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Friday 7 May 2021

1830) "Endangered National Wildlife", Estonia: EUROPA - 2021: Omniva (formerly Eesti Post) has issued a set of two Stamps featuring Critically Endangered National Wildlife - The Lady's Slipper ("Cypripedium calceolus") and The Eurasian Hoopoe ("Upupa epops"): Date of Stamp set issue: 06.05.2021:

1830) "Endangered National Wildlife", Estonia: EUROPA - 2021: Omniva (formerly Eesti Post) has issued a set of two Stamps of 1.90 Euro each, featuring Critically Endangered National Wildlife - The Lady's Slipper ("Cypripedium calceolus")  and The Eurasian Hoopoe ("Upupa epops"): Date of Stamp set issue: 06.05.2021:

About Europa 2021 - Stamps:

EUROPA Stamps are special stamps issued by European postal administrations. 

They bear the official EUROPA logo, a PostEurop registered trademark under the aegis of PostEurop in which Europe is the central theme. 

EUROPA stamp issues are among the most collected and most popular stamps in the world and have been issued for over 60 years.

Every year a new theme is assigned by PostEurop and all participating countries issue stamps with their own interpretation of the theme. The theme for 2021 is "Endangered National Wildlife"

More about EUROPA Postage Stamps:

EUROPA Postage stamps (also known as Europa - CEPT - European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations - until 1992) are special stamps issued by European Postal Administrations/Enterprises and bears the official EUROPA logo, a PostEurop registered trademark under the aegis of PostEurop in which Europe is the central theme.

EUROPA stamps underline cooperation in the posts domain, aimed at promotion of philately. They also build awareness of the common roots, culture and history of Europe and its common goals.

As such, EUROPA stamp issues are among the most collected and most popular stamps in the world.

Since the first issue in 1956, EUROPA stamps have been a tangible symbol of Europe's desire for closer integration and co-operation.

In 1993, PostEurop became responsible for issuing EUROPA stamps.

When CEPT decided to focus more on telecommunications in 1993, PostEurop took over the management of the Europa issues. The CEPT logo was replaced by a new logo created by PostEurop i.e. the word "EUROPA" leaning towards the right hand side.

Each year, PostEurop's "Stamps & Philately Group" selects the EUROPA stamp theme:

1993 - Contemporary Art

1994 - Great Discoveries

1995 - Peace and Freedom

1996 - Famous women

1997 - Tales and legends

1998 - Festivals and National Celebrations

1999 - Nature Reserves and Parks

2000 - Common Design. Tower of 6 stars

2001 - Water - Treasure of Nature

2002 - The Circus

2003 - Poster Art

2004 - Holidays

2005 - Gastronomy

2006 - Integration through the eyes of Young People

2007 - Scout Centenary

2008 - Writing Letters

2009 - Astronomy

2010 - Children Books

2011 - Forests - International Year of Forests

2012 - Visit …. (for instance "Visit Finland" etc.)

2013 - Van of the Postman - Postal vehicles 

2014 - Musical instruments - National musical instruments

2015 - Old Toys

2016 - Ecology in Europe - "Think Green". Common Design

2017 - Castles

2018 - Bridges

2019 - National Birds

2020 - Ancient Postal Routes

2021 - Endangered National Wildlife

2022 - the theme will be "Stories & Myths". 

About Europa 2021 - "Endangered National Wildlife Stamps issued by Omniva (formerly Eesti Post):

This year’s PostEurop stamp theme is ‘Endangered National Wildlife’, and Omniva (Eesti Post) has depicted the Lady's Slipper ("Cypripedium calceolus") and the Eurasian Hoopoe ("Upupa epops") which are critically endangered.

These beautiful stamps feature species that are locally registered from "Critically Endangered" through to "Near Threatened".

The EUROPA Stamps issued by Omniva  (formerly Eesti Post) features the Lady's Slipper and the Eurasian Hoopoe:

The Lady’s Slipper ("Cypripedium calceolus"):

 The EUROPA Stamp of 1.90 Euro depicting the Lady's Slipper issued by Omniva (formerly Eesti Post)

It is the Orchid with the largest flower in Estonia and Europe. 

The flowers measure up to 10 cm and are shaped like shoes. It blooms from late May until early July. 

The Lady’s Slipper is pollinated by insects, the faint vanilla scent of the flowers attracts small insects. However, the flower is a trap for pollinators because the only way out of the shoe-shaped labellum is by climbing past the anthers and stigma.

 The plant reproduces both by seeds and vegetatively by rhizome. Usually grows on wooden meadows, forest edges and in thinner spruce and mixed forests.

The Eurasian hoopoe (Upupa epops):

 The EUROPA Stamp of 1.90 Euro depicting the Eurasian Hoopoe issued by Omniva (formerly Eesti Post)

This is a bright and colourful bird about the size of a pigeon. It has a feather tuft on the top of its head which stands up when excited. 

The elegant bird may often be seen walking on the ground or sometimes even running short distances. It is also capable of climbing trees, but this can rarely be seen. 

Its flight is reminiscent of a large butterfly because of its undulating path and rapid wing flapping. 

The Eurasian hoopoe nests in hollows in trees, on the ground or in walls. It is afraid of humans but not of man-made structures. The bird tries to reuse its nest for several years. 

They do not clean the nests which is why they tend to smell. The Eurasian hoopoe mainly eats insects, particularly beetles and their larvae.


The First Day Cover (FDC) features the Eurasian Hoopoe at left and the two EUROPA stamps are affixed at top right cancelled with a special Handstamp/postmark which features a leaf in the centre. The Cancellation is of Tallinn Post Office and is dated - "06.05.2021".

                             
A Full Sheet (FS) of 10 Stamps depicting the Lady's Slipper Orchid with Tete Beche.

Tete Beche:
In philately, tête-bêche (French for "head-to-tail", lit. "head-to-head") is a joined pair of stamps in which one is upside-down in relation to the other, produced intentionally or accidentally. 

Like any pair of stamps, a pair of tête-bêches can be a vertical or a horizontal pair. In the case of a pair of triangular stamps, they cannot help but be linked "head-to-tail".

Mechanical errors during the process of production can result in tête-bêches. During the printing of stamps for booklets, the pages of stamps are usually printed in multiples from a larger printing plate. This can result in tête-bêche pairs. 

Most booklet stamps are printed in sheets, each containing 4 booklets. Looking at such a sheet 2 booklets, one above the other, come in from the left with the other 2 sheets coming from the right which appear to be upside down.
 
Where the columns of stamps from each side meet there is therefore a row of tete-beche pairs. It is unusual for these pairs to find their way into the postal system, as the sheets are cut into individual booklet pages before binding into the distributed booklet.

A Full Sheet of 10 Stamps depicting the Eurasian Hoopoe with Tete Beche.

Technical details:

Issue Date: 06.05.2021

Designer: Vladimir Taiger

Printer: AS Vaba Maa

Process: Offset

Colours: 4 Colours

Size: 44.64 mm x 37.00 mm






Links:

Links to posts on "Endangered National Wildlife" on this Blog, the theme of PostEUROP "EUROPA -2021 theme:














Links to posts on "Ancient Postal Routes" on this Blog, the theme of PostEurop "EUROPA-2020":











16) "Ancient Postal Routes - Within and Outside Europe", Iceland: Two Postage Stamps issued by "Islandpostur" (Iceland Post) in the denominations of ISK 3150: Date of Stamps issue: 07.05.2020

17) "Ancient Postal Routes - the Old Road Majstorska Cesta", Croatia: A Se-tenant of two Stamps of the values of 8.60 HRK issued by Croatian Post: Date of stamp issue: 08.05.2020

















Some other posts on Estonia on this blog:












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