A3101

Migratory Bird

Greater Scaup

Spring 2024 Mail Sale Commentary 

Lot 28 A3101 — Federal Migratory Duck Stamp — Arctic Theme — 7-1-99

Each spring, nesting pairs of greater scaup ducks frequent their breeding areas just below the Arctic circle. On colossal Hudson Bay, around Manitoba's Like Winnipeg, spread over countless smaller lakes stretching across Canada's Northwest Territories, and in our own state of Alaska, these beautiful scaup bring new baby ducklings into the world. This frozen frontier is also home to the magnificent and powerful polar bear. The 1999 hand painted cachet has been considered by some to be one of the best ever as I combined both mother polar bear with adorable cubs and a pair of greater scaups with cute ducklings into an incredible wildlife scene.

The cachet shows a close-up rendition of a mother scaup and four cute ducklings swimming in Arctic waters. Mother polar bear, standing on the icepack with two young cubs, watches the ducks intently. On a snowy ridge in the background, Father bear knows not to venture too close to the protective mother. To meet postal requirements, a polar bear stamp from the Arctic animal set was added. This attractive stamp adds nicely to the theme of the cover. The Postal Service provided a great pictorial First Day of Issue cancelation that ties both the Duck stamp and the polar bear stamp to the envelope. This one is a beauty