Poland

Kazimierz from Poland sent me a nice cover again. This time no WWF stamps on the cover, but a nice souvenir sheet.

This is the cover: (on the right you see a picture of the s/s that I found on the Internet)

This souvenir sheet was issued because on January 16 and 17, 2008 the Plenary Assembly of PostEurop has been held in Kraków (Poland). Such meetings are organized yearly in another Member State of PostEurop, but this one is very special for the Polish Post because of the celebration of its 450th anniversary. This even coincides with the the 15th anniversary of PostEurop!

The artwork on the stamp combines symbolics of the post (an envelope), the city of Kraków (a peackock's feather, the typical element of the Cracovian folk costume), and the European diversity, expressed in its colour palette, drawn from the national flags of the Member States. The PostEurop logo is present on the stamp as well as on the occasional postmark that will be applied at the Kraków 1 Post Office.

(http://www.poczta-polska.pl/znaczki/en/index.php)

Inside the envelope, I found two really really nice items to enrich my WWF collection:

I already talked about the birds on the stamps on previous occasions, so I refer to those texts if you feel like reading something about these very nice animals.

Croatia WWF

Zeljko surprised me a second time! :) The day after I had received the cards and envelopes I mentioned in my previous post, I also received this package:

It is franked with the complete WWF serie from 2006 on the 'Little tern'. Maybe you remember that I already talked about this issue in one of my previous posts, where I referred to the text on the website of the Croatian Post. (http://www.posta.hr/main.aspx?id=193&idmarke=1177)

As you can see, the package was quite folded, but the damage to what was inside stayed limited.

The biggest victim is a beautiful postcard with one of the Purple Heron stamps. Here it is:


The card was badly folded but I could 'repair' it a bit so that it looks like new again ;) At least I think that the pleat does not really strike.
I refer to my previous Croatia/WWF post for more information on the Purple Heron.

Finally I want to show you two official WWF FDC's from Croatia. The first one is the Little Tern FDC, these stamps you already know by now :).

But the second FDC pictures stamps I post here for the first time. It's the Meadow Viper serie from 1999! Thanks to this FDC, I am able to show you all WWF stamps issued by Croatia, which is of course a dream for me :)

I allow myself once again to refer to the Croatia Post website for more information on this animal. (http://www.posta.hr/main.aspx?id=193&idmarke=322)
















Thanks a lot Zeljko! The stamps you wanted in return are on their way, I am already looking forward for some new trades!

Croatia WWF

Zeljko really surprised me by sending me a very nice WWF serie from Croatia on 2 postcards and 2 covers (which are in fact his own creation!).

The serie on the cards and envelopes is the 2004 serie on the 'Purple Heron' (Ardea purpurea). It is a migratory bird that arrives in Croatia at the end of March and leaves it in August, September, sometimes even later. The Purple Heron is protected by law in most European countries.

It is 79 cm in length, its spread out wings reach up to 135 cm, and it weighs about 1 kilogram. The Purple Heron lives in wetland and swamps of plant communities where there is a predominance of common reed, common club-rush, various kinds of bulrushes, sedge and other sorts that make a phytocoenosis of the common reed and a small crab. They can also be found in other habitats with a different vegetational overgrowth.

(http://www.posta.hr/main.aspx?id=193&idmarke=496)

These are the postcards and envelopes Zeljko sent to me:
































I think it's obvious that these stamps and cards/covers will get a special place in my collection!

Polish birds (WWF)

I received another cover from Kazimierz, the first one was the envelope with the two very nice dance stamps.

Kazimierz sent me this great cover, picturing the complete serie of Polish WWF stamps from 2003. I already talked about these stamps in my previous Poland post, because then I had received an envelope with two stamps of this serie.

I refer to the mentioned post and to the internet in case you want to read some more about these birds.