NZ Naturally: To the Nines

 The Nine of Swords is not a positive card - it represents mental pain and anguish, disappointment, deception and shattered confidence. It is represented here by a Kaki, a black stilt, who has come home from foraging to find his mate and chick both dead - probably murdered by the black cat in the background there. Kaki parents will attempt to fight off threats, instead of luring them away, which is to their detriment. They also nest on the ground in the high country (hence the inclusion of a wading bird in the suit of the peaks) and are thus vulnerable to predation.

The Nine of Coins is a card of gratitude, luxury and self-sufficiency. Here this diminutive silvereye has more berries than she can possibly eat, so she's waiting for her flock to join her in her good fortune.

Nine of Trees - the Kereru is a true survivor. It is the last of the main fruit dispersal birds to survive in reasonable numbers. But as farmland encroaches on its forest home, and predators prey upon its chicks, it too is in decline. However, for the time its population is stable.

If you notice that the Kereru has now featured on two cards, that is because I intend to redraw the Knight of Trees with a more fitting representative - the Rifleman.

The Nine of Waves represents happiness and wish fulfilment - and what could make a gull more happy than fish falling from the sky? Someone to share their fortune with!

We're onto the home stretch now!

Left to draw are:
Ten of Peaks, Trees and Coins.
22. Wyrd
23. My "Happy Squirrel" equivalent
Bonus "artist" signature card.
(These three cards will bring me up to 81 - the Maximum amount that will fit in my 90 card box with the folded info sheet).

And to redraw:
The Tower (I'm not happy with the tomtit)
The Moon (with bats)
The Sun (maybe, not 100% happy with the fantail)
Knight of Trees (Changing the species from Kereru to Rifleman)
Seven of Trees  (My second most popular card, but doesn't represent the theme well).