Sweden 1977 - Tawny Owl

I have always found the decision making journey one takes when embarking on a new quest in life truly fascinating. Whether it be a total life overhaul or the simple act of choosing a hobby focus. Sometimes it can be a snap decision...BOOM...I want that! Decision made! Done (Whether a catalyst for a good or bad outcome). I'm a pretty impulsive guy, so a lot of my choices are made in this way. An attempt to live in the moment, I guess. But ironically, for me, when it comes to choosing areas of philately in which to focus it is usually a slow 'stepping-stone' type of process. This was definitely the case when it came to my decision to begin collecting the stamps of Martin Mörck.

I first came across the name Martin Mörck on a stamp while hunting through a stack of Sweden stamps, looking for any engraved by Czeslaw Slania. Being a lovely engraving of a ship (ships on stamps is one of my passions) I was immediately drawn to it. But at that time I really only had eyes for Slania's work, so it was relegated back to the pile. Then a few months ago I was given an article from the August 2018 issue of Stamp magazine written by Adrian Keppel, focusing on the engraved work of Martin Morck. I was spellbound! Such an awesome talent. I was amazed at Mörck's ability to capture the soul of his subject and giving the inanimate the essence of life. Yet as amazed as I was, I wasn't, at that point, ready to take on a new field of collecting. I had my hands well and truly full with my Slania collection and my French engravers collection. Enough for five lifetimes! But try as I might, I couldn't get Mörck out of my mind. Then it just so happened, for unrelated reasons, that a short time later I abandoned my Slania collection and sold it off. I now had room in my collecting life for something new. Enter Martin Mörck!

The first thing I do when beginning my journey of collecting a new engraver is look up his first stamp. Martin Mörck's first ever stamp was issued by Sweden on 8 September 1977. And boy, what a ripper!

This gorgeous stamp depicts a Tawny Owl (my thanks to Adrian at Stamp Engravers for identifying the owl).

The tawny owl, also known as the brown owl, makes its home in woodland areas throughout the Palearctic Region (an area stretching across Eurasia north of the Himalayas and north Africa). This charming, medium-sized owl, is, of course, nocturnal, and he usually chows down on staples such as rodents, which he can devour whole, insects, and on occasion when he feels like something different, a frog. Being nocturnal this guy hunts at night. And he can do this, not because of excellent night vision, as one might assume, but by his keen directional hearing, achieved by asymmetrical ears. His nighttime hunting habits combined with his eerie call have over time created a rather unfortunate association with bad luck and death. 

Until next time...