3142) Experience Nature - Birds on Bonaire: "Experience Nature 2024-2026 Perennial Stamp Series": A set of Stamps issued by PostNL (Netherlands Post) featuring the Flora and Fauna found in this part of the Netherlands: Date of Stamp Set issue: 02.01.2024:
About Experience Nature - Birds on Bonaire:
On 02.01.2024, PostNL has released the "Experience Nature - Birds on Bonaire" issue - a sheet of ten stamps in ten different designs.
The denomination on these stamps is ‘1’, the denomination for items weighing up to 20g with destinations in the Netherlands.
The stamp sheet about birds on Bonaire is part of the "2024-2026 Experience Nature Stamp Series" dedicated to the Caribbean Netherlands.
In the series, four stamp sheets will be issued every year, each comprising ten different stamps. The stamps depict plants and animals found in this part of the Netherlands.
With thousands of species of plants and animals, the islands in this area have a biodiversity that is unprecedented by Dutch standards.
2024 will consecutively focus on the birds, butterflies, underwater life and flora on the island of Bonaire.
Experience Nature - Birds on Bonaire features - the crested caracara, red-footed booby, mangrove warbler, southern lapwing, Venezuelan troupial, Caribbean flamingo, red ibis, yellow-shouldered amazon, magnificent frigatebird and ruby-topaz hummingbird.
Just like Sint Eustatius and Saba, the island of Bonaire holds a separate status within the Netherlands.
The collective name for these three islands is the Caribbean Netherlands.
Alongside the countries of Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten, they form the Caribbean part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
About Bonaire - a brief:
Bonaire spans almost 29,000 hectares, making it 50% larger than Texel. Bonaire is home to around 24,000 people, most of whom speak Papiamentu as their first language.
The main sources of income are tourism and salt extraction, and the island is a popular destination for diving holidays and cruise ships.
Since 2010, Bonaire has been a special municipality, and the island council is the most senior governing body responsible for local legislation. Executive power lies with the island deputies appointed by the island council and chaired by the Governor. The island boasts a relatively large amount of nature.
To the North is Washington Slagbaai National Park, which is home to cactus forests, aloe fields, rock formations, salt lakes, limestone caves, sand dunes, blowholes and crumbling limestone terraces.
Back in 1969, the over 4,200-hectare park became the Netherlands Antilles' first Nature Park.
The "Bonaire National Marine Park" has been a legally protected underwater park surrounding the entire island and the uninhabited island of "Klein Bonaire" since 1979.
The 6600-plus hectare park is also home to a coral reef, seagrass and a mangrove forest.
Klein Bonaire is also a legally protected Nature Reserve in its own right. This coral reef-lined islet is home to salt lakes where Caribbean flamingos forage and important nesting sites for sea turtles.
Bird-rich Bonaire is home to over 200 different bird species - breeding birds, winter visitors as well as regular visitors and wanderers.
Most of Bonaire's birds live in Washington Slagbaai National Park, situated on the north side of the island.
Other famous spots for bird watching include Lac Cai Beach in the East, the Grote Pekelmeer lake in the South and the Karst and Caves Nature Reserve in the Northeast.
Thanks to the large number of freshwater springs, many birds can survive on this Caribbean Island, which is usually dry.
Besides common birds such as sparrows, Bonaire is home to many species of waterfowl, including the magnificent frigatebird, the pelican and, of course, the Caribbean flamingo.
Birds of prey such as the crested caracara and the osprey are also found there, as are waders, gull species and tropical coloured birds such as the rose-ringed parakeet, two hummingbird species, the yellow oriole, the Venezuelan troupial, the bananaquit and the mangrove warbler.
The Caribbean flamingo is Bonaire's national symbol:
Its image and colours recur everywhere, right down to the name of the reddish pink coloured Flamingo Airport. The yellow-shouldered amazon is also synonymous with Bonaire. Bonaire is one of the few places on earth where this unique species of parrot is found.
The Experience Nature - Birds on Bonaire Stamp Sheet:
On the Stamp Sheet, each bird is depicted in its natural environment on its own stamp.
The following ten birds are featured - Crested Caracara, Red-footed Booby, Mangrove Warbler, Southern Lapwing, Venezuelan Troupial, Caribbean Flamingo, Red Ibis, Yellow-shouldered Amazon, Magnificent Frigatebird and Ruby-topaz Hummingbird.
All bird photos are incorporated in a graphic layer with circle shapes that are also visible on the sheet edge. Some images also continue onto the adjacent stamp and onto the sheet edge.
In several places on the stamp sheet, the designer has added graphics derived from symbols on old topographical maps.
These symbols can indicate landscape forms, contour lines, plantings, soil structures and watercourses. The design also features an additional transparent layer featuring monochrome images (both white and in colour) of flora and fauna that are typical of this area.
The monochrome images are almost abstract cross the perforations and connect the stamps to each other and to the sheet edge.
The following plants and animals are depicted - red ibis and ceroid cactus (top left), melon cactus and yellow-shouldered amazon (top right), mangrove warbler (middle left), magnificent frigatebird (bottom right) and common lantana (bottom right and centre).
The typography used is the DIN 2014; a font designed by Vasily Biryukov from Bulgaria and released by Paratype in 2015.
In the captions on the stamp sheet, the designer Frank Janse creatively and humorously expresses his associations with the names, features and appearance of the depicted birds.
Over the next few years, PostNL's "Experience Nature Stamp Series" will focus on the flora and fauna of the Caribbean Netherlands.
"Nature on Bonaire" will take centre stage on the four Experience Nature sheets published in 2024.
The custom design is guided by the bold colours found in Caribbean Nature.
The two Presentation Packs issued in the set:
Dutch Castles Coin Series:
For other interesting posts on issues from the Royal Dutch Mint, Netherlands and PostNL, please visit the following links:
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
For interesting posts from the Caribbean Netherlands on "Experience Nature":
For interesting posts from the Caribbean Netherlands on this blog:
5) City of Bruges (or Brugge), Belgium: 20 Years as UNENCO World Heritage Site: A 20 Euro Silver Proof Coin issued by the Royakl Dutch Mint under licencing of the Royal Belgian Mint, on behalf of the National Bank of Belgium: Coin issue date: 26.02.2020
6) 100 Years of Nature & Environment Protection, Luxembourg: Commemorating the Centenary Anniversary of the "Letzebuerger Natur a Vulleschutsliga a.s.b.l. (Luxembourg Nature and Bird Protection Society):A 0.80 Euro Stamp issued by Luxembourg Postes (Post): Date of stamp issue: 10.03.2020
7) Celebrating 25 Years of listing on UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Luxembourg: A Commemorative Stamp of 0.80 Euro issued by Luxembourg Postes (Post): Stamp issue date: 10.03.2020
Links:
Posts on Aruba on this blog:
Posts on SEPAC issues on this blog:
Posts on Finland on this Blog:
Posts on Sweden:
Links:
The undernoted two links will take you to our blog "Footloose" for two interesting posts written by me on the Dutch presence in Sadras in the 17th Century AD:
5) City of Bruges (or Brugge), Belgium: 20 Years as UNENCO World Heritage Site: A 20 Euro Silver Proof Coin issued by the Royakl Dutch Mint under licencing of the Royal Belgian Mint, on behalf of the National Bank of Belgium: Coin issue date: 26.02.2020
6) 100 Years of Nature & Environment Protection, Luxembourg: Commemorating the Centenary Anniversary of the "Letzebuerger Natur a Vulleschutsliga a.s.b.l. (Luxembourg Nature and Bird Protection Society):A 0.80 Euro Stamp issued by Luxembourg Postes (Post): Date of stamp issue: 10.03.2020
7) Celebrating 25 Years of listing on UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Luxembourg: A Commemorative Stamp of 0.80 Euro issued by Luxembourg Postes (Post): Stamp issue date: 10.03.2020
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
Posts on SEPAC issues on this blog:
Links to Posts on Turks and Caicos Islands:
Links to Posts on Curacao on this Blog:
For some other interesting posts on Currencies of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, please visit the following links:
18) Sea Motifs, Bahamas: Gold Bullion Coins in the denominations of 100 Dollars (depicting a Blue Marlin) and 250 Dollars (depicting a Conch Shell): Coins issue date: 03.12.2019
19) A new Generation $100 Polymer Banknote, Trinidad and Tobago with enhanced security features to "raise the bar" for counterfeiters & unscrupulous elements: Banknote circulation date: 09.12.2019:
20) Festival di Tumba (Carnival of Curacao), Curacao: "50th Edition of the Curacao Carnival/Festival" held from 27-31.01.2020: A set of six Commemorative Postage Stamps brought out by Cpost (Curacao Post) on 20.02.2020
21) New Polymer Banknotes, Trinidad and Tobago: The entire series will consist of $100, $50, $20, $10, $5 and $1 denominations: $100 has already been issued on 09.12.2019
23) "Caribbean Sea-Horse", Barbados: $10 (Ten Dollars) 1.0 Oz. Gold Bullion Coins & $1 (One Dollar) 1.0 Oz. Silver Bullion Coins minted by the Scottsdale Mint; Year of issue: 2020
24) Cayman Islands, A British Overseas Territory (BOT): A set of identically numbered Banknotes of the presently circulating Banknotes from the "D" Series of Banknotes
Links to some other interesting posts from South American countries & Mexico:
26) A new 100 Boliviano Banknote from Bolivia: issued by the "Banco Centrale de Bolivia" (Central Bank of Bolivia) on 15.01.2019 under its new 2018 Banknote Series
27) Central Bank of Uruguay ("Banco Centrale del Uruguay"): 50th Anniversary (Golden Jubilee) - 1967-2017 - celebrated with the issue of a 50 Peso Commemorative Banknote on 14.09.2018
Links to Posts on Curacao on this Blog:
Rajan Trikha has commented:
ReplyDelete"Beautiful description".
Thank you, Trikha sahab.
Delete