#532 Romania...Thanks Calin!

The 40 Bani stamp is from 2007 Wild Ducks and Geese issue illustrating Lesser White-fronted Goose.

The Lesser White-fronted Goose (Anser erythropus) is a goose closely related to the larger White-fronted Goose (A. albifrons).It breeds in northernmost Asia, but it is a scarce breeder in Europe.

The Lesser White-fronted Goose winters further south in Europe and is a rare winter vagrant to Great Britain.

The two white-fronted goose species differ little other than in size (the Lesser, at 53–66 cm length and with a 120–135 cm wingspan, is not much bigger than a Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) but both may be readily distinguished from the Greylag Goose by their bright orange legs and their mouse-coloured upper wing-coverts. The Greylag Goose has the bill and legs flesh-coloured, and the upper wing-coverts of a bluish-grey.

Both white-front species have a very conspicuous white face and broad black bars which cross the belly.

Adult Lesser White-fronted Geese, as well as being smaller than White-fronted Geese, have an obvious yellow eye-ring, and the white facial blaze goes up to the crown.

Lesser White-fronted Goose is considered an endangered species, but there are programmes to reintroduce animals into the wild to strengthen the population. Additionally it is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.

The 2.7L stamp is from 2007 Romanian Wild Orchids issue depicting Violet Limodore (Limodorum abortivum),which is a species of myco-heterotrophic, achlorophyllous orchid and the only member of genus Limodorum. It is native to Europe, especially the Mediterranean area.

#465 Romania...Thanks Andra!

#391 Romania...Thanks Calin!

The 3.3 Lei stamp is from 2007 Polar Fauna issue depicting Emperor Penguin.

The Emperor Penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) is the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species and is endemic to Antarctica. The male and female are similar in plumage and size, reaching 122 cm in height and weighing anywhere from 22 to 45 kg.

The Emperor Penguin is perhaps best known for the sequence of journeys adults make each year in order to mate and to feed their offspring. The only penguin species that breeds during the Antarctic winter, it treks 50–120 km over the ice to breeding colonies which may include thousands of individuals. The female lays a single egg, which is incubated by the male while the female returns to the sea to feed; parents subsequently take turns foraging at sea and caring for their chick in the colony. The lifespan is typically 20 years in the wild, although observations suggest that some individuals may live to 50 years of age.

#151 Romania...Thanks Daniela!

This prepaid envelope depicts a Romania's famous folk music singer:Grigore Lese (born in 1954), who is a bard of the country. He graduated from the Music Academy "Gheorghe Dima" from Cluj-Napoca, Faculty of Interpretation (bassoon), today is Doctor of Music and Associate Professor of the Faculty of Letters, Bucharest University and the University of Music Bucharest.

His repertoire consists of old songs, from the authentic folklore of the area and marking important events in human life. Grigore lese sings with various musical instruments.

The 2.5 Lei stamp in the middle was issued in 2007 showing Common Buzzard.

The Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) is a medium to large bird of prey, whose range covers most of Europe and extends into Asia. It is typically between 51–57 cm in length with a 110 to 130 cm (48–60 inch) wingspan, making it a medium-sized raptor. There are around 40,000 breeding pairs in Britain. It is usually resident all year except in the coldest parts of its range, and in the case of one subspecies.

It breeds in woodland, usually on the fringes, but favours hunting over open land. It eats mainly small mammals, and will come to carrion. A great opportunist, it adapts well to a varied diet of pheasant, rabbit, other small mammals, snakes and lizards and can often be seen walking over recently ploughed fields looking for worms and insects.

Buzzards do not normally form flocks, but several may be seen together on migration or in good habitat. Though a rare occurrence as many as 20 buzzards can been spotted in one field area, approx 30 meters apart, so cannot be classed as a flock in the general term, consisting of those males (and females) without a mate or territory. They are fiercely territorial, and, though rare, fights do break out if one strays on another pair's territory, but dominant displays of aggression will normally see off the interloper. Pairs mate for life. To attract a mate (or impress his existing mate) the male performs a ritual aerial display before the beginning of Spring. This spectacular display is known as 'the roller coaster'. He will rise high up in the sky, to turn and plummet downward, in a spiral, twisting and turning as he comes down. To then rise immediately upward to repeat the exercise.

This broad-winged raptor has a wide variety of plumages, and in Europe can be confused with the similar Rough-legged Buzzard (Buteo lagopus) and the only distantly related Honey Buzzard (Pernis apivorus), which mimics the Common Buzzard's plumage for a degree of protection from Northern Goshawks. The plumage can vary from almost pure white to black, but is usually shades of brown, with a pale 'necklace' of feathers.

#093 Romania...Thanks Daniela!

These are 2009 Birds in Danube Delta issue showing Common Kingfisher,Black-winged Stilt,Little Egret and Saker Falcon.

Danube Delta in Romania is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1991. The waters of the Danube, which flow into the Black Sea, form the largest and best preserved of Europe's deltas. The Danube delta hosts over 300 species of birds as well as 45 freshwater fish species in its numerous lakes and marshes.

#069 Romania...Thanks Daniela!

These 2 stamps are from Romanian Postage Stamp Day series issued on Jul.30,2009,commemorating Anghel I. Saligny, 155 Years since his Birth.

Anghel Saligny (19 April 1854 – 17 June 1925) was a Romanian engineer, most famous for designing the Feteşti-Cernavodă railway bridge (1895) over the Danube, the longest bridge in Europe at that time,which is shown on the stamps.