When sea levels rose to the current levels, the New Guinea Palm cockatoo population was split away from the Northern Australian population, a subspecies.
While Palm cockatoo numbers in New Guinea are still relatively high (although in decline), the Australian sub species population (Probosciger aterrimus macgillivrayi) is endangered with a high estimate of 2500-3000 remaining (as of 2022).
Palm cockatoos are the only bird known to make and play a musical instrument. He makes his own drumstick by stripping off the bark and whittling it down. He then bangs it against a hollow in a rhythmical pattern as a sexual display.
See interview and footage of Palm cockatoos with expert, Robert Heinsohn from the Australian National University on Youtube BBC here.
The standard threats apply to Palm Cockatoos – mining, habitat loss, climate change, illegal pet trade and fire. (With only one successful offspring every 10 years)
Ecological Report for Palm Cockatoo Habitat Survey 2022
Aurukun Bauxite Project, 22 March 2023 which is found in full here
This upgrading of status in Queensland is supported by a recent Population Viability Analysis (PVA) for the Australian subspecies of Palm Cockatoo, which estimates there are fewer than 2,500 individuals remaining in Australia at a best-case scenario (Keighley et al. 2021). Given the species’ endemicity to Queensland, it is likely the listing under the Environment Protection & Biodiversity Conservation Act will reflect this change in due course. Population instability is affected by slow life history characteristics, low breeding success, geographic and ecological barriers to dispersal and a sensitivity to habitat disturbance.
The Palm Cockatoo is categorised as both a Matter of National Environmental Significance (MNES) and a Matter of State Environmental Significance (MSES). Habitat critical to the survival of the species (in accordance with Commonwealth Significant Impact Guidelines) is not defined by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment & Water (DCCEEW); however, MNES potential habitat mapping for this species encompasses all riparian and Eucalypt woodland forest communities over the Project Site (DCCEEW 2023).
There is currently no national Recovery Plan for Probosciger aterrimus macgillivrayi, although the DCCEEW ‘Threatened Species Action Plan 2022-2032’ (2022) include the development of such documents as one of their targets. It has been suggested that the current approved conservation advice provides sufficient direction for actions to be implemented, mitigating against further threat or impact to this subspecies (Threatened Species Scientific Committee 2015). The Primary Conservation Action includes implementing fire management regimes to protect tree hollows and ensuring impacts from mining activity do not further reduce the amount of available breeding and foraging habitat (Threatened Species Scientific Committee 2015).
How can you help?
Write! Ask the federal Labour Environment Minister Murray Watt (known for approving developments) who replaced Tanya Plibersek because of pressure from Western Australia (source View from the Hill The Conversation here )
“Southern Launch has previously assured the general public that there would be minimal disturbance to birdlife beyond a “startled response”, where birds left the area during launch noises but returned soon afterwards.”
This style of minimising the harm is typical of an impact assessment, where proponents make the case for development. In reality these sensitive, shy birds will most likely leave their nests and not find their way back in time to keep their eggs viable.
During nesting season at night when the endangered emu-wrens are sleeping, if they leave their nests and eggs, what is the likelihood of them flying back in the dark?
Page 111 of the Assessment report explains how frequently these terrifying launch noises may occur.
Rocket launches can occur every 24 hours during nesting season at night while the birds are sleeping.
The proposal has the potential to disturb fauna, nearby residents and visitors to the locality through the creation of noise and vibration impacts during construction and operation. In particular, each rocket launch event would produce a moderate level of operational noise over several weeks and a high level of noise for a very brief period during the launch itself. Noise impacts from rocket testing would also occur over a brief period. Vibration effects during a launch would be confined to within the launch pad. At the maximum operating scenario, the proposed facility will host in the vicinity of 36 yearly launches (one every 2-3 weeks on average), with a rocket launched at any time over a 24-hour period.
The same article mentioned above by the ABC claims:
“Conservationists are concerned the launches will endanger 12 bird species, including the endangered southern emu wren, whose population stands at fewer than 750. “
My question for Tanya Plibersek, the federal environment minister who approved this project, have you ever observed birds startle at night? And do you sincerely believe these birds would find their way to their safe perches and nests every time?
Mallee emu-wren Lino and woodblock print by Joanna Bradley
Charles Darwin fundamentally changed how we see ourselves as human creatures by listening to evidence laid out by the animals that surround us. The beaks of different finch species that populate the Galápagos Islands told the astounding story of speciation and adaptation. But before, during and after the study of finches there were earthworms, and following the publication of “Origin of the Species”(1859) came”The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms, with Observations on Their Habits” (1881). This book was a bestseller, gathering the results of four decades of study, Darwin having first published on worms in 1837.
Darwin was following a hunch that soil fertility was a product of bioturbation, now specifically called biopedturbation since there are now half a dozen different categories of bioturbation recognised. The added “ped” refers specifically to the mixing of soil by animals. It’s also possible to mix marine sediments, etc.
Apart from exploring fundamental ideas about the nature of life, Darwin also succeeded in bringing ideas to public attention by arousing curiosity and involving others in his research. Darwin might have also started the first citizen science project by appealing for worm casting data from collaborators around the globe.His family members collected data on worm castings for him and went to the extent of conducting experiments testing the hearing of worms by playing musical instruments of different types. Worms turn out to be deaf.
Among many findings, Darwin calculated that worms in his locale were responsible for moving soil to the surface of a paddock in the order of 160 tons per acre per year. Worms were cast as the bio-engineers of soil fertility. The stuff Darwin called ‘vegetable mould’ was the organically altered pre-digested dark soil horizon in which plant roots thrived. Worms built the fertile soils that supported English agriculture.
In Darwin’s time worms were regarded as pests, only responsible for unsightly mounds of castings. In the end, Darwin the conservationist told his son William, what he hoped his book would reveal is that ‘worms have much bigger souls than anyone would suppose’.
Darwin made the utility of ecology evident, with worms as providers of ‘eco-system services’. Bandicoots likewise are among a whole suite of small native animals that tilled the Australian soil, keeping it in better condition for supporting plant life.
In the Australian context, soil structure is markedly different to that found in rural England. It should come as no surprise that soils that are frequently dry do not support the same populations of earthworms. Nor is there generally the same rich banding of soil horizons. Yet there is still bioturbation at play, where worms are absent, ants may carry out the work of dragging stuff in and out of the ground. Or larger burrowing animals may be at work. Bandicoots have long thin snouts which they insert into the soil to sense food items, they will then dig to retrieve the food. The ground is left pockmarked as if giant earthworms were at play.
British settlers brought with them a slew of animals to recreate home. Some, like rabbits, are master bioengineers which had coevolved with foxes, digging extensive burrows for safety. Feral cats and foxes do hunt rabbits but disproportionately ravage native mammal populations. Australian small mammals have suffered the largest extinction rates of anywhere in the world during the colonial era. Three species are confirmed as extinct in the last decade.
Thirty three species of Australian mammals have been lost since settlement. This includes four distinct species of geographically isolated barred bandicoots. Specimens remain only in museum drawers. The Eastern barred bandicoot once found on the mainland is now restricted to Tasmania where foxes are absent.
Other bandicoot species perhaps with greater ability to seek cover from predators will still emerge from bushland or from underneath buildings to dig holes into paddocks or lawns seeking a meal of invertebrates, including the odd juicy worm.
The declining condition of Australian soils has created a business opportunity for those who would offset carbon emissions by increasing soil carbon sequestration. As in Darwin’s time the public are ready to have the good news explained, there are animals who usefully dig the soil and they possess a soul bigger than you may suppose.
Australia is home to a greater diversity of bird species than anywhere else in the world, given the bird count of the island continent includes seabirds from the Antarctic south to the tropical north. There are about 850 terrestrial species that inhabit landscapes ranging from the arid interior to cool towering eucalypt forests. About 400 bird species are only found in Australia.
The diversity of birds has evolved in concert with the changing extremes of wet and dry seasons along with cyclical droughts, fires and flooding rains. Rolling changes in living conditions selects for animals that are tough enough to cope with boom and bust but also specialised in exploiting unique circumstances. Speciation, the evolution of new species, occurs where populations are geographically divided as happens when conditions become too extreme.
During periods of separation populations may drift apart as genes change and mates prefer different sexual characteristics, such as feather patterns. White feathers may appeal to some where black feathers are preferred by others. This process known as mate selection is a mystery that drives much animal biology as aesthetics of sound and colour are employed to induce pleasure and impress others.
All of this is to explain why Australia has not only white cockatoos but also also black cockatoos. Further still, there are five distinct species of black cockatoos with a larger number of recognised sub species. Each population has distinct plumage which appeals to mates as well as to people who are equally fascinated by beautiful form and colour.
Attractive feathers have long been collected and used as ornamentation and there exists today a lucrative on-line market in coloured feathers. It is possible to purchase individual flight feathers of red-tailed black cockatoos for $75 a piece or the whole bird for $1000. While trading in protected wildlife is prohibited there are exemptions made for feathers.
An argument exists that conservation can be funded by allowing trophy hunting and encouraging the growth of collections. The problems of a market driven approach to conservation are obvious, as rare specimens become more desirable they increase in value and attract more attention from collectors. Increasing value creates increasing pressure on wild populations and growth of a black market.
The trade in animal parts continues to be a major driver of population decline in endangered animals. Hunting for koala pelts in the early 20th century set the backdrop of the current divide in attitudes to exploiting wildlife as a resource. Legislation designed to protect wildlife is only as effective as the will to enforce any red lines. Economic carve-outs and loopholes are many and varied, all are tilted towards gains for people not for wildlife. The end of killing koalas for money was brought about by a total ban on trading in koala skins.
The first listed death of an environmental activist known as an “environmental killing” occurred in 1905 when Guy Bradley employed as the lone game warden in the wetlands of Florida was shot dead by poachers. Having previously worked as a guide for hunters Guy had decided to instead uphold conservation legislation protecting declining bird populations. The poachers were hunting egrets to remove their lacy plumes used to adorn fancy hats popular at the time.
Drawing by Elizabeth and John Gould
Red tailed black cockatoos
Woodblock print, 6 cherry blocks. Hand printed with a baren on Japanese/Thai hand made washi paper.
Oban size 38 x 25cm
Woronora hill in Heathcote National Park at 282m above sea level is the highest natural point in metropolitan Sydney. The Blue Mountains to the west are most imposing but equal elevation occurs on the gently rising Woronora Plateau in the south that lead to the Southern Highlands and 1000 square kilometres of untouched bushland, including the Special Areas set aside for water collection. The city of 5.3 million people sits inside a larger geological basin and this basin contains enough unique biodiversity to have been defined as the Sydney basin bioregion.
One species that is found only in the rocky bushland slopes of Sydney is the critically endangered broad-headed snake, an animal exquisitely adapted to the particular niche it inhabits. This snake is found on the relatively wet west facing slopes of the basin where solar radiation stores heat to assist nocturnal hunting and hatching of eggs. The snake lives on the geckos and other creatures also thriving on the particular conditions of the west facing slopes.
Contour map of Sydney basin
Geology of Sydney Basin
The Sydney Basin is a sedimentary basin with an area of approximately 44,000 square kilometres. It is defined by the great diving range in the west and the ocean escarpment in the east. The defining geology extends to the Hunter Valley in the north and south to Batemans Bay.
Around 5,000 metres (16,000 ft) thick, the Sydney Basin consists of Permian and Triassicsedimentary rocks… and contains economically significant reserves of coal.
During Gondawana times, about 250 million years ago the sandstone in Sydney Basin was deposited by monolithic rivers flowing from the south west to the east.
50 million years later (200 mya) the Lapstone fault (running north south at the foot hills of the blue mountains) caused a lift in the sandstone in the east defining Sydney’s sandstone coastline, the flattened Cumberland plains and lifted the great diving range – including the Blue Mountains.
Three Sisters at Katoomba in the Blue Mountains
Fast forward another 100 million years (100 mya) and the first snake fossils appear in tropical Asia .
Fast forward another 40 million years (60 mya) and Gondawana breaks up, Australia becomes a continent and the Sydney basin is then shaped …
into a landscape that was defined by bedrock valleys exposed into a raised plateau. Sydney’s largest rivers, such as the Hawkesbury, Parramatta, Georges and Hacking Rivers eroded the region’s deepest valleys. In this period, the Ashfield Shale got weathered to create a flatter landform with low, undulating topography and reasonably fertile soils, which heavily contrasted the plateaus, cliffs and gorges on the sandstone areas in the Sydney Region. The Botany Bay Basin was also developed at that time, which is infilled with sand.
At the same time Sydney Basin is forming (60 mya) the first fossil records of elapid snakes emerge in tropical Asia. Around 24 mya elapids made the journey to Australia. Elapid snakes are in the cobra snake family and have permanently erect fangs, which may also deliver venom. Many species can deliver a bite potentially deadly to humans (and dogs), but most are effectively harmless given the availability of anti-venom. Recorded snakebites exceed deaths by a hundredfold. There are 1 to 4 snakebite deaths per year in Australia, most are from handling or cornering the snakes.
There are around 80 species of Australian elapid snakes, including: death adder, red-bellied black snake, tiger snake, duggite, mulga snake, brown snake, yellow-faced whip snake, copperhead, golden -crowned snake, and mustard-bellied snake.
Broad-headed snake
Photo of Broad-headed snake on a tree in Heathcote National Park 2021 Tom Kristensen
The critically endangered Hoplocephalusbungaroides, broad-headed snake is a venomous snake from the elapidae family. Broad-headed snakes are possibly Australia’s most endangered snake given their dependence on the unique geology of specific sites in the sydney basin. Once relatively common, the BHS is now locally extinct in metropolitan Sydney and only found in a few of the National parks and state forests within the Sydney basin.
Unlike most elapids the BHS are at home in the trees. When the rocky outcrops become too hot in the summer the snakes will disperse into gullies where they seek refuge in hollow tree limbs. Being nocturnal ambush predators, they pick up geckos on the rocks and a wider array of prey found in the forest and leaf litter on the forest floor. Seasonal behaviour patterns over a long life span find the BHS returning to the same outcrops and hiding holes year on year.
Besides the favourable western-tilted geology the Sydney basin has produced a network of upland hanging swamps. These impermeable depression on sandstone benches offer a place for the development of peat swamps supporting dense low vegetation with ponding water. These swamps store and release water through dry periods providing an oasis to a wide range of animals, including frogs, another staple food for BHS. These biodiversity gems are destroyed by the longwall coal mining that fractures the entire geology overlying the coal seams. Unfortunately the location of the swamps within the protected Special Areas has meant that their destruction has gone largely unnoticed.
Technical Report 2: Upland swamp development and erosion on the Woronora Plateau during the Holocene Kerrie M. Tomkins and Geoff S. Humphreys Macquarie University
Slow to mature, slow to reproduce, and confined to western slopes living under the flat sandstone rocks prized by landscapers, BHS are not able to adapt to human impacts on their environment. Being a small snake under a metre in length, and very attractively marked the BHS are poached from reserves and sold to collectors. Basking snakes are also commonly squashed on the proliferating mountain bike trails as national parks are increasingly managed as a recreational resource.
BHS give birth to live young unlike other elapid snakes that lay eggs. Presumably there is an advantage for baby BH snakes to be able to hide in rocks as soon as they are born.
If you come across a pretty yellow and black patterned snake in Sydney it’s most likely to be a carpet diamond python – the southern most and highest altitude occuring carpet python. While from an entirely different snake family to elapids, diamond pythons and broad-headed snakes look very similar to the untrained eye.
Diamond python Royal National Park 2025Diamond python Royal National Park 2025
Golden-crowned snake, a small Australian elapid snake on the road at dusk, just missed by the car.Red-bellied black snake (elapid)Mustard-bellied snake (elapid)Broad-headed snakeSydney Basin and Great dividing range (red)Distribution of broad-headed snakesGolden-crowned snake (off the road)Yellow-faced whipsnake (elapid) Broad-headed snake killed by bicyclePhoto of dead broad-headed snake on walking/cycling track Royal National Park by Abigail Bradley
The dingo is recognised by governments as a distinct native animal, but is variously considered a form of domestic dog, unworthy of taxonomic distinction, or a subspecies of dog or wolf, or a full species in its own right. The legal protection afforded dingoes varies widely from tourist attraction in National parks to “invasive native” in places where they are unwanted.
Dingoes and eagles, being apex predators are possibly the two most persecuted native Australian wild animals. Lethal control practices, both legal and illegal, seek to reduce predator numbers to remove risk to livestock. There is a fine line between “control” and extirpation – local extinction. Ecological studies have established that removing apex predators can have wider implications for biodiversity. Describing dingoes as “pests” gives permission for their destruction, but misses the vital role that large predators might play in controlling other animals, including feral cats and foxes, but also goats and pigs.
On the 10th Sept 2024 the NSW Government department of Environment and Heritage website published this explanation about dingoes and wild dogs:
What are wild dogs?
A wild dog is any dog living in the wild, including feral dogs (Canis lupus familiaris), dingoes (Canis lupus dingo) and their hybrids. Wild dogs can have significant impacts on livestock, especially sheep. As a result, they have been identified as a priority pest animal under the 11 regional strategic pest animal management plans developed by Local Land Services. It is therefore necessary to manage wild dogs under the General Biosecurity Duty of the Biosecurity Act 2015.
This update was published in answer to the revelation that “wild dogs” previously considered dingo hybrids were in fact genetically pure dingos. The long-held justification for treating dingos as feral animals had been removed, but the response from government was to allow business as usual by treating native dingoes as a pest species wherever farmers would like to favour grazing animals.
Dozens of scientists have written to the New South Wales, Victorian and South Australian environment and agriculture ministers to push for changes to dingo policies in light of new scientific research.
The decision to preference grazing animals over wildlife is made despite the reality that vast areas of the outback deliver marginal returns to farmers. The construction and patrolling of the 5614 km long dingo-proof fence, and provision of bounties for dead dingoes, speaks to priorities of government in providing action, but also employment to the bush. The political dimension of the ongoing extermination of a species seen as a pastoral threat should remind us of the sad demise of the Tasmanian Tiger.
Printing process photos
The larger design developed from small rubber studies, these transferred onto wood blocks for carving and printing. Rubber works best with oily ink and brayer while wood is needed for the traditional Japanese techniques using brushes and water based inks.
Dingo pups woodblock print
by artists Tom Kristensen and Joanna Bradley
Japanese woodblock print 4 blocks of cherry. Hand carved, hand printed on Japanese/Thai hand made washi paper.
A$250.00
5 Pack of Dingo cards
Hand printed on 100% recycled made in Australia card
19 x 12.5cm
(countries other than Australia must pay an extra $35 postage)
A$45.00
10 Pack of Dingo postcards
Hand printed on 100% recycled made in Australia card
19 x 12.5cm
(countries other than Australia must pay an extra $35 postage)
Green and golden bell frog, Ranoidea aurea NSW status, Endangered. Commonwealth status, Vulnerable.
Eats insects, worms and small vertebrates. Sunbakes to aid digestion.
Tadpoles take 3-11 months to mature.
Classification
A ground dwelling frog in the tree frog family, one of Australia’s largest frogs the adults are between 4.5-11cm in size.
Very similar to other frogs in the Ranoidea genus, the green and golden bell frog is able to hybridise and is often found together with the closely related growling grass frog (R. castanea) and yellow spotted bell frog (R. raniformis).
“The species is now classified within the Ranoidea aurea complex, a closely related group of frogs in the genus Ranoidea.[4] This complex is scattered throughout Australia: three species occur in south-east Australia, one in northern Australia, and two in Southwest Australia.”
“Ranoidea aurea is equally and most closely related to R. castanea and R. raniformis. A microcomplement fixation technique using serum albumins has indicated the species closest to R. aurea is R. ranifomis. Albumin immunological distance data suggest no differentiation between the two, and the green and golden bell frog evolutionally separated from the other two species about 1.1 million years ago.”
From the Wikipedia entry on the green and golden bell frog (GGBF)
Offsets
The GGBF faces steep population declines in the remaining habitat, and is listed as endangered in NSW, where threats to biodiversity are largely managed with an “offset” mechanism. The Biodiversity Offset Market puts a monetary value onto threatened species and their habitat, this can be used to draw up compensation deals. These values are known as “species credits” and given that the market has been established by government to facilitate development in environmentally sensitive areas, outcomes favour developers. The cost of offsets is never a deterrent to a major development because the rules will be altered in such cases. There’s been no recorded improvement in environmental outcomes using an offset scheme, for frogs or any other species, anywhere, ever.
The market price on endangered frogs fluctuates depending on supply and demand for sites to be destroyed versus sites that might potentially be saved. We could speculate that the price should also reflect frog population health and numbers, but it’s unlikely that populations are monitored sufficiently to establish if offsets are effective. When it rains do the prices go down as more frogs reproduce? When it’s dry do prices go up as frogs perish? As frogs head to extinction does the price reflect the intrinsic value of another lost species. Does any of this economic activity increase the extent of frog habitat? Probably not, but it provides job opportunities for biologists who might otherwise raise concerns about development threats.
According to wikipedia, only 40 sites remain where GGBFs can be found. However species credit market prices dealing in habitat loss continue to fluctuate. How is it that the habitat market offset price can rise and fall while habitat loss continues in one direction?
On the 11th Nov 2022 species credit price for the green and golden bell frog was $22,348. The most recent sale of GGBF species credits on 28th Oct 2024 was $1,651, a 93% fall in value, yet the underlying conservation concerns are as dire as ever, chytrid fungus and habitat destruction remain as major threats.
No one can properly explain the species market, but green and golden bell frogs remain endangered and have vanished entirely from 90% of its previous recorded range. Meanwhile several government enquires at state and federal level have established that the biodiversity offset market is a failed concept.
Wetlands
The key to conservation is protecting habitat. Wetlands provide habitat for frogs but are just as crucial for birds, and frogs provide protein for birds. It’s entirely possible for an endangered bird to eat an endangered frog, such are the complications of conservation and over reliance on a diminishing area of suitable habitat.
Kooragang Island is one of three East Australian Islands where GGBF are found, and also major industrial hub. In 1983 a Kooragang wetlands rehabilitation and nature reserve were formed. 1984 it was declared a Ramsar site of 2926 hectares.
“The Hunter Estuary Wetlands Ramsar site is extremely important as both a feeding and roosting site for a large seasonal population of shorebirds and as a waylay site for transient migrants. Over 250 species of birds have been recorded within the Ramsar site, including 45 species listed under international migratory conservation agreements. In addition, the Ramsar site provides habitat for the nationally threatened Green and Golden Bell Frog, Estuary Stingray and Australasian Bittern.” Aust Gov DCCEEW 2019
Best friends. Loyal and trustworthy. Optimistic. Friendly, intelligent and reliable.
Hard working sheep dogs with a way of worming their way into your heart, the Aussie Kelpie was long believed (but now questioned) to be related to or bred from Australian native dogs – dingoes.
“For much of the 20th century and early 21st century it was claimed that kelpies were partly descended from dingoes.[6] In 2019, it was widely reported[7][8][9] that a genomic study conducted by researchers from the University of Sydney indicated that the kelpie had no dingo ancestry[10] although this is still uncertain. Claire Wade, co-author of the study’s paper, said that she has never suggested there was “no dingo blood in the Kelpie breed” as the media reported.[11] Wade explained:
The genes studied in our analysis were specifically chosen because it is those aspects of Kelpies (the ears and the ginger/cream colours) that lead most everyday people to presume the relationship between Kelpie and dingo. The evidence of our study proves conclusively that, at least for those characteristics, there is no evidence for relationship to be found.[11]“
Learning to understand the many needs of an animal from a young age is beneficial for teaching empathy to children.
This print of his pet dogs Duke and Lou was designed by Frank Errington age 8.
Australian Kelpie cards 3 pack
Hand carved, hand printed onto hand made gampi and washi paper, mounted onto gift cards 100% recycled Australian made card. Colours vary. 19 x 12.5cm
Designed by Frank Errington
A$45.00
Border collie gift cards 3 pack
Hand carved, hand printed onto hand made gampi and washi paper, mounted onto gift cards.
12 x 12cm
Designed and carved by Jo Bradley
Bush stone curlews are largely nocturnal with large eyes to assist a life in low light. They favour open areas to forage and nest. Eggs laid directly on the ground are vulnerable to being eaten by predators. Nesting parents can adopt a range of strategies to protect eggs, the bush stone curlew relies on camouflage, as the name suggests. It’s able to strike a pose like a statue, sometimes lying flat on the ground, neck extended, looking like a stone. The eyes are partially closed when the curlew is intent on blending in, but flutter wide open if detected, with eye contact maintained while the bird attempts to distract attention from the nest.
The eggs are also speckled to blend in with the leaf litter and go unnoticed.
If a person should come too close to nesting curlews they will attempt to lead them away from the nest by hissing, strutting and flapping around with raised wings. Naturally time off the nest is not good for the eggs and stressful, stone-curlews would prefer to remain on the eggs. Stone-curlews in repeated contact with people have been observed to allow closer intrusion towards the nest.
Bush stone-curlew numbers are under threat in NSW where they are declared endangered. Feral foxes make an easy meal of ground dwelling birds.
Tom Kristensen 2024 ǂ
Bush stone curlew mini print and 5 card pack
One hand made Japanese woodblock mini print on hand made washi paper. Plus 5 facsimile cards with message to politicians. 19 x 12.5cm
A$45.00
Bandicoots mini print and 5 card pack
One hand made Japanese woodblock mini print on hand made washi paper. Plus 5 facsimile cards with message to politicians. 19 x 12.5cm
I watched that instagram post about CO2 that you sent to me. My thoughts are that I reckon you should read up on the nature of different gases. They’re interesting. CO2 works in a similar way to how the colour black absorbs more heat than white. CO2 absorbs infrared radiation. So like we need a certain amount of nutrients to maintain homeostasis, the ecosystems on the planet needs a certain amount of CO2 to maintain equilibrium. Human activity has shifted the equilibrium and ecosystems are changing because of that. There is some fascinating history in geological records that show different phases of the planet in relation to CO2 levels. Venus is lethal because the gases in its atmosphere cause extreme heat. I loved chemistry (I even went back to do some at uni after we met when we studied music together – what a nerd!) and I have no trouble accepting that releasing large amounts of CO2 changes the current equilibrium of earth. Ecosystems especially oceans are changing – to what, who knows? Maybe Antartica will have forests again? Try wikipedia on CO2
Yes, there’s definitely a lot of problems in this world with greed and cruelty. Rich and powerful people want to maintain that balance of power. Power comes from literally power – energy/ electricity etc. So yes there’ll be corruption associated anywhere there’s money and energy. But there’s no scientific conspiracy to lie about climate change to reduce CO2 just to take power away from fossil fuel companies.
I hope we can always keep talking…
Beautiful Woronora River January 2025
Temperature change in NSW by Tom Kristensen
Hand carved woodblocks and printed onto hand made Japanese washi paper.
Oban size 38 x 25cm
Horseshoe Crabs and Red Knot Endangered horseshoe crabs provide eggs for endangered shorebirds. Evolutionary storylines reaching back hundreds of millions of years are now in danger of ending with habitat destruction and ocean harvesting. The red knot is a medium sized migratory shore bird, it flies vast distances from breeding grounds in the north to winter feeding grounds in the south. The feeding areas are restricted to highly productive wetlands and sand flats on intertidal zones, places that are increasingly taken into human use, for agriculture and coastal property development. In the middle of the major migratory path from the Arctic tundra to the tip of South America the red knots make a vital stopover to feed on eggs of the horseshoe crabs. The extinction of horseshoe crabs through over-harvesting would likely cut off the migration path of the red knots. Other migration paths exist but all are under similar pressures.
20 x 20 cm, 1 Shina block, Water-washable oils (COBRA) on Nishinouchi washi with sumi sizing, edition 24 for Baren Exchange. Part of the Double Dagger series where two printmakers illustrate environmental themes
Tom Kristensen 2024 ǂ
Red knot and Horseshoe crabs lino print
Hand carved and printed by Tom Kristensen in the style of Ono Tadashige onto black hand made Japanese washi paper.
20 x 20cm
Migrates in flocks following nectar flow in ironbark woodland.
Major threat – land clearing.
Warragamba Dam Raising Project Offset* prices exceeded capacity for government to pay. Solution; reclassify flooding of honeyeater habitat as a temporary impact
•Offsets are deals done to allow for Destruction of the environment
As of 10th July 2023 the species credit price for Regent Honeyeater is $4,308.00.
With a range of brightly coloured species appearing during summer, the glittering Christmas beetles are most beloved of Australian insects.
The largest Christmas beetle species found in Sydney is the queen beetle which grows to 30 mm in length. Adults feed on eucalyptus leaves while the larval grubs feed on roots of grasses beneath. The beetles thrived in the open woodlands prior to clearing for expanding agriculture and housing. Loss of tree canopy means suburban areas no longer support the beetles that were enjoyed by children of past generations.
The decline of Christmas beetle numbers has prompted entomologists at the Australian Museum to open a citizen science project. An app provides taxonomic tips to help identify beetles. Sightings can be recorded to help establish the range of beetle populations.
The Queen Christmas Beetle is named for the green reflections glinting off the dark feet.
Woodblock print Hand carved and hand printed on handmade Japanese washi Tom Kristensen 2024 ǂ
Blue Christmas beetle deluxe folder card mini print
Hand carved and printed beetle and eucalyptus leaves folder. The beetle is mounted on gold paper with notes on a golden slip behind the beetle. An absolute favourite print, easy to display.
14 x 20cm (with folder closed)
A$150.00
Green Christmas beetle deluxe folder card mini print
Hand carved and printed beetle and eucalyptus leaves folder. The beetle is mounted on gold paper with notes on a golden slip behind the beetle. An absolute favourite print, easy to display.
14 x 20cm (with folder closed)
Tadashige Ono was born in 1909 near the end of the Meiji era; four decades of industrialisation and military expansion under the imperial eye of the emperor. Japanese military victory over China on the Korean Peninsula led to the Chinese revolution of 1911, overturning 2000 years of monarchy with the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. Other revolutions in Russia and Germany saw the rise of more REDS.
Communist posters and pamphlets were illustrated with proletarian art, seemingly carved from wood with a pen knife. Woodblock art, historically dismissed as plebeian, was now authentically primitive. The young Ono entering art school was energetically criticising industrial development and capitalism, while leading fellow artists to mount group exhibitions and publish magazines. His early black and white work was crowded with figures; at work, on strike, partying. He produced a 50-page graphic novel illustrating “the death of three generations”, a pregnant mother is seen pushing a coal cart, then dying while giving birth in the mine. As his work became more colourful Ono depicted landscapes and village life; cats and birds predominate as silent witnesses while the people go about their daily lives. Scenic views of Japan and abroad combine with comments on pollution, wreckage and warfare. Ono was a respected scholar of prints and a bold innovator. He developed a technique enabling multicoloured prints to be made from a single block.
Champion of the Japanese print tradition, which had always produced affordable art for the masses, he worked in universities teaching the history of prints and passing on printmaking skills. Always producing prints at incredible speed, Qno encouraged others to join his print revolution. He mentored many important artists, including Kiyoshi Saito. Although a museum opened after his death in 1990, that museum has now sadly been deaccessioned, perhaps an indication of a lack of respect for a RED rabble rouser.
These 36 views are presented in the Sosaku Hanga tradition: self-carved and hand printed. This print was made from a Linoleum floor tile, Japanese gampi washi, and Royal Talens water-washable oils, and backed with Thai kozo chiri. The seal indicates the Double Dagger project; prints from collaborating artists on environmental themes: Australia is an island continent producing rivers of RED iron ore and black coal.
This print in answer to Ono’s Ume (fT:) – Sea 1959
Tom Kristensen
2024
Red Green Island by Tom Kristensen
Made in the style of Ono Tadashige on a single lino block.
25.5 x 20cm
Number 29 in Tom’s Green Island series, this print is about how increasing global temperature is changing to once very stable climates and locations.
A$150.00
Print by Tom KristensenBackingVerso of Red Green Island
Koala: Phascolarctos cinereus. Status: Endemic to Eastern Australia. Endangered in NSW, QLD & ACT.
Koalas are shy marsupials living in eucalyptus forests. They are fussy eaters with favourite trees and particular leaves they prefer to eat. Koalas are at home in the treetops, able to leap from tree to tree, they are safest when hidden in the canopy. Koalas need to keep moving to find suitable trees, water, and a mate. During fire koalas may flee or perish while climbing out of deadly heat and smoke.
Koalas were once widespread across eastern Australia, but half their forest has been cleared since settlement. Numbers have dropped alarmingly in recent decades with continuing deforestation and increasing habitat fragmentation. Climate change represents a significant ongoing threat. Broad-scale drought and fire kill large numbers of koalas and lack of habitat connectivity prevents repopulation by surviving koalas. The Australian Government declared koalas endangered across most of their range in 2023. The NSW Government advised that koalas are likely be extinct by 2050 without urgent action taken to protect them.
Governments hope to avoid the extinction of endangered biodiversity by developing an offset market, where developers pay dispensation for destroying natural areas. Fees known as “credits”, are assessed by the developer following formulas based on vegetation types. The monetary value of credits can be paid to the government Biodiversity Conservation Trust. Funds are used to employ ecologists who attempt to compensate for destroyed natural areas by adding benefit in other areas. It is also possible to buy species credits from another landholder who promises to protect biodiversity. Government has set up a market to buy and sell credits, the species credit price varies according to supply and demand. All offset schemes begin with habitat destruction but claim to deliver positive outcomes.
This pair of prints is stamped with the Double Dagger seal; artists working in collaboration illustrating environmental themes.
Joanna Bradley carved the joey print using 2 lino blocks, Sakura black on Shioji kozo washi. The gum leaf wrapper by Tom Kristensen from a single Shina block, Holbein gouache on vintage Yamato chiri.
Endangered by fire Joey koala lino and woodblock print
Hand carved and printed with baren Joey koala lino print 25.5 x 20cm
With beautiful woodblock print eucalyptus leaves wrapper 80 x 22cm (approx). Both prints are hand printed onto Japanese/Thai washi paper.
A$150.00
Joey koala lino and woodblock print
Hand carved and printed with baren Joey koala lino print 25.5 x 19cm
With beautiful woodblock print eucalyptus leaves wrapper 80 x 22cm (approx). Both prints are hand printed onto Japanese/Thai washi paper.
Horseshoe crab: Family: Limulidae Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Merostomata (legs attached to mouth) Species: Limulus polyphemus. Status: Four very similar species endemic to Eastern Americas and the Indo-pacific. Two species vulnerable to extinction in 2016.
450 million years ago horseshoe crabs were almost identical to horseshoe crabs living today. They pre-date the emergence of the woody plants that formed coal beds. Their closest modern relatives are spiders and scorpions. They have 10 legs, blue copper-based blood and 10 sets of eyes – including 2 photoreceptors in their tail.
Harvested for fertiliser, fishing bait, and for biomedical bleeding.
For years, HC were unprotected, shovelled up by the dump-truck load, crushed, and spread to fertilise fields in Delaware US. They are now protected in New Jersey, so after 10-year maturation in the Atlantic off Delaware Bay horseshoe crabs return to the beaches to mate.
Their only defence is their strong shell. The stingless tail is used for navigation and balance, their eggs and hatchlings are essential food for migrating Red knots, another endangered species.
Horseshoe crab blood contains proteins that react to the presence of bacteria forming a protective gel. Most people will have benefited from horseshoe crabs because their blood is used by the biomedical industry to detect positive gram bacterial contamination in vaccines and IV drugs. One litre of blue blood was worth about $16000 USD in 2020, “one of the most expensive resources in the world”
A synthetic alternative has been available for many years but it is even more expensive than the crab blood because of the high profits available and a patent protecting intellectual property.
This Double Dagger lino and woodblock print was made by Joanna Bradley in collaboration with Tom Kristensen who carved the coloured background wood blocks and helped research.
This print is about how human greed and disregard can drive the most resilient and biologically perfect creatures to the brink.
Horseshoe crab blood harvest
By Tom Kristensen and Jo Bradley
4 shina woodblocks hand carved and 1 lino block hand carved. Hand printed on Japanese washi paper using a baren
Largest Australian owl, and one of top ten largest in the world, the powerful owl with a wingspan of 2m, lives in old forests with tall trees and hollows along the Australian eastern coast from South Queensland, through Victoria and up to 200km inland.
Powerful owls prey on tree-dwelling marsupials like possums, Joey koalas, and gliders.
Their range can include urban areas beside bushland. Soft repetitive 2 long note calls at night.
Australian owls do not have feathered ear tufts or horns on their heads and with smaller head size relative to body, powerful owls and their much smaller cousins, southern boobooks, are described as hawk-owls.
Powerful owls are threatened by habitat destruction and poison baits. They are classified as vulnerable to extinction.
Jo Bradley 2022
Powerful Owl Burnum Burnum Sanctuary Sutherland 2022 by Matilda Bradley
Powerful owl print
by Tom Kristensen and Jo Bradley
3 hand carved shina blocks and one hand carved lino block hand printed with baren.
25.5 x 20cm
Greater Gliders, like Koalas, eat a diet of eucalyptus leaves. They are nocturnal, they depend on old growth forest, and sleep about 21 hours per day.
To stay safe from predators, such as Powerful Owls and Eagles, Greater Gliders use up to 20 different tree hollows in their range for sleeping and hiding.
The Black summer of 2019 was devastating for Australian wildlife, severely impacting Greater Glider numbers. This species has now been declared endangered and is headed towards extinction.
Catastrophic fire cannot be prevented, however another major threat to Greater Gliders is logging. Some Eastern states in Australia have committed to ending old growth forest logging, however government employed, and tax payer subsidised loggers continue to tear down Greater Glider habitat – Just to make wood chips and pulp.
Lino block carving
Endangered greater glider lino and woodblock print
By Tom Kristensen and Joanna Bradley
25.5 x 20cm hand carved lino and cherry. Printed by hand with a baren onto Japanese/Thai washi paper (also hand made)
You must be logged in to post a comment.