King Penguins, Falkland Islands/South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands

So another Friday is almost gone and from what the weather forecast says, a nice weekend ahead of us...so I guess Ill use that for some sunshine-enjoyment...and before that, post a few cards on this nice calm Friday evening...well there is a tennis match in a while so I am not quite sure how calm it's gonna remain....

First is a card from the Falkland Islands that Glenn sent me from his cruise exactly four years ago....and before you start throwing stones at me, no, this one was neither overlooked nor forgotten...just kept special as usual with those cards from rare countries...but since a little birdy told me that a FI card is now on my way too, thought it was like time to post some of those waiting-in-line cards....

Glenn sent me a bunch of great cards from his cruise back then (he always does actually), and this one is no exception.....have I ever told you that one of my biggest wishes in life is to hug a penguin?  Probably I have...just that I still haven't managed to fulfill it....I mean I should first go to a place where there are penguins of course, you don't just come across one in the street...but so far budget-wise, I'll have to stick to 'torturing' cats and dogs...

and...you know what?? I have a South Georgia stamp on this card :D Yep!! Well, there are penguins there too...just as you can see from the stamp...I was in doubts if I should consider this card from Falkland Islands or South Georgia, but I believe it would be appropriate to make it a Falkland Islands one....plus a reason less to make people more jealous than necessary :P
This lovely South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands was issued in 2010 in a set of 4 penguins' stamps, with this one showing the Aptenodytes patagonicus species.

Interesting thing is that Glenn sent this card on 15 March, while the postmark reads 19 April...and I don't recall exactly when it arrived in my mailbox...but it arrived :)

Thanks a lot again Glenn!!

Magellanic Penguins, Falkland Islands

so, it is me here again...at last! What can I do...April was an EXTREMELY busy month, that I barely had time for anything....and probably it was the month when i had mailed the least number of postcards....and my mailbox would have remained empty if it wasnt for a few good fairies who surprised me...and also, coz i was such a lucky gal that i was the Winner of the Month on the PC forum. Yay! So thanks to all that my dear mailbox accommodated almost 100 postcards during the month :) I couldnt be more thankful for such a treat! :)

And one of those good fairies was Glenn, who took a nice cruise and sent me great cards from the places he had visited...and one of them is a totally new country for my collection....the Falkland Islands!!! And it is such a lovely card!! Thanks a bunch Glenn!

The card shows a number of Magellanic Penguins in the Gypsy Cove, which is one of the small bays in the Falkland Islands, particularly, on the East Falkland. (the other one is West Falkland, which along with 776 lesser islands, comprise the Falkland Islands). The capital is Stanley (from where this card was mailed) and it  is also the only city there. Interesting...
As for these cute Magellanic creatures....they are the largest of the warm-weather penguins and were named after Ferdinand Magellan who first saw them in 1519 on his first voyage around the tip of South America. They have a wide black strip under their chin and another is in the shape of an upside down horseshoe on their stomachs. On their chests they have scattered black spots.
They live on the stormy and rocky shores of the Falklands, Argentina, and Chile and are around 70cm tall and weigh about 4kg.
Im mostly used to seeing those bigger ones living on the Antarctica, so these seem a bit odd to me, more like a birdy i could see in my garden...but still they are just too cute :)

and here comes a matching stamp with penguins, issued in 2003 and intended specifically for airmail postcards! And I love the nice and clear cancellation!!

Thanks so much Glenn for such a treat!!

Penguins, T.A.A.F

well, here are some adorable little penguins...and Ive been feel like one of them these days...in case you live in Europe, probably you are more or less a witness to the "nice" snow storms and freezing temperatures....maybe not the worst kind of weather I can remember, but it certainly is more than awful, demanding some good physical skills to get from A to B without kissing the ground and breaking a bone or two...looking at it outside the window is really beautiful, but once you are out in the streets, things change...the funniest thing is that the authorities are always caught off guard and don't know how to cope with it, so all the streets are a real mess...I mean...snow in the middle of the winter?! That's is really a surprise, no?

well, at least these cute guys do not have to deal with the urban problems snow brings with itself..they are just used to uncleaned and frozen paths and have no one to complain about it anyways.
These ones here are known as the Emperor penguins, which are the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species and are endemic to Antarctica

the ones above live on Terre Adélie, in the Antarctic and is recognized by France as one of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands.

Among else, penguins remind me of my childhood....I could repeatedly watch the Oxygen 4 video...over and over again....and it also got me interested into Jean-Michelle Jarre's music...arent these penguins just adorable!

and here come some awesome stamps too! the two on the left are from 2009, showing pyrites. The middle one with the flag is from a set of 5 issued in 2008, representing the FSAT flag, just on different backgrounds. While the last two were issued in 2011 as a set of two stamps showing zircons.

well, here is another T.A.A.F penguin card, so it was logical to show it here as well. These guys live on the Kerguelen Islands, also known as the Desolation Islands, and are situated in the Southern Indian Ocean.
These ones are known as King penguins, which are considered as the second largest penguin species.

One funny BBC video about penguins.....can you notice a resemblance to humans?

here ive scanned the entire backside of the card coz it was simply more than worth it with this fantastic cancellation! as for the stamp..it was issued in 2009, commemorating the Centenary of the Stamp "Résidence de France".

btw, have I ever told you that I dream of having a pet-penguin?? I just dont know how would I be able to accommodate it here during summer...and I certainly have no intention of moving to the Antarctic....might go and visit it though...

thanks a million to Jean-Pierre for these amazing cards!!