16 March 2023
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Guernsey Post has released a new set of stamps featuring the Arctic Puffin
The puffin, which lands on Berhou Island near Alderney in spring, has been illustrated on the set of six stamps by Guernsey artist James Colmer.
‘Every spring, around 100 pairs of Atlantic puffins reunite on a rocky little island called Burhou, 1.4 miles northeast of Alderney,’ said Bridget Yabsley, head of philatelic at Guernsey Post. ‘It’s when their grey bodies brighten to a costume of striking black and white and their beaks begin to glow with red, yellow and black stripes. Each pair is incredibly loyal to each other and will often return to the same home every year where they will raise a single baby puffin, known as a puffling, until it fledges.’
Between 2012 and 2017 the Island’s puffin population dropped and with global numbers on the decline the birds were classed as a ‘vulnerable’ on the global ICUN Red List of Threatened Species. In the Bailiwick of Guernsey numbers have rallied with the help of Alderney Wildlife Trust, and a ‘puffin-friendly’ zone has been established on Burhou.
The stamps come in denominations of 56p, 79p, 87p, £1.21, £1.39 and £1.50.
Issue date: 4 April
www.guernseypost.com