Pearl

Inspector Gannet making sure this stoat trap is set and baited to protect the colony from invasive ferrets, weasels, and stoats.

#gannet #birds #birding #wildlifephotography #NewZealand #Aotearoa #seabirds #birdsofbluesky #photography #ocean #conservation

#gannet #birds #birding #wildlifephotography #NewZealand #Aotearoa #seabirds #birdsofbluesky #photography #ocean #conservation

#gannet #birds #birding #wildlifephotography #NewZealand #Aotearoa #seabirds #birdsofbluesky #photography #ocean #conservation

#gannet #birds #birding #wildlifephotography #NewZealand #Aotearoa #seabirds #birdsofbluesky #photography #ocean #conservation

The gannet colony at Muriwai is full of very photogenic birds :)

#gannet #birds #birding #wildlifephotography #NewZealand #Aotearoa #seabirds #birdsofbluesky #photography #ocean #conservation

#Orokonui snow day! Here's are our #takahē #whanau. Mom and her year old juveniles dote on one of 2 new chicks hatched only a few weeks ago. The juvs adore their baby siblings and enjoy feeding them grass and worms. The other chick is staying cozy in the tussocks with dad. #birds #NewZealand #nature

#Snow day at #Orokonui Ecosanctuary! When the cold set in, this group of young #kākā gathered together to snack and have a chat at the viewing platform.

#bird #conservation #parrot #wildlife #birding #Aotearoa #NewZealand #NZbirds #animals #Dunedin #endangeredspecies

Otago green skinks in #Aotearoa #NZ appear to have close family ties for the first 3-4 years of life! Here are two baby #skinks with their older sibling who's probably 2.5-3 years old.

#lizard #reptiles #wildlifephotography #naturephotography #Orokonui #conservation #wildlife #animals #NewZealand

#PNW #wasps
#naturephotography #insects #flowers #nature #wildlifephotography #bugs

Thanks Cory. Here's the same bird on one of the bird-water dispensers at Orokonui!

Korimako are a type of honeyeater endemic to #Aotearoa #NewZealand.

Every spring when the kotukutuku (Fuchsia excorticata) blooms I see korimako with faces covered in the worlds only plant-kingdom's only bright blue pollen!

#nature #birding #birds #nzbirds
#birdsofbluesky #conservation #flowers

Yes she is! She's a great mom to many takahe chicks every year. This year she has had 2 new chicks with her mate Bennet, and her two adult chicks from last year are helping to raise them. Its a privilege to watch.

Waimarie is one of 8 takahē living at #Orokonui Ecosanctuary, an one of only ~600 of her species! Takahē numbers plummeted to near-extinction in the South Island of #NZ in the 1940s. Large-scale invasive mammal trapping and predator-resistant fences are helping to bring them back!
#birding #wildlife

Snack time
#Orokonui #habitatrestoration #conservation
#Aotearoa #NewZealand
#photography‪ #birding
#nzbirds #nature #kaka

Birds are pretty cool too
#Orokonui
#Aotearoa #NewZealand
#photography‪ #birding
#nzbirds #nature #tui

I just these these little guys are so neat. Check out how their eyes look open, even when they are closed due to some special eyelid scale trickery! #photography #herpetology #Orokonui #Nature #Aotearoa #NewZealand #lizard #ecology

A sort video of those two in action. Your can see the male flicking his tongue - this can be a way to cool down in the heat, but is also a way to smell his mate's pheromones *mlem*. I have been watching these two for 3 summers and they have been amazing parents together. #Orokonui #herpetology #cute

It's spring time in #Orokonui Ecosanctuary, and that means my favorite bonded pair of Otago green skinks are active again! Going on 9 years old, the female (green nose) has had a litter of two skinklets (not the technical term) with her long-term mate. #photography #herpetology #NewZealand #Science

#art #digitalart #waterfall #landscapepainting

Painting and inspiration

#art #landscapepainting #forest #natureart

I've been super inspired by the glowy and colorful forest paintings by @mk-howling.bsky.social. I have a lot to practice and learn!

#art #landscapeart #painting #digitalart #krita

I'm trying out a digital stippling technique for botanical illustrations using one of my favorite PNW wildflowers, the understated and charming Pacific starflower (Lysimachia latifolia).

#botanicalillustration #SciArt #scienceillustration #natureart #flower #PNW #wildflowers #botanicalart

A tauhou rests on the trunk of a kanuka tree in-between stints of pulling bark away to eat insects underneath.

While looking for #tīeke at #OrokonuiEcosanctuary, I saw many other inhabitants lucky to reside inside the protection of the mammal-resistant fence🪶. Here, a tauhou or silvereye was prying away the strippy bark of a kanuka, plucking insects hiding underneath.
#Aotearoa #NewZealand #SciArt #birding

A tīeke, a black bird with a sharp beak and a brown back, faces left with its bright red mouth open as it calls "tīeke tīeke tīeke". Its colorful, identifying leg bands are clearly visible, making the photo useful for our survey records.

A tīeke, a black bird with a sharp beak and a brown back, faces right with its bright red mouth open as it calls "tīeke tīeke tīeke". the grey eye is alert and shining in the low winter light.

A miromiro, a small bird with a large black head, small pointed beak, and bright yellow belly perches on a dead, thorn-armoured gorse branch.

A miromiro, a small bird with a large black head, small pointed beak, and bright yellow belly perches lightly on a pale tree stump, with the blue sky in the background.

Yesterday I participated in a sanctuary-side survey for the recently released #tīeke at #OrokonuiEcosanctuary. We use a playback technique to draw in #birds to take note of their colored leg-bands. A curious miromiro also came by, wondering what the ruckus was about.
#Aotearoa #NewZealand #SciArt

Thank you 💛

Colored Pencil illustration of a pink fuchsia flower on white background

Watercolor painting of a disc-shaped river stone on white background.

Watercolor illustration of an orange and grey feather on a white background.

More pieces from my workshops on botanical and natural science illustration techniques. All drawn from life and accurate to scale 1:1. A Fuchsia flower in colored pencil, a river stone in watercolor, and a feather🪶 in watercolor.
#botanicalart #SciArt #scientificillustration #art #coloredpencil

Wow thank you! I really admire your work so it's nice to hear your thoughts on mine.

Close up of the kahu

Close up of the kahu

Close up of the face of one takahe

Close-up

Takahe tussock grasslands where we thought was there preferred habitat before more data showed they prefer swamp and forest edge habitat. Two takahe tussle in the foreground while another watches them closeby and a fourth seems ambivalent in the background. An Australasian harrier hawk, or kahu, soars around looking for the now extinct flightless wrens. A New Zealand Pipit watches the tussle from the branches of a dead hebe.

When takahē were discovered not to be extinct, conservationists had to learn to save them without much available information about their ecology. This illustration represents when alpine tussock grasslands were thought to be their preferred habitat.

#Aotearoa #NewZealand #SciArt #Birds #digitalart