Philippines: The 50th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations with Singapore - Joint Issue

To mark 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between these two countries, their postal operators issued two stamps set with butterflies from their countries on 16.5.2019. First one is Pachliopta aristolochiae, the common rose, a swallowtail butterfly belonging to the genus Pachliopta. It is a common butterfly which is extensively distributed across south and southeast Asia. On second stamp you can see Luzon lacewing butterfly or Cethosia luzonica. This is a species of heliconiine butterfly endemic to the Philippines.


Thank you, Aniruddha!

Europa CEPT 2019 National Birds on cover from Poland

As a part of Europa CEPT 2019 National Birds, Polish post issued one stamp with common chaffinch, issued on 24.4.2019. The common chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs), is a common and widespread small passerine bird in the finch family. The male is brightly colored with a blue-grey cap and rust-red underparts. The female is much duller in coloring, but both sexes have two contrasting white wing bars and white sides to the tail. The male bird has a strong voice and sings from exposed perches to attract a mate. The chaffinch breeds in much of Europe, across Asia to Siberia and in northwest Africa.


Thank you, Olga!

Baikonur postcard from Russian post office in Kazakhstan

Most famous Baikonur Cosmodrome is a spaceport located in an area of southern Kazakhstan leased to Russia. The Cosmodrome is the world's first and largest operational space launch facility. I recently found out there is a Russian post office, so I've found a guy which helped me to received this beautiful postcard. Postmark is not readable in upper part, but on lower part you can see zip code 468320 and here you can find further info about that post office. You can also see that this post office use stamps of Kazakhstan, first one is EXPO 2017 Future Energy, issued on 7.3.2017, and second one is The 50th Anniversary of the First Space Walk, issued on 18.6.2015.

Thank you, Sergey!

Europa CEPT 2019 National Birds on cover from Ukraine

Ukrainian post issued two stamps for Europa CEPT 2019 National Birds, and many people claim these are the best Europa stamps for this year. I personally can't decide, i have many favorites. On this stamps you can see white stork (Ciconia ciconia) and thrush nightingale (Luscinia luscinia).

The white stork (Ciconia ciconia) is a large bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. Adults have long red legs and long pointed red beaks, and measure on average 100–115 cm from beak tip to end of tail, with a 155–215 cm wingspan. The white stork is a long-distance migrant, wintering in Africa from tropical Sub-Saharan Africa to as far south as South Africa, or on the Indian subcontinent. When migrating between Europe and Africa, it avoids crossing the Mediterranean Sea and detours via the Levant in the east or the Strait of Gibraltar in the west, because the air thermals on which it depends for soaring do not form over water.

The thrush is a migratory insectivorous species breeding in forests in Europe and Asia and overwintering in Africa. The distribution is more northerly than the very closely related common nightingale, Luscinia megarhynchos, which it closely resembles in appearance. It nests near the ground in dense undergrowth.

Thank you, Roman!

The 100th Anniversary of the Death of Emiliano Zapata on cover from Algeria

Born on August 8, 1879, Anenecuilco, Mexico, Emiliano Zapata was a Mexican revolutionary and advocate of agrarianism who fought in guerrilla actions during the Mexican Revolution. He formed and commanded the Liberation Army of the South, an important revolutionary brigade, and his followers were known as Zapatistas. Zapata he was killed in an ambush on April 10th, 1919. Algerian post commemorated 100th anniversary of his death with this nice stamp and postmark on 10.4.2019.

Thank you, Hocine!

Cover from Republic of Abkhazia

This is my first cover from Republic of Abkhazia, de facto and partially recognized republic on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, south of the Greater Caucasus mountains, in northwestern Georgia.
The status of Abkhazia is a central issue of the Georgian–Abkhazian conflict and Georgia–Russia relations. The polity is recognised as a state by Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru and Syria. While Georgia lacks control over Abkhazia, the Georgian government and most United Nations member states consider Abkhazia legally part of Georgia, whose constitution designates the area as the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia.

Cover was sent from capital city Sukhumi, with stamps which are before considered as "Cinderellas", but now with real postal traffic they became real stamps! On this cover you can see stamps from two sets: First one is nice flag stamp Cooperation with Transnistria from 2018, and other two stamps shows famous people from Abkhazia, issued in 1998.


Thank you, Jinesh!

National Alpini Association on cover from Italy

The National Alpini Association is an Italian association representing the "Alpini in congedo" (Alpini on leave) of the Italian Army. The Alpini are a mountain infantry corps of the Italian Army, that distinguished itself in combat during World War I and World War II. As the ANA defines itself a quick reaction reserve corps to the active Alpini units, it has been nicknamed 10th Alpini Regiment. Accordingly, the Italian Army never had a 10th Alpini Regiment. Italian post issued this commemorative stamp on 10.5.2019.


Thank you, Marcello!

Honey bees on cover from Malaysia

A honey bee is a eusocial flying insect within the genus Apis of the bee clade. They are known for construction of perennial, colonial nests from wax, for the large size of their colonies, and for their surplus production and storage of honey, distinguishing their hives as a prized foraging target of many animals, including honey badgers, bears and human hunter-gatherers. In the early 21st century, only seven species of honey bee are recognized, with a total of 44 subspecies, though historically seven to eleven species are recognized. The best known honey bee is the western honey bee which has been domesticated for honey production and crop pollination; modern humans also value the wax for candlemaking, soapmaking, lip balms, and other crafts. Honey bees represent only a small fraction of the roughly 20,000 known species of bees. On this cover you see honey bees from Malaysia, on stamps released on 9.4.2019.


Thank you, Raymond!

Postcard from Sint Maarten

This is my first postcard from Sint Maarten, an island in the northeast Caribbean Sea, approximately 300 km  east of Puerto Rico. The 87-square-kilometre island is divided roughly 60/40 between the French Republic (53 km2) and the Kingdom of the Netherlands (34 km2), but the two parts are roughly equal in population. The division dates to 1648. The southern Dutch is one of four constituent countries that form the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

On this postcard you can see Princess Juliana International Airport, main airport on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin/Sint Maarten. This famous airport has very low-altitude flyover landing approaches, owing to one end of its runway being extremely close to the shore and Maho Beach, as you can see on this postcard.

Both stamps on this postcard are from set Tourism - Local Views, issued on 3.4.2013.


I received earlier postcard from French part of the island and you can see it here.

Thank you very much Wolfgang for sending me postcards from both parts of the island!

Lizards on cover from Dominica

This is my first cover from Dominica, with definitive stamps which shows local lizards: Dominican Ground Lizard (Ameiva fuscata), Tropical House Gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia) and Fantastic Least Gecko (Sphaerodactylus fantasticus). Stamp set is issued 1.2.2012.

Dominica is an island country in the West Indies. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It is part of the Windward Islands in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. The island is located near Guadeloupe to the northwest and Martinique to the south-southeast. The island was originally inhabited by the Kalinago and later colonised by Europeans, predominantly by the French from the 1690s to 1763. Columbus is said to have passed the island on Sunday 3 November 1493, and the island's name is derived from the Latin for "Sunday". Great Britain took possession in 1763 after the Seven Years' War, and it gradually established English as its official language. The island republic gained independence in 1978.

Thank you so much, Wolfgang!

Volkswagen Beetle on cover from Croatia

This is cover from Croatia with stamp dedicated to legendary Volkswagen Beetle, that was manufactured by German automaker Volkswagen from 1938 until 2003. The need for a people's car (Volkswagen in German), its concept and its functional objectives were formulated by the leader of Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler, who wanted a cheap, simple car to be mass-produced for his country's new road network. Members of the National Socialist party, with an additional dues surcharge, were promised the first production, but the war shifted production to military vehicles instead. Lead engineer Ferdinand Porsche and his team took until 1938 to finalize the design. Béla Barényi is credited with first conceiving the original design for this car in 1925 by Mercedes-Benz, five years before Porsche claimed to have done his initial version. The result was the first Volkswagen, and one of the first rear-engined cars since the Brass Era. With 21,529,464 produced, the Beetle is the longest-running and most-manufactured car of a single platform ever made.

This stamp is issued on 8.5.2008. Postage is underpaid and that's why is letter "T" on cover, but postman didn't ask me to pay the difference.

Thank you, Maja!

Europa CEPT 2019 National Birds on cover from Sweden

This fantastic looking souvenir sheet is Swedish issue for Europa CEPT 2019 National Birds, issued on 9.5.2019. Both birds on stamps are common or Eurasian blackbirds (Turdus merula), a species of true thrush. It breeds in Europe, Asia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to Australia and New Zealand. They also live in Serbia, and they had nest in my yard! The adult male of the nominate subspecies, which is found throughout most of Europe, is all black except for a yellow eye-ring and bill and has a rich, melodious song; the adult female and juvenile 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.


Thank you so much, Henrik!

World Philatelic Exhibition in Thailand on cover from Indonesia

I received cover from Indonesia with souvenir sheet dedicated World Philatelic Exhibition 2003, held in Thailand. Sheet is dedicated to elephant football, which is popular in Thailand. Sheet is issued on 4.10.2003.

Thank you, Juned!