Emily Birks

Ink on paper, 2018

Gift to the Woodlands and Wetlands Trust

Eastern bettongs are a small digging macropod once common on the mainland. They were so abundant that farmers considered them pests. They soon became extinct around 1900 following the spread of foxes.

They feed mainly on native truffles, roots, seeds and insects. As they dig for these nutritious roots, known as geophytes, bettongs create holes that trap litter, water and nutrients. These holes can become hotspots for productivity and seed germination. This process is so important that digging animals like the bettong are often referred to as 'ecosystem engineers'.

After their reintroduction in 2012, researchers noticed that the bettongs seemed to be targeting a particular species of native lily called 'early nancy' (Wurmbea dioica). Over the last three years, PhD student Catherine Ross has been studying the impact of bettongs on early nancy populations in the reserve.

The relationship between bettongs and early nancies is complicated. In some areas, the bettongs are digging up huge numbers of plants and creating large areas of disturbed soil. When the conditions are good, these disturbed areas seems to provide an ideal site for seed germination. However, if there is a drought or bettong numbers get too high, they could have a negative impact on early nancies. The hope is that bringing back the bettong will help to restore the symbiotic relationship between digging animals and geophytes, but getting the balance right is an ongoing challenge.

Ink on paper, 2018

Gift to the Woodlands and Wetlands Trust

Researcher Christine Mauger recently graduated with Honours in Science at the Australian National University. Her research tested how resident and reintroduced marsupials responded to a range of predator scents in Mulligans Flat, a reserve free of mammalian predators.

She had mixed results with her findings, showing that a short period of isolation can remove innate anti-predator behaviour from some prey species to their mammalian predators. Mauger placed predator odours into tea strainers mounted to a post in various locations throughout the Sanctuary.

She discovered that prey will often investigate unrecognisable odours, which could be detrimental. However, some animals appeared to recognise odours as threatening, avoiding areas where odours were kept.

This painting is inspired by a night-vision camera shot Mauger captured of an eastern quoll investigating a mysterious scent!

Ink on paper, 2018

Gift to the Woodlands and Wetlands Trust

The bush-stone curlew is a species that relies on open woodlands. It has suffered from habitat loss due to urban development and predation by foxes and cats. Curlews are listed as an endangered species in NSW and Victoria. Though they were last seen in the wild in Canberra in the 1970s, eleven bush-stone curlews were released into the Sanctuary in 2014. Subsequent groups of around ten birds each year were released in 2015 and 2016.

Each reintroduced curlew has a leg tag, allowing researchers to identify it. Herbie – bird B0 – was in the first group, and has been seen as recently as April 2018! The curlews are also breeding – any bird without a leg tag has been born in the Sanctuary.

Ink on paper, 2018

There are three species of large macropod in Mulligans Flat – the eastern grey kangaroo, the swamp wallaby, and the red-necked wallaby. On most of my visits to Mulligans Flat the two wallaby species were the first animals I saw. While the red-necked wallaby grazes on the grassy areas, the swamp wallaby prefers browse from shrubs and low-hanging branches of trees.

Ink on paper, 2017.

There are three species of large macropod in Mulligans Flat – the eastern grey kangaroo, the swamp wallaby, and the red-necked wallaby. On most of my visits to Mulligans Flat the two wallaby species were the first animals I saw. While the red-necked wallaby grazes on the grassy areas, the swamp wallaby prefers browse from shrubs and low-hanging branches of trees.

Currently available as a print

Ink on paper, 2018

250mm (h) x 400mm (w)

Echidnas, though widespread in Australia, are in abundance in Mulligans Flat. Previous surveys of the echidna population have shown that around fifty call the Sanctuary home. This large population has allowed a greater chance of being able to see breeding behaviour that is usually quite secretive. Towards the end of winter, echidnas come out of hibernation to breed. The female emits a pheromone that males in the area can sense, leading them to her. As she forages, the males wander along behind her in a ‘train’, hoping to be the first to be able to mate.

I was lucky to see this behaviour at Mulligans Flat last year, after a day of tracking echidnas for a natural history documentary team who was visiting to film them.

The scarlet robin is listed as a vulnerable species in the ACT, but finds a haven in the Sanctuary’s woodland. I would occasionally see the robins foraging among a small mixed flock of insect-eating weebills and thornbills. The red feathers of the male were always a welcome sight, particularly on a crisp winter morning.

250mm (h) x 400mm (w)

Ink on paper, 2018

Ink on paper, 2018

 250mm (h) x 400mm (w)

The superb parrot is listed as a vulnerable species. The yellow box-red gum woodlands of Mulligans Flat are critical to the survival of the superb parrot as they migrate from inland eastern Australia to breed in summer.

They nest solely in scribbly gums or Blakely’s red gums that are old enough to have developed hollows, such as the ones in Mulligans Flat. In a rapidly decreasing habitat due to urban development, the superb parrots then must compete with other birds and mammals for hollows.

Mulligans Flat is expanding their protective fence into Goorooyarroo Nature Reserve and planting new eucalypts in this area to assist in the long term care of this species.

Oil pastel on cradled ply, 2017.

203mm x 203mm

On a cold but clear night in winter I accompanied ecologist Emily Belton to assess trapped bettongs for their suitability for release into a small wild population in the Cotter River catchment. On finding a bettong in the trap, weight, foot length and paw length were measured, then the females’ pouches were checked for young. Scat and hair samples were taken for later research. Emily chose five healthy bettongs for release the next day while the rest were released back into the sanctuary.

203mm x 203mm

Oil pastel on cradled ply, 2018

203mm x 203mm

Oil pastel on cradled ply, 2018

203mm x 203mm

Oil pastel on cradled ply, 2018.

Oil pastel on cradled ply, 2018

203mm x 203mm

Quolls were once found across eastern mainland Australia, but due to predation by foxes became extinct, only to be found in the wild in Tasmania. 16 quolls were first reintroduced into the Sanctuary in 2016 with more released in 2017. Their reintroduction has been a huge success – numerous pairs have had offspring, bringing the total to around 40-50 quolls.

The eastern quoll is a small carnivore around the size of a cat. Although the Sanctuary has eradicated introduced predators, the Eastern Quoll is a predator itself. However, as a native predator it plays an important role in the environment, feeding on insects, birds and small mammals.

203mm x 203mm

Oil pastel on cradled ply, 2018

203mm x 203mm

Oil pastel on cradled ply, 2018

203mm x 203mm

Oil pastel on cradled ply, 2018

203mm x 203mm

Oil pastel on cradled ply, 2018

The bush-stone curlew is primarily nocturnal, and feeding takes place at night. On a night tour at Mulligans Flat an eerie wail like the sound of a woman screaming may be heard– this is the call of the curlew.

203mm x 203mm

Oil pastel on cradled ply, 2018

Ink on paper, 2018

The golden sun moth is critically endangered. It relies on grasslands such as those at Mulligans Flat to survive. 99% of its habitat has been lost, and it now only occurs in tiny pockets of grasslands in Canberra, NSW and Victoria.

It breeds during the hottest part of summer, where the adult moth has a lifespan of only four days! Once they have mated, the female her eggs within tussocks of native wallaby grass. After three weeks the eggs hatch and the larvae burrow into the ground where they live for one to three years, feeding on the roots of native grasses.

120mm x 120mm

Ink on paper, 2017.

Twice a year the curlew lays two eggs. They create a shallow depression on the ground without much nesting material, though it is often next to a fallen log for some protection. Their feathers help them camouflage very effectively into the leaf litter. Both parents incubate the eggs which take around 30 days to hatch. These eggs are painted at actual size (5cm high).

120mm x 120mm

Ink on paper, 2017

Mulligans Flat has several dams, the largest of which has become something of a haven to migrating and resident wetland birds. These are just some of the species I saw during the course of the residency.

100mm x 100mm

Ink on paper, 2017.

Mulligans Flat has several dams, the largest of which has become something of a haven to migrating and resident wetland birds. These are just some of the species I saw during the course of the residency.

The rarest are the freckled ducks, a species listed as ‘vulnerable’ that breeds in swamps in inland Australia. As those wetlands dry out in drought, the ducks are forced to migrate to coastal and subcoastal wetlands such as Mulligans Flat.

100mm x 100mm

Ink on paper, 2017.

Mulligans Flat has several dams, the largest of which has become something of a haven to migrating and resident wetland birds. These are just some of the species I saw during the course of the residency.

100mm x 100mm

Ink on paper, 2017.

Mulligans Flat has several dams, the largest of which has become something of a haven to migrating and resident wetland birds. These are just some of the species I saw during the course of the residency.

100mm x 100mm

Ink on paper, 2018

Mulligans Flat has several dams, the largest of which has become something of a haven to migrating and resident wetland birds. These are just some of the species I saw during the course of the residency.

100mm x 100mm

Ink on paper, 2018