Stamp in my collection is the 22 cents Bald Eagle which is part of the North American Wildlife stamp set .

An experienced trained handler with the Bald Eagle.

I had been to the Andover Hawk Conservancy and when I saw this bird, it was just awesome ; I did manage to get very close to it. The Bird handler spoke well of the bird and shared his experience with it. You could see the joy that glistened in their eyes in the photograph above .

Mandarin Duck.

Last week I watched "Andy and his Wild Adventures"- a show on CBeebies, with my daughter. Andy’s Wild Adventures is an innovative natural history series in which CBeebies presenter Andy Day invites children to join him on a wild animal adventure. Well the show I saw featured a beautiful bird - The Mandarin Duck. 

The beauty of this bird made me add it in my "Must see Birds 2013 book"

This week while I was walking along the stream on my way to office, I saw a small group of ducks where in I spotted two different ducks, not native to the UK. I immediately recognized  them, it was a pair of Mandarin Ducks. My happiness knew no bounds. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me so I tried taking a picture with my phone but this was enough to scare the birds away and in a matter of  seconds they were out of sight .

I thought that they would never return but the next day I saw them again. Although shy, they did let me take some pictures of them.

Mandarin Duck - Male

These are wild Mandarin Ducks in Reading. They are not native to the UK but most probably have been bred in captivity and have later escaped.

I learnt that these ducks have a a sizable population in the UK, around 7000.

The adult male is a striking and unmistakable bird. It has a red bill, large white crescent above the eye and reddish face and "whiskers". The breast is purple with two vertical white bars, and the flanks ruddy, with two orange "sails" at the back. The female is similar to female Wood Duck, with a white eye-ring and stripe running back from the eye but is paler below, has a small white flank stripe and a pale tip to its bill.

I identified some good Stamps of the Mandarin Duck from my collection, which show these birds very clearly. The most common one is the stamp from Japan but it is brown on a blue background.

I like the Korean stamps which show the pair and they are the best Mandarin Duck stamps I have till date in my collection

Birds : Blackbird and Coot

Blackbird :

The sweet melodious chirp near the stream got my attention to this little bird in the chilly snow this time in Reading , i tried my best to get a picture of this not shy but quiet fast bird and at last i had a pretty one when it perched upon  a nearby branch across the stream.

The male of the subspecies(found in Europe) is all black except for a yellow eye-ring and bill and has a  melodious song; the adult female and young ones have mainly dark brown plumage. This species breeds in woods and gardens, building a neat, mud-lined, cup-shaped nest. It is omnivorous, eating a wide range of insects, earthworms, berries, and fruits.

There are a few stamps of this bird, a good example i found is the GB 4d.

Blackbird

Coot :

I spotted this Coot near a stream in Reading UK, gently moving through the sticks and weeds. Coots can walk and run vigorously on strong legs, and have long toes that are well adapted to soft, uneven surfaces.

Coot 

There are a few stamps of this bird a good example i found is the 4K Russian Stamp.

A baby Coot

Its really exciting to identify the subject in real life and on stamps - some times its a challenge,have a go...to identify the common everyday birds and stamps you have in your collections.

Cheers

Julian

Birds : Albania & Romania - Just Stamps

•   1968 Birds -Albania .

This beautiful stamp set from 1968 - is a very collectible set and depicts commonly found birds like the Kingfisher which is found around the world - the species shown here is the Common Kingfisher.

15q - Bohemian Waxwing  

20q - Rosy Starling     

25q - Common Kingfisher     

50q - Long-tailed Tit    

80q - Wallcreeper     

1.10l - Bearded Reedling

•   1967 Birds - Albania.

10q,15q,21q,25q,50q - Dalmatian Pelicans

The Dalmatian Pelican is found in lakes, rivers, deltas and estuaries. During the winter, Dalmatian Pelicans usually stay on ice-free lakes in Europe or jheels (seasonal lakes) in India. They also visit, typically during winter, inshore areas along sheltered coasts for feeding.

• 1984 Birds Romania .

50b,1L ,1L , 2L  - Dalmatian Pelicans

WWF stamps are very collectible and cover almost every wildlife topic .

Hope to get some photographs of these lovely birds this year.

Cheers
Julian.

Birds - Scotland : Part 1.

Last year on a trip to Scotland with friends, the bird life and beautiful magic of Scotland, Wales and Lake District was a treat for us. As a beginner in this new hobby of photography with my humble Nikon 42 X zoom camera, I tried to get the best that nature had to offer.

The attempt started of at Land's End to John O' Groats (Scotland's Northern most point) The first bird I saw was a "Shag". I thought it looked more like a "Comorant". In my limited experience of birds if they are "relatively" inland or in reservoirs (as in the English Midlands) for instance, then they are usually Cormorants. Shags - around the UK seem to stick to the coasts and islands .

The Shag that we saw stood still in the strong chilly wind and didn't even move when we tried to get a closer picture of it...a very good and patient subject indeed :)

Shag

UK and regional postal issues of Jersey and Gibraltar have some wonderful stamps depicting the Shag in its environment along the coast .

Another bird which caught my eye was the "Oyster Catcher" which tip toed gently along the seaweed to find small shellfish and oysters .

Oyster Catchers

The drive along the coast was a memorable one and as we left John O' Groats we spotted something mysterious in the water ....  a "Grey Seal", but it was just for 6 - 7 seconds and it dived away in the chilly northern waters.

Grey Seal

Cheers

Julian

The Secretary Bird

The Secretary Bird (Sagittarius serpentarius) is a large bird of prey. Endemic to Africa, it is usually found in the open grasslands and Savannah of the Sub-Sahara.

Secretary Bird @ Hawk Conservancy - Andover UK.

Got a glimpse of this elegant bird at the "Hawk Conservancy" @ Andover UK; in a spectacular display the bird showed its hunting its prey on foot techniques, while it "Stomped " its prey - this time it was a plastic snake .

The Secretary Bird has been a common feature on postage stamps, mainly African countries (its main home) , but even some countries  where the bird does not occur.

The best stamps issued for the Secretary bird which i like are the Uganda 2012 issues and the WWF issue , which are beautiful .