Saturday, July 31, 2010

The world's largest butterfly: Queen Alexandra's Birdwing (Ornithoptera alexandrae) - WWF maximum cards from Papua-New Guinea


The above image shows the male of Queen Alexandra's Birdwing (Ornithoptera alexandrae).






The above image shows the female of Queen Alexandra's Birdwing (Ornithoptera alexandrae).



They are as big as some birds, and they fly like some birds - but they are butterflies!
"Birdwings are papilionid butterflies native to the Indian Subcontinent, mainland and archipelagic Southeast Asia and Australasia, and are usually regarded as belonging to three genera:OrnithopteraTrogonoptera and Troides. Some authorities include additional genera. The exact number of species is debated, but most recent authorities recognize between 30 and 40. Birdwings are named for their exceptional size, angular wings, and birdlike flight."

The females of Queen Alexandra's Birdwing are bigger than the males.
Here's an image of a female:



Hovercraft:
"Courtship is brief but spectacular; males hover above a potential mate, dousing her with a pheromone to induce mating. Receptive females will allow the male to land and pair, while unreceptive females will fly off or otherwise discourage mating. Males are strongly territorial and will see off potential rivals, sometimes chasing small birds as well as other birdwing species."

No more shotgun approach:
"The species is also highly prized by collectors, with illegally traded specimens selling for thousands of dollars. Although collectors are often implicated with the decline of this species, habitat destruction is the main threat. Early collectors, frustrated by the height at which adults fly during the day, often used small shotguns to down specimens. but because collectors demand high quality specimens for their collections, most specimens are reared from larvae or pupae."

Friday, July 30, 2010

White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) on maximum cards from USA, Romania and Netherlands Antilles


I created this non-FIP maximum card with a real photo postcard.
I shot it (the photo, not the deer :)... ) in the Shenandoah National Park, Virginia, USA. 
At arm's length, from my car, as this doe came to see if I have any food for her.

"The white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), also known as the Virginia deer or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to the United States (all but five of the states),CanadaMexicoCentral America, and in South America as far south as Peru. It has also been introduced to New Zealand and some countries in Europe, such as Finland and the Czech Republic."
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I'll add later other maximum card images.
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In Romania there is no wild population of white-tailed deer, but there was a stamp series honoring/celebrating/"exploiting" the fauna of the arctic region. Just as so many countries issue stamp with giant panda, when there is NO connection with the local fauna. :)



















"In Valerius Geist's book Mule Deer Country he explains that by testing the mitochondrial DNA of the three species (blacktail, whitetail and mule deer), researchers have now determined that it was the mating of whitetail does [DOEs] and blacktail bucks that gave rise to the mule deer, and not the opposite as was once suspected, therefore not falling under a subspecies of O. hemionus and rather as its own species O. columbianus.[2]"


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Happy Postcard Friendship Friday!




Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Bambi, "the artist formerly known as Roe Deer", now known as White-tailed Deer





I have created this maximum card.
Sure, it would have been better to have a Bambi postmark, but hey!...still Disney world...
Is Bambi as American as apple pie?
Uh, no.
A naturalized American, formerly a "Non-resident Alien" - OMG!...sounds alien...
A foreign national...
Then again, in North America (most) everybody is from somewhere else, one or MORE generations ago.
Except maybe the likes of the Kennewick Man.
Don't worry, all the other continents were basically populated by migrants as well, throughout history.
Immigrant aliens. 
Undocumented aliens, I might specify. 
But WE have proof of that.
Moreover, WE ALL come from AFRICA, according to the fossil record.
CSI Oldupai, so to speak.
Olduvai is a mispronounciation of Oldupai.

See the post below, about Roe Deer.

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Top 30 Stamp Collecting Blogs, by guidetoartschools.com

#2:
"Dorincard: Blogger Dorin C is a stamp and postcard fanatic, and luckily he's more than pleased to write prolifically and charmingly about his obsession. He has a particular bent for stamps with wild mammals on them, but his blog demonstrates an affinity for stamps of all forms and backgrounds, as long as they offer a special narrative that's worth sharing with his readers.


  • Source: http://www.guidetoartschools.com/library/best-stamp-collecting-blogs#ixzz1KirbuA4p
    "

    Some feedback received about me and my blog here

    [DORIN'S NOTE: There are over 100 million websites.]

    From alexa.com traffic rank site

    "There are 1,699,250 sites with a better three-month global Alexa traffic rank than Dorincard.blogspot.com.
    About 43% of visitors to the site come from France, where it has attained a traffic rank of 152,077.
    About 80% of visits to the site consist of only one pageview (i.e., are bounces).
    Dorincard.blogspot.com's visitors view an average of 1.5 unique pages per day.
    Visitors to the site spend roughly two minutes on each pageview and a total of three minutes on the site during each visit."



    inkling (Enthusiast)

    The best use of this site is Other.

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    Comments:
    Postcards and stamps, mainly featuring mammals and birds but Dorincard also has other creations
    and interests he likes to share.
    His enthusiasm for Maximum cards (a postcard and a similar themed stamps sent through the
    postal system) shines through.
    He shows how he gets the right card, stamp and postmark together.
    Visiting his site you will also learn things about the natural world told with a dry sense of humour,
    possibly with a play on words, and a unique style of headings.
    Topical and informative both for the enthusiast and casual visitor.
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