58AUSTRALIAN

a u s t r a l i a nno 58octob ern ovem b erd ecem b er

Stamp Collecting Month

Small Pond

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Javelin FJavelin Frogrog Northern Dwarf TNorthern Dwarf Tree Free Frogrog

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Sacred KingfSacred Kingfisherisher

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These days we hear a lot about bigthings so much so that sometimesits difficult to remember that biggeris not always better. Small Pond isthis years special issue for StampCollecting Month and it depicts atiny but exquisite pond environment.

The places frogs like to live inare also popular with insects.Bees and wasps drink there.Bugs skate above, diving

beetles swim below. See if youcan find some of these othertiny creatures on the Small

Pond mini-sheet.

Although the pond shown is in the Kimberley region ofnorthern Australia, similar ponds can be found allover Australia. The Small Pond stamp issue remindsus that it is vital to preserve habitats like this sothat these wonderful creatures can continue tobe part of Australias rich natural wildlife.

The Javelin Frog takes off just like a well-aimed javelin.You will rarely see film footage of this frog it moves toofast for the camera to catch it! It is the smallest Australian treefrog, growing to just 1.6 centimetres. (Thats about this long -!)

The Sacred Kingfisher eats small reptiles, insects, fish and frogs. TheKingfisher can enter the water, catch its prey, and leave the water again in lessthan half a second!

Roths Tree Frog usually calls from branches above the water and has a loudchuckle-like croak.

The Dragonfly is extremely fast: it can fly at up to 58 kilometres per hour! It canchange direction very quickly and can seize prey, such as smaller flying insects, in mid flight. Dragonfly larvae feed on tadpoles.

The Northern Dwarf Tree Frog lives in streams and marshy areas and must livenear water. It has been known to climb to as high as four metres in trees. It growsto three centimetres, making it one of the smallest Australian tree frogs.

The Magnificent Tree Frog is the largest tree frog in Australia and it is certainlymagnificent in colour and size. The sticky pads on the ends of its toes help it tohang on to tree trunks and wet leaves.

pondsmall pondsmall A Dragonflys wings have abeautiful lacework of veins.Special foiling has been usedon the Small Pond mini-sheet

to give the wings a shiny, rainbow-like effect.

Issue date: 1 October 1999

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Kev Stead, illustrator of the Small Pond stamps,spends his working life creating amazinganimal illustrations and frogs are hisfavourite animals of all. His paintings are solifelike that they are often mistaken forphotographs.

Kev used real frogs and photos of frogs ashis inspiration for the Small Pond mini-sheet.

From start to finish, the mini-sheettook Kevin six months and morethan 250 pages of sketches tocomplete. Phew!

The story behind the stamps

funky frogs

stamps

Maximum cards $7.00 (set of 6)

Small Pond sticker activity book $7.95A great mix of frog facts, colourfulstickers and exciting activities.

Stamp pack$6.00

First day cover$3.05

All Small Pond products are available from 1 October 1999.

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CELEBRATE 2000

Its still a while off, but excitement is mounting as we approach the year 2000. This fantastic stampcelebrates the end of an old millennium and thebeginning of the new. It includes a special movinghologram which flickers between the figures 1999and 2000.

Having this stamp in your album would be a greatway to remember a very special time in history.

Issue date: 1 November 1999

This years Christmas designs are byAustralian painter and tapestry designer,John Coburn. Coburns paintings arecomposed of large simple shapes paintedin glowing colours.

The 40c stamp shows Mary and thebaby Jesus, and the $1.00 stamp shows atree of life design.

Issue date: 1 November 1999

Chemical compounds from frogs skin are used in medical research and in

producing such products as antibiotics, sunscreen and mosquito repellent.

A frog can lay as many as 4,000 eggs at one time in frogspawn.

Although frogs are excellent swimmers, most would eventually drown if they didnt have access to land.

fabulous frog facts

Frogs swallow their food whole this means that the size of a frogs meal is only limited by the size of its mouth.

A group of frogs is called an army!

Answers: no shadow on lilypad, smaller slice out of lilypad, eyes aredifferent direction, toe missing on foot, vein missing on lilypad

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there are 5differences in total

spot the differenceDO YOUR FRIENDS

A FAVOUR!Tell your friends how to join the

Stamp Gang! All they need to do is send their

name, address and date of birth to:

STAMP EXPLORERPO BOX 4000

FERNTREE GULLYVIC 3156

1999

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Australianswill be thefirst peoplein the world able toput their own faces onto stamps!The first personalised stamps were printed atthe Australia 99 Stamp Expo earlier this year.They were so popular that they are nowavailable for everyone to enjoy.

Six designs have been created for specialcelebrations: Happy Birthday, Happy Christmas,New Baby, Thinking of You, Congratulationsand Greetings from Australia. Except for the$1 Greetings stamp (for postcards sentoverseas) each stamp has a 45c face value.

Its as simple as choosing a favourite photo,sending it in with your order form andpayment, and receiving a sheetlet of 20personalised stamps of a single design bymail. You can collect an order form from yourlocal post office.

For those who would like to collect or sendthe stamps without a photo, the stamps willalso be available with tabs that simply showthe title of the stamp design.

Issue date: 1 September 1999

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Sniffers

Q. What do frogs liketo drink?A. Croak-a-cola!- Amelia Cook ACT

Q. Can a frog jump higher than a house?A. Of course. A house cant jump!- Jessica Smith SA

Q. What does a mechanical frog say?A. Robot, robot.- Krissinda Curry QLD

Q. Whats a frogsfavourite game?A. Hopscotch.- Patrick Fagan VIC

A frog hopped up to two ladies and said, If you kiss meIll turn into a prince!. One lady laughed and walkedaway. The other one thought for a moment, thenquickly whisked the frog into her bag, saying, A talkingfrog is worth more than a handsome prince.- Anna Linke VIC

Hi GangThe Stamp Gang and I have been making our very own Small Pond in Skeetersbackyard. We planted leafy plants and put down plenty of twigs and bark for the frogs touse as shelter. We havent had any frog friends to visit yet, but Im sure theyll come soon!In the meantime, I hope you enjoy all of these frog jokes as much as we did.Love from Sniffer

Q. What do you get when youcross a frog with a calendar?A. A leap year.- Kathryn Eden QLD

Everything you need to get started: a stamp album with subject stickers,used stamps, tweezers, magnifier anda Stamp Files booklet.

$14.95STAMP COLLECTING

STARTER KIT

Read more about SmallPond, and win fantasticprizes, in the Octoberissue of Australiasfavourite kidsmagazines Comet(5-7 years), Explore (8-10) and Challenge(11-14). Theyre jam-packed with interestingarticles and fun activities. To find out how tosubscribe, write (with yourname, age and address) to: Magazine Subscriptions,Pearson EducationAustralia, PO Box 1024South MelbourneVIC 3205

WIN, WIN, WIN!

Frog species around the world have vanished,others are simply becoming harder to find. Zoosall around Australia are working hard to helpsave our frogs. If you would like moreinformation or wouldlike to make adonation, write to:National Zoo Frog ProjectPO Box 20MOSMAN NSW 2088.

National Zoo Frog

Project

WinnersNature of Australia competitionSimon Rendle-Short QLD Steve Hawkins NSW Lindsay Watling QLD Marco Magnaterra WAMalcolm Wilson TASYoon Leong VIC Peter Kerr VIC Micheal Hyndman SADavid Van Bergen VIC Aaron Frater QLD Andrew Normington SASonia Singh VIC Sally Richardson VIC Bethany Ward-Smith NSW Aleisha Langdon VIC Sarah Taylor NSW

Jodie Turner TASJulia Vianello VIC Sabine Duval NSW Emma Owen-Buoy VIC Rebekah Charlton QLD

Colouring-inAdam Shoesmith NSWMatthew Williams VICAlana Wilkes NSWLisa Van Helmond VICNikaela Wilson SAAmanda Ward NSWClare Thorn QLDZoe Collins VICTambalyn Durney NSWRenee Rowe NSW

Wow, look at all these fantastic prizes for our Small Pond competition! First prize is a fantastic pack containing a Freddo boogie board and

helmet, Freddo key ring and pack of 20 chocolate Freddos, plus a Small Pond prize pack total value $75.

Runners-up can win one of these great prizes: 50 Small Pond prize packs 30 subscriptions to Comet, Explore or Challenge mags. 50 family passes for zoos in all states of Australia 50 packs of yummy chocolate Freddos

To be in the running just design a stamp featuring Freddo Frog. Send your entry to Small Pond Freddo Competition, GPO Box 1777Q, MELBOURNE VIC 3001 by 13 November. Dont forget to include your name, age, address and membership number!

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OUR NEXT ISSUEWatch out for the next issue for Year of the Dragon stamps and Face of Australia.

Check out the Small Pond website atwww.auspost.com.au/smallpond

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