Charlie was a keen naturalist and spent all his holidays travelling to far-away places to search out rare and exotic plants, birds and animals. In the same way that geocachers are fascinated by statistics, he was proud to stand in the top echelon of birders in the world, with a life list of 5,136 species, including a respectable 461 in the UK alone.
Although plant spotting is an altogether less competitive business, Charlie still derived a good deal of satisfaction in tracking down unusual and rare species, especially in unspoilt and quiet locations. He was especially proud of having discovered a new colony of Festuca frederikseniae (a species of grass with no common name) during 1 holiday in Quebec, Canada, just a few yards from his hotel. Among his favourite species was Datura orimea, which he had encountered in many different places.
Coming to animals, however, was when Charlie really came into his own. From Norway to New Zealand and from Iceland to India, he had been everywhere and seen, if not everything then rather a lot. He had discovered no fewer than 18 new species himself, including 6 new types of bark-boring beetle and 5 varieties of parasitic, nematode worm. Perhaps his most vivid memories, however, came from a trip watching a family of 5 Spectacled Bears (Tremarctos ornatus) near Lima, Peru.
Having been confined to home due to the lockdown situation in 2020, Charlie had had to abandon most of his travelling plans. Even the crocodile-spotting trip he had booked to the Nile delta in Egypt in November looked in doubt and he became more and more fed up with the situation. He needed to find a different way to discover new wildlife. A few days later, he received a letter in the post. The contents were not very interesting (another double glazing promotion or some such) but what caught his eye was the postage stamp on the envelope. This showed a picture of a Red Kite, Milvus milvus, a species he recognised immediately as they visited his garden almost daily. Maybe looking for wildlife on stamps would help occupy him until he could travel once more?
Eventually remembering what his father had told him, many years ago, about his stamp collection, Charlie straight away went to the website of Stanley Gibbons to investigate. This had stuck in his memory as it included the name of an engaging primate (from the Hylobatidae family) known for its graceful and rapid movement through trees, despite having no tail to act as a counter-balance. While browsing, Charlie was amazed at how many countries had issued stamps showing wildlife. Settling down with a glass of his favourite whisky, he selected a few that he liked the most:
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.