[from PostNL press material] [click on any of the pictures for larger versions]
Experience Nature – Birds on Bonaire
Date of issue: 2 January 2024
Format: sheet of ten stamps in ten different designs, marked with ‘1’, the denomination for post weighing up to and including 20g with destinations in the Netherlands
Item number: 440161
Design: Frank Janse, Gouda
Photography: Dreamstime and Wikimedia Commons (Charles J. Sharp, Mike’s Birds, Stephen J. Jones, Steve Wilson, Wolfartist)
On 2 January 2024, PostNL will issue the Experience Nature – Birds on Bonaire issue: a sheet of ten stamps in ten different designs. The denomination on these stamps is ‘1’, the denomination for items weighing up to 20g with destinations in the Netherlands. A sheet of ten stamps costs €10.90 [currently US$12.00). The sheet is part of the 2024-2026 Experience Nature series dedicated to the Caribbean Netherlands. Four sheets of 10 
stamps will be issued each year.
The stamps depict plants and animals found in this part of the Netherlands. With thousands of species of plants and animals, the islands in this area have a biodiversity that is unprecedented by Dutch standards. 2024 will consecutively focus on the birds, butterflies, underwater life and flora on the island of Bonaire.
The stamps on this sheet are:
- the crested caracara
- red-footed booby
- mangrove warbler
- southern lapwing
- Venezuelan troupial
- Caribbean flamingo
- red ibis
- yellow-shouldered amazon
- magnificent frigatebird, and
- ruby-topaz hummingbird.
Just like Sint Eustatius and Saba, the island of Bonaire holds a separate status within the Netherlands. The collective name for these three islands is the Caribbean Netherlands. Alongside the countries of Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten, they form the Caribbean part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Bonaire spans almost 29,000 hectares [about 112,000 square miles], and is home to around 24,000 people, most of whom speak Papiamentu as their first language. The main sources of income are tourism and salt extraction, and the island is a popular destination for diving holidays and cruise 
ships.
Bonaire is home to over 200 different bird species: breeding birds, winter visitors as well as regular visitors and wanderers. The Caribbean flamingo is Bonaire’s national symbol. Its image and colours recur everywhere, right down to the name of the reddish-pink coloured Flamingo Airport. The yellow-shouldered amazon is also synonymous with Bonaire. Bonaire is one of the few places on earth where this unique species of parrot is found.
Design
The Experience Nature – Birds on Bonaire stamp sheet was designed by graphic designer Frank Janse from Gouda. On the sheet, each bird is depicted in its natural environment on its own stamp. All bird photos are incorporated in a graphic layer with circle shapes that are also visible on the sheet edge. Some images also continue onto the adjacent stamp and onto the sheet edge. In several places on the stamp sheet, the designer has added graphics derived from symbols on old topographical maps. These symbols can indicate landscape forms, contour lines, 
plantings, soil structures and watercourses.
At first, Janse only wanted to use photographs taken in Bonaire but “I quickly abandoned that idea. There were simply too few photos, he said. “Lots birds had been photographed in other places, so I used those photos too.” The photos were edited, blurring some of the backgrounds, and “I avoided using an image of a bird with a tree or bush visible in the background that is not found on Bonaire.”
The design also features an additional transparent layer featuring monochrome images 
(both white and in colour) of flora and fauna that are typical of this area. The monochrome images are almost abstract cross the perforations and connect the stamps to each other and to the sheet edge. The following plants and animals are depicted: red ibis and ceroid cactus (top left), melon cactus and yellow-shouldered amazon (top right), mangrove warbler (middle left), magnificent frigatebird (bottom right) and common lantana (bottom right and centre).
Although Janse has never been to Bonaire, he is a bird enthusiast and so he is familiar with many of the species featured on the stamps. “As a child, I found the magnificent frigatebird extremely interesting. It’s huge bird that can stay in the air for months without landing. It stands pontifically on the stamp in the left-hand corner, with its red breast puffed out and its large beak. The crested caracara is just as interesting. This falcon species is an incredibly opportunistic beast; it eats just about anything, and 
preferably steals food from other animals. It’s a real predator. And, of course, the hummingbird had to fly onto the stamp. It’s a clever photo that’s been taken with a very good camera. Its stance really catches your eye – it’s as if it is turning a corner mid-air.”
Other Dutch stamps designed by Janse include 2017′ bird species of the Netherlands, the Experience Nature series from 2018 to 2023, and, also in 2023, he designed the personal stamps Holland America Line’s 150th anniversary, Girl with a Pearl Earring and Inauguration of Queen Juliana, containing 24 -carat gold.
Technical Details:
Stamp size: 40 x 30mm
Sheet size: 122 x 170mm
Paper: normal with phosphor print
Glue: self-adhesive
Printing technique: offset
Printing colours: cyan, magenta, yellow and black
Print run: 285,000 sheets
Appearance: sheet of 10 stamps in 10 different designs
