New Zealand's first 3D stamp

On 7 September 2011, New Zealand Post will issue its first 3D stamp - just in time for Rugby World Cup 2011. This innovative stamp, featuring the Tournament's prize, the Webb Ellis Cup, has been produced in strictly limited quantities.

According to the NZ Post site, the 3D stamp will be protected forever inside a sealed plastic case, which is mounted within an attractive display card. The Webb Ellis Cup stamp is also available on a first day cover, featuring imagery of the Webb Ellis Cup and the distinctive Rugby World Cup 2011 brand.

The Webb Ellis Cup stamp has been produced using Motionstamp HDR 3D technology. This sophisticated technique gives the Webb Ellis Cup such incredible depth and dimension that you would swear you were looking at the real thing. This highly collectable stamp has all the standard features of New Zealand Post stamps, and it's also the first time that a Motionstamp stamp has been produced for New Zealand that is laser perforated.

The Webb Ellis Cup stands out amazingly against Rugby World Cup 2011's stylistic interpretation of the Mangopare (Hammerhead Shark) and the Koru (Fern Shoot). These symbolic elements add a uniquely New Zealand touch to New Zealand's first 3D stamp.

National Communication Day stamp from Thailand

The Thai Post has issued a stamp commemorating the National Communication Day 2011.

The purpose of Thailand National Communication Day is to help raise awareness of the possibilities that the use of the Internet and other information and communication technologies (ICT) can bring to societies and economies, as well as of ways to bridge the digital divide.

BlackBerry honoured with a postage stamp

Canada Post announced Tuesday that the iconic device is being featured on the 59-cent domestic stamp as part of a series honouring Canadian innovations.

The other inventions are the cardiac pacemaker, the electric oven and the electric wheelchair, all created by Canadians whose "leaps of science and creativity," changed lives at home and around the world, Canada Post said in a news release.

Monthly Universal Post for the month of August 2011 has been printed.

Monthly Universal Post for the month of August 2011 has been printed. This magazine includes philatelic information. You will find here the information regarding new issue of Pakistan and World Wide. If you are interested to purchase this magazine kindly contact Malik Sadiq, Editor Monthly Universal Post. Email: universalpost@hotmail.com

Ascension Island - Red-billed Tropicbird WWF Issue

This Ascension Island stamp issue is due for release on 31st August 2011.

All stamps carry the WWF Panda logo and are released in sheets of twenty with gutter and a sheetlet of sixteen (four sets in staggered format). Values are 35p, 40p, 90p and £1. Sheet stamps have a white border whilst those in the sheetlet 'bleed off'.

The three species of tropicbird all have tropical distributions. Two species are found in the tropical Atlantic and both breed on Ascension Island, with the majority of both species breeding on Boatswainbird Island. The most numerous is the Yellow-billed Tropicbird, or Boatswainbird (so called because its call is likened to that of a Bosun's whistle) after which the island was named. About 500 pairs of Red-billed Tropicbirds breed on Ascension.

The Red-billed Tropicbird is a powerful bird around 48cm long (up to 100cm including the central tail feathers) and with a wingspan of 105cm. It is a white bird with black near the wing-tips, fine dark grey barring over the back and with two long trailing tail feathers. The bill is long, strong and red (yellow in juveniles as can be seen on the 90p value) and the legs are yellowish.

At sea the flight is strong and direct, resembling a pigeon, but when seen from land the birds are generally making repeated and hesitant approaches to nest sites.

Courtship flights can also be seen where several birds alternate rapid flapping and dramatic glides, accompanied by chuckles and screams (giving rise to the name Boatswainbird).

Like all tropicbirds they feed on fish and squid by hovering and then plunging vertically into the sea, although they are poor swimmers.

They nest in crevices in the rocks and where these are in short supply fighting, sometimes to the death, is common. The single egg is fawn to rich purple and averages 64 x 45mm. Incubation lasts around 43 days. Both parents incubate and shifts can last several days.

The birds spend the non-breading season far out to sea, undergoing a complete moult before returning to land.