E5901

Winter Berries

Winterberry

Cover Announcement 

This is the first of a mini-set of four stamps that depict wild berries that flourish during the winter months. To add interest, I decided to add fur bearing animals that are very active during the cold months and can be found near lakes, rivers, and streams. All of the cachets are individually hand painted.

The subject on the first stamp is actually named winterberry. It is a species of holly native to eastern North America from Newfoundland down the East Coast states as far as northern Georgia and west to Ontario and Minnesota. In the mid-West, it is found as far south as Alabama. Its habitat is wetlands and grasslands. The berries are an important bird food source, most notably for the robin.

Also shown on this cover is a beaver. They are large, semiaquatic rodents found in and around rivers, streams, ponds. and lakes. They have large heads, long incisor teeth, brown or gray fur, hand-like front feet, webbed back feet and a flat tail. Beavers build dams and lodge-like homes from branches they have cut supplemented by rocks, mud, and assorted vegetation.

It is the national animal of Canada. The one on this cover has just felled a large tree and will use the branches as building material and food. It is very industrious, and a popular saying applied to humans is "busy as a beaver." A very nice nature cover. Winter Berry with Beaver is now ready. Collins #E5901 at $16.50.