2185) "Experience Nature - Fort Ellewoutsdijk", Netherlands: PostNL (Netherlands Post) has issued a 10 Stamps Sheet in its on-going Stamp Series, featuring inhabitants of the Nature Reserve: Date of Stamp Sheet issue: 03.01.2022:
About Experience Nature Stamp Series:
On 03.01.2022, PostNL has brought out the "Experience Nature – Fort Ellewoutsdijk" Stamps issue which consists of a sheet of ten stamps in ten different designs.
The denomination on these stamps is ‘1’, the denomination for items weighing up to 20g destined for the Netherlands.
The stamp sheet about Fort Ellewoutsdijk is part of the multi-annual Experience nature 2021-2023 Series.
In the series, four stamp sheets are issued every year, each comprising ten different stamps. The stamps feature images of plants and animals in unique Dutch nature reserves across the country.
In 2022, it is the turn of the provinces of Zeeland, Zuid-Holland, Limburg and Gelderland.
This issue focusses on the Zeeland Fort Ellewoutsdijk, located on the coast of Zuid-Beveland.
Later this year, stamps will be issued featuring the peatlands of the Nieuwkoopse Plassen in Zuid-Holland (21.02.2022), chalk landscape of the Sint-Pietersberg in Zuid-Limburg (13.06.2022) and the Leuvenum Woods on the Veluwe in Gelderland (15.08. 2022).
About – Fort Ellewoutsdijk Nature Reserve:
Fort Ellewoutsdijk is a defensive structure built in 1839. It was built by the Netherlands in 1830 to control shipping on the Westerschelde after the secession of Belgium.
The hexagonal fortress lies outside the dyke, just outside the Ellewoutsdijkpolder, south of the village of Ellewoutsdijk.
In 1981, Fort Ellewoutsdijk was bought by the "Vereniging Natuurmonumenten" ("Society for the Preservation of Nature") because of its extraordinary position as a cultural heritage site in the landscape of Zuid-Beveland.
The area around the fortress is part of the Natura 2000 area Westerschelde & Saeftinghe.
This area is unique because it gives a good idea of what Zeeland looked like before the land reclamation, with one of the few outer dyke salt marshes in the Westerschelde.
The area is attractive for breeding colonies of, for example, the black-headed gull and the Mediterranean gull.
At low tide, the bare mud flats are a resting and feeding area for waders and water birds.
In winter, thousands of dunlin, bar-tailed godwit and grey plover come here to visit. On the salt marshes one can find sea purslane, sea aster, sea lavender and sea couch. Behind the Westerschelde dyke at Ellewoutsdijk there are two inlagen– sunken areas sheltered between the dykes.
In the spring, Inlaag 1887 (Reserve) is a favourite breeding ground for birds. Inlaag 2005 (Reserve) alternates between salt water, brackish and freshwater areas. Here, plants such as strawberry clover, Crested Dog’s Tail and spiny restharrow get a chance to thrive.
The Stamp Sheet featuring Fort Ellewoutsdijk inhabitants:
brown crab, Mediterranean gull, bar-tailed godwit, cockle, marsh samphire, chameleon prawn, common mussel, spiral wrack, harbour seal and common starfish. Each has its own stamp.
The stamp sheet also features many more images of flora and fauna from this area.
A separate graphic layer of transparent images features: bladder wrack (top left), green sea urchins (top right), cockles (middle left), barnacles (just below middle), common ringed plover (right under middle), starfish (left under middle) and bladder wrack again (bottom right).
These transparent images cross the perforations and link the stamps with each other and the sheet edge.
The stamp sheet also features many more images of flora and fauna from this area.
i) Brown crab:
The brown crab, also known as edible crab, (Cancer pagurus) is about 10 cm long and 15 cm across, although some specimens can grow to 30 cm across.
The pincers are usually two different sizes. The largest is used for cracking shellfish, for example, and the smaller and often sharper one for tearing apart tissues.
The abdomen of a female crab is much broader than that of a male. She uses it to protect the eggs she carries throughout the winter and spring.
Brown crabs are mainly nocturnal, and they eat shellfish, starfish and other animals that cannot easily escape.
They are not only found in intertidal areas but also at great depths of up to 300 metres. They are mainly found on stony sea beds and rocks with cavities in which they can hide.
2) Mediterranean gull:
The Mediterranean gull (Larus melanocephalus) is a fairly rare species in the Netherlands with around 4,000 to 4,100 breeding pairs, although their numbers are going up.
They are found mainly in the delta area of our country, but their numbers are increasing in other parts such as the IJsselmeer region. They are often found on intensively managed farmland and sometimes, in the winter months, in cities among the other gull species.
Mediterranean gulls spend the winter along the Atlantic coast of France, Great Britain and occasionally Spain and North Africa.
Adult birds have completely white primary feathers. The mantle is light grey and the underparts are snow-white. The head is black, with striking white eyelids.
The bird can also be recognised by its blood-red, thick bill and red legs. The male and female look the same.
3) Bar-tailed godwit:
The build of the bar-tailed godwit (Limosa lapponica) is more compact and heavier than that of the black-tailed godwit, and it has shorter legs.
The summer plumage of the male is a warm chestnut brown from top to toe, which explains its Dutch name rosse (red) grutto.
In the Netherlands, the species is only a transient and winter visitor. When they are passing through and on the wintering grounds, they are mainly found on (sandy) mudflats, and in spring on coastal grasslands and sometimes on the beach.
This bird feeds on lugworms, sandworms, ragworms, other worms, bivalves (for example Baltic clams) and crustaceans.
In grasslands, earthworms and leather jackets are a favourite snack. The bar-tailed godwit searches for food both by sight and by touch through pecking and jabbing.
4) Cockle:
The common cockle (Cerastoderma edule) is a bivalve mollusc, with a firm shell that is greyish brown to grubby white in colour. It grows to a length of about 5 cm. It usually has around 24 longitudinal ribs running along its shell that end in blunt serrations along the edge of the shell.
The cockle also has growth rings, which can be used to determine its age. This shell lives low in the intertidal zone, buried in sand, silt or fine gravel.
It is a salt water species that can tolerate a salt content of 2 per mille. The Latin name ‘edule’ means ‘edible’, and this species is indeed a well-known and, in some countries, beloved delicacy.
In the Netherlands, a considerable branch of the fishing industry focuses on cockle fishing. Most cockles are caught using large ships that dig out the sandbanks on which they are found.
5) Marsh samphire:
The marsh samphire (Salicornia europaea), also known as glasswort, is a plant in the amaranth family.
Outside the dykes, on the side of the sea, it is mainly found above the medium-high tide line.
Within the dykes, marsh samphire generally grows in more or less open, very saline areas.
The plant can reach a height of 30 cm and flowers from July to October. The anthers are 0.25 to 0.55 mm long and it has slanted side branches. The flower-bearing parts conjoin to form 0.5 to 3.5 cm long spikelets.
The tops of the perigonium come off easily when the seeds are ripe, scattering the seeds. The seeds are very hairy and between 0.6 and 1.4 mm long. The stem is usually branched. The plant tends to be green, but often turns bright red or dark purple in late summer.
6) Chameleon prawn:
Just like all members of the Hippolytidae family, the chameleon prawn (Hippolyte varians) has a carapace (head armour) and a sizeable, sharp rostrum (snout). It also has a single short tooth on the surface, just in front of the eyes. The abdomen is bent downwards, the acute angle giving the impression that it has been snapped in half.
The chameleon prawn grows to a length of 32 mm. Its colour may be red, brown or green. It can also have a gorgeous transparent pattern of red, brown or green blotches.
At night, the prawn often looks even more transparent. It can perfectly adapt its colour to the surface it is on, which is why it is called the chameleon prawn.
This prawn species mainly eats small crustaceans, worms, seaweed and organic waste.
7) Common mussel:
The common mussel (Mytilus edulis) has an oval, slightly triangular shell, ranging between 3 and 8 cm in size. The shell colour varies from a deep dark blue to almost black.
The mussel attaches itself to a solid surface using so-called byssal threads, which consist of an adhesive substance secreted by a special gland.
The mussel feeds on phytoplankton. Fertilisation takes place externally, in the water. The eggs hatch into larvae, which remain suspended in the plankton. After some time, the larvae develop a shell and sink to the bottom. This is known as spat settlement, after which they hopefully find a surface to attach themselves to.
Mussels are mainly found in intertidal zones. Mussels often form dense aggregations, which grow constantly as new mussels settle on top of older and dead mussels.
8) Spiral wrack:
Spiral wrack (Fucus spiralis) is a seaweed that grows to 20-30 cm long and branches evenly.
The flattened blades, which are about 1 cm wide, grow from a discoid holdfast. Even though it looks like they broaden at the tip, this is not the case.
This effect is caused by the fanning effect of the branching leaves, which always stay more or less in the same plane. The tips of the blades can be quite swollen on either side of the vein and are usually lighter in colour. This is where the reproductive bodies are.
The plant is usually a greenish-brown. It does not have air-vesicles. Spiral wrack is found on rocks and stones high up in the intertidal zone.
9) Harbour seal:
The harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) has a torpedo-shaped body and grey to brownish-grey fur with black spots.
It mainly eats groundfish, which it hunts using its sensitive whiskers.
The main difference between the harbour and the grey seal is that the latter clearly has a flattened head, while that of the harbour seal is rounder.
Males are 150-190 cm long and weigh 55-130 kg, while females are 120-155 cm long and weigh 45-105 kg. Hunting of harbour seals has been prohibited in both Germany and the Netherlands since 1975.
This mammal lives mainly in tidal areas with spots that are exposed during low tide. These spots are mainly found along sandy coasts and rocky shores, but also on weed-covered reefs, pebble beaches, sandbanks and rocks.
10) Common starfish:
The common starfish (Asterias rubens) is the most familiar starfish found in Netherlands.
Its colour can vary from a pale orange to a very dark purple and its diameter ranges from 14-30 centimetres, although outliers can grow to a diameter of 50 cm. Like many other echinoderms, it has five-sided symmetry.
If they lose an arm, a new one grows in its place, although it does not always grow to the same size.
The common starfish eats all kinds of invertebrates, but mostly bivalve molluscs. It is quite well known for the way it eats mussels: it fixes the suction discs on the underside of its body to the shell of the mussel and pulls.
On top of that, the starfish cuts the mussel off from the water surrounding it, so it also starts suffering from a lack of oxygen. Once it has prised the mussel shell open, the starfish secretes gastric juice, digesting the mussel while it is still in its own shell.
Technical details:
Issue Date: 03.01.2022
Designer: Frank Janse, from Gouda
Printer: Cartor Security Printers, Meaucé-La Loupe, France
Process: Offset
Colours: cyan, magenta, yellow and black
Size: Stamp Size: 40.00 mm x 30.00 mm
Sheet Size: 122.00 mm x 170.00 mm
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10) First Atlases, Netherlands: Commemorating 450 Years of the first Atlas (1570-2020) & others: A Stamp Sheet of six stamps depicting the Atlases which were compiled in the Netherlands in the 16th & 17th Centuries AD: Stamp Set issued by POstNL: Date of Stamp Set issue: 23.03.2020
12) 75th Anniversary of the United Nations Organisation (UNO), The Netherlands: A Coin-card set of three denominations of 0.50 Euros, 0.20 Euros and 0.05 Euros minted by the Royal Dutch Mint to celebrate the milestone: Year of Coin-card issue: 2020
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16) Ancient Postal Routes - the Postal Boat Race - between Aland and Sweden", Aland, Finland: A EUROPA Postage Stamp of 2.00 Euro issued by Aland Post: Date of Stamp issue: 08.05.2020
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Satyajit Pratap has commented:
ReplyDelete"Thank you for the information.... Got into wiki ...and found some very exotic birds ..."
Thanks, Satyajit for visiting this post. Netherlands has many exotic birds and flowering plants. They are covering a whole lot of them province wise through this interesting stamp series.
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