Product Description
4 September 2007 - Action for Species - Birds - under current postage value, buy them, use them?
A block of 10 x 1st class stamps showing UK bird species that are endangered, but thanks to the efforts of conservation groups and the public, are now on the way to recovery.
The birds in detail
White Tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla
Extinct in Britain for nearly a hundred years, Norwegian birds were introduced to the Hebrides in 1975 to encourage a slow-growing fresh start.
Bearded Tit Panurus biarmicus
Cold winters hold them back, but well-managed reedbeds hold ever-increasing numbers, helped by welcome immigrants from the Dutch polders.
Red Kite Milvus milvus
Persecuted to the brink of extinction, its recovery is one of the great successes of recent years. Maybe we shall see it scavenging the streets of London again.
Cirl Bunting Emberiza cirlus
This Mediterranean species has a patchy foothold in Southern England, but enlightened farming practices are encouraging a healthy increase in populations, especially in South Devon.
Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus
Summer visitors, recovering spectacularly from pollution problems, these are now commonly breeding in the East Anglian reed-beds and colonising even further afield.
Avocet Recurvirostra avosetta
The most elegant and welcome of all waders, increasing mightily, first as a consequence of wartime flooding of coastal marshes, but benefiting today from careful wetland management.
Bittern Botaurus stellaris
Famous for its booming call and its preference for skulking in dense reed-beds, its prospects may depend on inspired habitat management and fewer cold winters. A case of crossed fingers.
Dartford Warbler Sylvia undata
Mild winters and dry summers help this heath land resident to flourish south of the Thames. Perhaps it will even return to Kent!
Corncrake Crex crex
Brought to its knees by the introduction of grass and silage culture in the machine age, farmers have changed their grassland programmes in order to aid their recovery.
Peregrine Falco peregrinus
These magnificent falcons have been much persecuted in a variety of ways through the centuries. Yet they survive and increasingly patronise man-made nest sites. Check church towers, pylons, warehouses and high-rise flats!
