Yep I am a terrible photographer (although to be fair, I had an iPhone camera and also holding the leash of a dog who was very much ready to move on). I cannot tell you how much I have enjoyed adding a visit to the roost site of this pair to my daily routine over the past week and a bit.
It’s my very own ‘stick or tawny’ game each day!
Today the amazing @naturepositiveliving and I spoke at a very special @birdlifeoz staff meeting. We looked back at all the work we have done on the rat poison campaign and celebrated the recent wins.
There is still a ways to go, but it feels like we don’t get to celebrate very often in conservation so it was a great session filled with warm and fuzzy feelings. We celebrated everyone who has been involved - current staff, previous staff (like the powerhouse that is @erinmilika and the unstoppable @jimmymacropod )as well as all the individuals and organisations that have fought so hard, for so long, to see this big reform happen.
We were all encouraged to decorate and wear an owl mask - not really something I could speak in though, so here is proof I had one (which was also an excellent activity for kiddo looking for something to do over the long weekend).
EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT!!!
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I am so excited to have just signed the contract for THIS BIRD 2 (not the real title, but that’s under wraps for now), which will be published in 2027! My second book as an author/illustrator! Yipee!!
Thanks to the excellent matchmaking skills of @csiropublishing , I’ve found a partner-in-crime in Dr Holly Parsons @backyardbiro . I look forward to sending her my manuscript to fact-check the feathers out of it in the coming year!
THIS BIRD 2
Written and illustrated by @AstredHicks
In consultation with bird scientist Holly Parsons @backyardbirdo
Book design by @astredhicks
Published by @csiropublishing
Coming 2027
#bookillustration #thisbird #astredhicks #childrensnonfiction
This Bird Library workshop
Concord library, Sydney
Holly @backyardbirdo and I had the best time running a Birdy workshop for kids. We played bird games, and the junior bird noticers smashed it; Bird Olympics had kids running around the room and being crafty making bower bird bowers. I ran an illustration tutorial on how to draw a Splendid fairy wren and a yellow-tailed black cockatoo, where the kids were so engaged you could hear a pin drop.
What an ace time! Thank you to @samerak , our library liaison and author buddy!
And thank you to @canbaylibraries for inviting us!
If you would like to book Holly and I for a Birdy workshop you can drop me a line on 💌[email protected] (link is also in my bio)
THIS BIRD
Written and illustrated by @AstredHicks
In consultation with bird scientist Holly Parsons @backyardbirdo
Published by @csiropublishing
#childrensnonfiction #thisbird #childrensillustrator #AstredHicks #BookWorkshop
Enjoy my claw hands as I show you my amazing Spotted Pardalote inspired nails by @byjess.i - it’s been such a crazy week and I had a last minute panic about what to do. With all the rat poison announcements (yay!!!) and work associated with that, this had been the last thing on my mind - but I love them. Can you ‘spot’ the difference between left hand and right hand - and why????
As her current favourite animal , Sapphire (& myself) are very glad that (finally!) the federal pesticides regulator announced a ban on the sale of a type of rodenticides called second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs). Years of research had shown these baits can have a devastating impacts on native animals like owls, which receive lethal or crippling doses when they eat poisoned rodents .
Thank you to all involved in the research and helping make this legislation happen including @birdlifeoz , @backyardbirdo , @robdavis , @hugepossum , @acanthoplus , @davidpocock
#birdlife #owls #wildlife #conservation #savingspecies
8 April 2026, 2-4 pm Concord Library
School Holidays: Noticing Our Urban Birds Workshop
Join us in discovering the remarkable Australian native birds in our backyard, local parks, and streets with CBCA award-winning illustrator and author Astred Hicks and ornithologist Dr Holly Parsons.
Together, Astred and Holly will explore what's so fancy about this bird and what's so clever about that bird through games. There will also be a reading of their 2026 CBCA Book of the Year Awards Notable book, This Bird, and children will also receive a very special illustration lesson!
To register, follow the link in my bio!
THIS BIRD
Written and illustrated by @AstredHicksDesignCherry
In consultation with bird scientist Holly Parsons @backyardbirdo
Published by @csiropublishing
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#BookDesign #BookIllustration #AstredHicks #CBCAAwards #BirdNoticing
SWIPE FOR JUDGE’S COMMENTS —>
Read what the @cbcaustralia Eve Pownall judges had to say about THIS BIRD!
Written and illustrated by @AstredHicks
In consultation with bird scientist Holly Parsons @backyardbirdo
Published by @csiropublishing
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#BookDesign #BookIllustration #AstredHicks #CBCAAwards #BirdNoticing
Amazing awards news! 📢
Three of our books have made the Notables list for the Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Awards! 🎉
Eve Pownall Award
- The Great Shark Egg Case Hunt – written by Kasey Whitelaw and illustrated by Sylvia Morris
- This Bird: Noticing Our Urban Birds – written and illustrated by Astred Hicks, in collaboration with Dr Holly Parsons
Early Childhood category
- Look, See, Find Me – written and illustrated by Sandra Severgnini
Congratulations to our talented creators, as well as the other authors, illustrators and publishers on the Notables list!
You can find out more about these books in our CBCA Book of the Year Awards Showcase – link in bio. 🔗
@severgninisandra@seakidsalliance@sylvia_morris@astredhicksdesigncherry@backyardbirdo@cbcaustralia
#CBCA #CBCA2026 #CBCAAwards #BookAwards #ChildrensBooks #KidsBookstagram
