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Ricki Coughlan

@rickicoughlan.bsky.social
2.4K followers 543 following 1.4K posts

Herbivore 🦕 Bird Observer 🦜 Rainforest Flaneur 🐍 Author 📗 Rational Humanist 👩🏻‍🔬 Green Eco Socialist Future! 🌏 She/Her on Dharawal country

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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Happy National Tree Day Australia! [Early this morning on the Garawarra Trail in Royal National Park]
A trail winding through beautiful forest with tall trees and ferny ground cover.
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Yesterday I stood for over half an hour in the most stunning of wet sclerophyll forests surrounded by five male Golden Whistlers in stunning peak plumage, locked in territorial battle in glorious song and rapid flybys and pursuits. I watched mesmerised, immersed in the beauty of the moment and /1
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
This young lyrebird came to within 5 cms of my phone yesterday but when she saw her reflection in the case, her curiosity turned to surprise and, with crest up, she beat a hasty retreat. #birds #nature
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
The state of Variegated Fairy-wrens around Sydney right now. I'm going to launch a YouTube channel in a few weeks were I will be taking a deep dive into the fundamentals of how and why we see plumages of male fairy-wrens evolve through their lives and seasons, and why fairy-wrens are fairy-wrens!
Illustrations of Variegated Fairy-wrens depicting the plumages of immature male birds in the context of their seasonal colour changes.
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
It's very odd that even if we live in political democracies we don't live in economic democracies and we never seem to question this. We're enmeshed in a capitalist system where very few control capital and the means of production, so we've little choice in how we live and our environmental impact.
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Reposted by Ricki Coughlan
Brant Reeves @bireeves95.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Very Cool 🆒
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Angie @angieispissed.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
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Peter Breedveld @frontaalnaakt.nl · 18/07/2026
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Free speech is pretty easy . . . one's words should not be detrimental to the freedom or safety of another and, in Nelson Mandela's words, "The purpose of freedom is to create it for others". #auspol #speech #freespeech #NelsonMandela
Image of Nelson Mandela with a quote: "For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains but live in a way that respects and enhancers the freedom of others" Nelson Mandela
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
#nature #climate #auspol
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Fruits of the White Beech Tree on Lady Carrington Drive, Royal NP. They're awaiting the Brown Cuckoo Doves, Wonga Pigeons, Green Catbirds and Satin Bowerbirds who will enjoy them. Any which they break up and leave will be eaten by the Yellow-throated Scrubwrens who make this patch their home #birds
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Happy International Day for Biodiversity! Acting locally means personal actions, let's consider our choices and their impact on the earth: what we consume, supply chains, what we eat, how we travel, who we vote for. You and I are part of this. www.cbd.int/biodiversity... #BiodiversityDay #nature
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
When we hear a bird sing, it's a moment of connection between two minds. In our cities, full of white noise, we learn to tune out. My next book (out soon) will lead the reader into tuning in: learning to listen through the layers of sound in our natural environments; learning who is saying what.
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
I have long held to the sensibility that our understanding or experience of #consciousness and #sentience may not be the only experience of these things . . . Broadening our vision in these respects is the doorway to deeper, more profound, immersive and meaningful experiences in #nature
atmos.earth
The Science of Animism | Atmos
As Western science’s circle of consciousness widens, as more people open themselves to Indigenous teachings, a new animism is surging forth.
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
I feel that people who wave Australian flags on ANZAC Day knowingly or not cross the line from honouring the fallen into supporting the patriarchal nationalist constructs which are used to deceive young people into the idea that imperialist wars for wealth and power are somehow righteous.
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
The goal of effective communication is mutual understanding, not necessarily winning the argument. Argument and insults don't change minds, they close minds. Conversations which open awareness to arrive at better conclusions begin by offering dignity and creating grounds for mutual respect . . . 1/2
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
In the year 66788 the constellations will all be unrecognisable and the Southern Cross no more In the year 66788 Australia and New Guinea will be 4.5 kilometres further north from their current position . . . 1/5
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
I always have a little chuckle when I'm standing in a beautiful forest and someone comes up to me and says "Have you seen anything good today?"
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
Another fine mixed seed and sweet potato damper. So quick and easy to make and so tasty. Self raising flour, salt, water, seeds and puréed sweet potato. There’s endless variations you can do of this simple wholesome bread.
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
Done. My wholefood vegan kitchen now has 4 months supply which I've stocked up over 6 weeks. Grains, beans, nuts, seeds spices, polenta, semolina, flours, dals, dried fruit, canned goods, home canned fruit. I'm a scratch cook and also know how to wildcraft greens and roots. I'm ready/prep'd.
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
Who Gives a Crap keeps kicking goals . . .
youtu.be
Australia’s First Electric End-to-End Freight Delivery | Sydney to Canberra
YouTube video by New Energy Transport
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
Mark Zuckerberg's new 87.5 metre yacht with helipad and four massive diesel engines. This isn't wealth or a healthy aspiration, this is a terrible illness. I actually cried for him when I saw this.
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
"Growth" is shrinking. It's shrinking the living world. It's shrinking our lives. It's shrinking our futures, it's shrinking our possibilities and it's shrinking our humanity. We must explore economies and systems based on a planet where there's space for all species, for need, not "wants".
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
As a field ornithologist and nature educator who has banded hundreds of birds I would like to say we need to stop this. We need to stop opening them up and putting GPS trackers in them. What more do good hearted, right headed people need to know to conserve them and be in awe and wonder at them?
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
When I consider all I've seen over the last 60 of my almost 68 years, we need to own all that's about to drop on us. We could have chosen respect for all species, dignity for every human, a thriving Earth and systems and lives and know-how which supported all this. We chose lies and greed instead.
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
It requires around .75 of a tonnes of coal to make the steel for the average car in China. In China they create around 2 tonnes of CO2 to manufacture 1 tonne of steel. In 2025 alone China made 34.53 million cars and at least 4 million trucks each year. We're not going to tech our way out of this.
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
@albomp.bsky.social should not cut the fuel excise. The price is currently right for the supply situation. If the price is cut, antisocial types will rush out with jerry cans and deplete our supply.
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
I've been plant based since 1974. Here's my supplements: • B12, daily or very regularly • D3, I get adequate sun most of the year but still supplement • Iodine, Iodised salt or three sheets of Nori every day or two • Blackstrap molasses, 1 tablespoon daily. I have the same advice for meat eaters.
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
Whenever I tell anyone I'm moving onto a gorgeous sub tropical property in the hills just off the coast with stunning rainforest full of birds and wildlife, where we're building a permaculture farm and food forest and I'm building a tiny house they say, "This is my dream too" . . . Later this year.
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
We're not headed for civilisational collapse. We are simply experiencing the outcome of bad choices and behaviour based on false beliefs. Human supremacy, the blind belief that humans are above all other species and the only species deserving our moral consideration has brought us . . . 1/9
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
We're all in shock about rising prices and oil scarcity but not our conscious decisions to hold onto faulty beliefs and subsequent habits and behaviours driving the extinction crisis, the climate catastrophe, the breaking of 7 of 9 planetary boundaries, deforestation . . . who we vote for.
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
We can address all our overshoot/planetary boundary problems, most of our climate problems and human development problems by adopting plant based eating. All plants have protein - All animals have feelings - All humans have choices.
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Happy Autumn Equinox world . . . (Larrapinta Trail, Kwartatuma, Central Australia)
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
In 1974 I turned 16. Nixon resigned. Whitlam won again. Ali won a boxing match and I recognised that animal agriculture and industrial ocean fishing was not only a fundamental evil premised on denial of agency of all species but would eventually destroy the earth. I went plant based. I was right.
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
I was pretty ashamed that our leader of the Opposition, Angus Taylor used the visit of the EU President to parliament to spout his christianism and white supremacy but I guess we still labour under the idea that in a democracy the most embarrassingly ignorant among us must always be heard from too.
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
When pondering the claims of technological solutions for our organisational failures we have to ask: How's that been working out for us so far?
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
The root cause of all our organisational failures on this finite planet which we share with over 2 million species is Human Exceptionalism: the belief that we are above all other species and deserving of special moral consideration. Our obsession with status and distrust of the other doesn't help.
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
This may change your world. Birds process sound and vision around 10 times more rapidly than humans do. Here, I have a 2.3 second clip of an Eastern Whipbird call, followed by the same clip slowed 10x. Perhaps it's time to recognise that different intelligences are no less relevant than ours. #Birds
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
We come from the land. All which sustains us comes from the land. We return to the land. Given these truths we must surely interrogate the notion that land is "property" and a "resource" rather than something we belong to and should live upon with gratitude with wisdom. Also, happy World Frog Day!
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
I found this gorgeous Diamond Python on the trail last week. It appears they’ve recently dined on a Ringtail Possum. #nature #herping #reptiles #python
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
Bad Lorikeets! Here's what can happen if you leave a window open in Sydney. After helping themselves to some honey I had put out for my mum, they perched on my iMac for the morning no doubt waiting for seconds . . . cheeky buggers. #birds #birding #nature #badlorikeets
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
This gorgeous little Eastern Yellow Robin almost landed on me this morning . . . #birds #birding #naturelovers #nature
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
The "Pork Chop Crew", one of many trios of young male lyrebirds in Royal National Park who spend their days joyously dashing around the rainforest floor, into trees or onto rock ledges before floating back to the ground all the while practicing their song, dance & mimicry, on endless repeat. #birds
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
Take a few seconds to enjoy the beautiful rainforest sounds of the Hacking River Valley and a Superb Lyrebird as he forages. He's ably assisted by a Yellow-throated Scrubwren who are comensal to lyrebirds and are also excellent mimics. #birds #birding #nature #naturelovers #lyrebirds
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
Even here on Sydney's southern beaches we seem to have a colony of these Southern Leaf-tailed Geckos, as they turn up in our garden and on our walls now and again. #nature #herping #reptiles #geckos
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
Green Catbirds are members of the bowerbird clade. They were going off on call and response this morning in Royal National Park. #birds #birding #nature #naturelovers
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 06/12/2025
Ruddy Turnstones at Boat Harbour (Sydney) on a very windy beach (hence the camera shake). The Ruddy Turnstone's bill is the "Swiss Army Knife" of the bird world. It's many uses makes them a success on beaches, rocky headlands and mud flats. They're joined by a random Red-necked Stint. #birding
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 06/12/2025
Superb Lyrebirds in rainforests are often accompanied by this fellow, hopping around and collecting any of small invertebrates which are disturbed in the vigorous leaf raking. This is the Yellow-throated Scrubwren, a comensal of the lyrebird and one of the forest's most fascinating species. #birding
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Ricki Coughlan @rickicoughlan.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
Humans need green spaces as much as every other species. Connecting with nature, receiving its energies and moving with its flows is in our DNA. We must work for more of these everywhere . . . a mandatory part of all urban planning. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
theguardian.com
The dream that grew into the GreenWay – a car-free corridor from Sydney Harbour to the Cooks River
Plans that evolved over more than two decades are about to become reality as a 6km cycling, walking and nature corridor opens through Sydney’s inner west
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