Last week, in advance of International Dawn Chorus Day on May 7th, Royal Mail issued a set of ten stamps showing Songbirds. The artwork is very good, and the use of pastel colours instead of stark photographs creates some striking images, even if we don't think of the call of the cuckoo as a 'song'!
Using augmented reality, Royal Mail has also created an animated version of the artwork on the Nightingale stamp along with an audio clip of its song.
The artwork can be activated by downloading the Aurasma app and holding a smartphone or android device over the Nightingale stamp. And if your post office is one of the new 'Local' models that doesn't sell special stamps you can still hear the nightingale by pointing your phone to this picture of the stamp.
I don't know what this sort of thing costs, but whilst praising Royal Mail for this initiative, it does make me wonder why they didn't do it for all ten stamps. After all, few of us could pick out the blackcap or willow warbler, even if we are lucky enough to have wrens, yellowhammers, and song thrushes around us.
As a keen philatelist and birder I'm for anything that raises the public consciousness regarding birds. Even 'common' species such as Starling, Song Thrush and House Sparrow have suffered dramatic declines in numbers due to farming practices and the loss of rural land to town planning. Many stamp issues could be challenged as irrelevant but any sort of awareness raising regarding our responsibility towards the natural world should be encouraged.
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