Rob1956

Christopher Pope – Wildlife Artist

Wildlife artist Christopher Pope has put together five illustrated issues, Songbirds (2009), Kingfishers (2010), Waterbirds (2012), Pardalotes (2013) and Owls - Guardians of the Night (2016).

These series of stamps are the finest design of wildlife ever to grace an Australian stamp. Pope’s superb acrylic paintings are naturalistic in style, placing each bird in the environment with which it is associated, and in some instances indicating behaviours peculiar to it.

To make my custom pages stand out I included a Christopher Pope painting as a background to enhance the beauty of each stamp.

The first of the series – Australian Songbirds. Portrays four birds in their natural surroundings, the set were issued in 2009.



55 cents: Green Catbird. It belongs to the bowerbird family, but does not build the elaborate courtship structures normally associated with bowerbirds; and nor is it polygamous (having more than one mate). The monogamous (one partner during its lifetime) forms long bonding pairs; it was given its name for the wailing catlike call that it issues to mark its territory.

$1.65: Mangrove Golden Whistler. This bird occupies a broad region along Australia’s northern coastline, from Queensland across to Western Australia, broken by Eighty Mile Beach. As its name suggests, the mangrove Golden Whistler mainly occupies mangrove habitat, rarely straying into fringing vegetation.

$1.10: Noisy Scrub-bird. Until 1961 it was thought to be extinct. First seen by Europeans in 1841 and described by John Gould in 1844, sightings of the species had ceased by the end of the 19th century. In 1970 there was an estimated 45 singing males in existence suggesting a population of approximately 100; by 1944 this had grown to a possible 1,100 birds.

$2.75: Scarlet Honeyeater. The Scarlet Honeyeater is found along the east coast of Australia and into bordering woodlands, eucalypt areas and rainforests. They are primarily nectar-eaters, their curved beak and long tongue that splits into four hairlike extensions allows them to chase out the nectar of flowers.

The second of the series – Kingfishers. Portrays four birds in their natural surroundings, the set were issued in 2010.



60 cents: Red-backed Kingfisher. It is endemic to nearly all regions of Australia, unlike other species of kingfisher in Australia; the Red-backed is well adapted to desert areas, and can survive in Australia’s dry interior as well as in its tropical coastal regions. It occupies most of Australia, excluding the very south-east, south-west and Tasmania.

$1.10: Sacred Kingfisher. The Sacred Kingfisher is widely distributed across Australia, although generally not through dry Central Australia or western Tasmania.
$1.80: Blue-winged Kookaburra. The Blue-winged Kookaburra is a close relative to the laughing Kookaburra, although slightly smaller. The range of this species extends across most of the tropical north, from Western Australia’s Pilbara to southern Queensland.

$3.00: Yellow-billed Kingfisher. The range of the Yellow-billed Kingfisher in Australia is limited only to the northern tip of Cape York Peninsula, the remoteness and inaccessibility of which makes sightings relatively rare and knowledge of its behaviour fairly limited.

The third of the series – Waterbirds. Portrays four birds in their natural surroundings, the set were issued in 2012.



60 cents (se-tenant): Radjah Shelduck. The Radjah Shelduck also known as the Burdekin Duck, this species inhabits mainly brackish water and mangrove environments across the central regions of Australia’s far north, from Western Australia to Queensland, occurring mainly in western Arnhem Land and Cape York Peninsula.

60 cents (se-tenant): Pink-eared Duck. Also known as the Zebra Duck, this interesting and distinctive duck attracts much interest, named for the pink area behind each eye. The highly nomadic Pink-eared Duck can be found throughout much of Australia.

$1.65: Australian Shelduck. Shelducks sit between true ducks and true geese, but look like a typical duck. The Australian Shelduck ironically prefers saline and brackish water in lowland area. This species inhabits Australia’s more southerly regions, although in Western Australia it can be observed as far north as Port Hedland.

$2.35: Plumed Whistling Duck. The Plumed Whistling Duck takes its name from its shrill whistle and the sound of its wings during flight. It is fairly common across northern Australia, east down the coast to the Murray River; it is less common in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.

The fourth of the series – Pardalotes. Portrays four birds in their natural surroundings, the set were issued in 2013.



Pardalotes or peep-wrens are a family, Pardalotidae, of very small, brightly coloured birds native to Australia, with short tails, strong legs, and stubby blunt beaks.

60 cents: Forty-spotted Pardalote. This bird usually has 20 spots occurring on each wing, giving rise to its name. The Forty-spotted Pardalote is endemic to Tasmania, where its range is restricted to the south-east, with strongholds on Bruny Island and Maria Island.

$1.20: Spotted Pardalote. The Spotted Pardalote can be found through eastern and far-eastern Australia and in the south-western corner of Western Australia.

$1.80: Red-browed Pardalote. The Red-browed Pardalote is found throughout much of the top two-thirds of Australia, most predominately in the north-west and rarely in the east.

$3.00: Striated Pardalote. The Striated Pardalote inhabits nearly all areas of Australia. Most individuals in the race that occupies Tasmania will cross to the mainland for the winter months, that’s a distance of 240 km (150 miles).

The fifth of the series – Owls, Guardians of the Night. Portrays four birds in their natural surroundings, the set were issued in 2016.



$1.00: Eastern Grass Owl. The comparatively long-legged Eastern Grass Owl is the only Australian owl species to live on the ground. It occupies open grassland and swampy areas across northern Australia, much of Queensland, north-eastern New South Wales and north-eastern South Australia. It spends much of its days in “squats” – cave-like hides that it builds in the grass.

$1.00: Rufous Owl. The Rufous is large at 45–55 centimetres, and its prey can include the Brush Turkey and Sugar Glider, as well as beetles. It is found in north-eastern Queensland and along the northern coast into Western Australia.

$1.00: Sooty Owl. The heavily built Sooty Owl is larger and darker than its close relative, the Lesser Sooty Owl. This very secretive owl occurs along the east coast, from central Queensland into southern Victoria. The Sooty owl and eastern grasss owl are the only two masked owls in the series

$1.00: Southern Boobook. The Southern Boobook shown in the stamp is the subspecies lurida, which is smaller and darker than other subspecies and confined to around the Atherton Tablelands, in Queensland. The smallest of Australian owls, the Southern Boobook is also the most numerous and widespread.

 
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ernieinjax

13 Sep 2016
06:47:56pm

re: Christopher Pope - Wildlife Artist (Wildlife on postage stamps)

Bird stamps might be the most prolific stamp subject ever...or maybe flowers. If not old dudes with beards.

I always thought that it would be a neat topical collection to only include birds of prey i.e. hawks, raptors etc.

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Rob1956

re: Christopher Pope - Wildlife Artist (Wildlife on postage stamps)

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Rob1956

re: Christopher Pope - Wildlife Artist (Wildlife on postage stamps)

Thanks smauggie, I'll try and get a few more birds and insects uploaded.

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Rob1956

re: Christopher Pope - Wildlife Artist (Wildlife on postage stamps)

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