Another under appreciated candidate for #birdoftheyear2025, the teeny-tiniest tītīpounamu. #sciart Weighs less than a large garden snail.

Here it is, my guide to why you should vote for some of Aotearoa’s under-appreciated birds. open.substack.com/pub/theturns...

Fearless reporting from America's finest news source.

I decided to get behind #Birdoftheyear2025 so I've written a guide and done some drawings for 9 underappreciated birds. Here's one for hākoakoa #skua since I was inspired by @hakoakoa-boty.bsky.social The guide comes out tomorrow. Can you guess which other birds are on my list?

Hihi putting in a strong showing a day before voting opens in #BirdoftheYear2025

Something to help you through one of the most momentous decisions you'll make all year - which bird to vote for in #BirdoftheYear2025

I'm still finishing my work after 9pm because I decided to take a 3 hour walk this afternoon in the most perfect Wellington weather. Totally worth it. I made someone very happy.

I've written more about #vaccines - here's an article which looks at the traditional approaches to making live and inactivate vaccines, then protein subunit vaccines, then what makes #mRNA such an important development. #sciart, although my rabbits need practice...

I just checked back, and it appears I never shared my praying mantis drawings here. I'm still mostly drawing moths after #mothmay, but wrote an article on one of New Zealand's more surprising invasive species, which led to me drawing praying mantises. #sciart

#mRNA vaccines are an incredible develop, with huge potential to alleviate suffering, so it's heartbreaking to see the USA cutting mRNA research. To fight back against the current regime's regression to Victorian era health policy, the public needs good information to help see through the lies.

These guys are so brilliant!

Drawing moths has given me a new appreciation of a group which I previously studied as pests. Here are a couple whose arrival in New Zealand led to major eradication programmes. #sciart

#MothMay got extended - I'm still drawing moths! Here's a couple of highlights from my article about the latest in lepidopteran fashion, as some of nature's most striking moths strut down the runway with flying colours. @loadofolbobbins.bsky.social #SciArt

I've continued drawing since I took part in #MothMay, and while I can't say practice makes perfect, it has certainly helped. Here's my latest moth! #Sciart

I've been doing a lot more drawing since I took part in #MothMay. Lots of moths, but I'm getting better at drawing other things too. Practice won't get me close to perfect, but it does help! Here's my latest moth.

This thread is the best laugh I've had all day. PR firm for the University of Warwick delivers comedy gold.

If you haven't already bought a copy, the first chapter of Shaun Hendy's book on #TheCovidResponse is now available for free. I highly recommend it!

For a change from my usual, more serious science writing, I wrote something for my 7 year old nephew. It’s science and about the importance of biodiversity, but only for those with a strobg stomach. open.substack.com/pub/theturns...

If you are in #Aotearoa, you can participate in the New Zealand Garden Bird Survey, our longest-running #citizenscience project. I wrote an article about some of what we've learned so far and even drew a couple of our lovely manu. theturnstone.substack.com/p/the-compan...

A (mostly*) happy antidote to the dire news. Echidnas! www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... Reference to Indonesian occupation of West Papua. Please don't forget about it.

If you thought Philomena Cunk was funny, try reading a comments section full of people who haven't heard of Philomena Cunk. It's even better than people being outraged over stories in The Onion (sorry @bencollins.bsky.social, but you are still America's Finest News Source)

I wish I'd seen this post last month, when I was participating in #MothMay. @loadofolbobbins.bsky.social Jess, check out this genus on iNaturalist. Some great candidates for next year!

The world is burning and it seems as if everything is being run by the worst possible people. Apropos of nothing, here's a statue from the garden of Cardinal Ippolito D'Este, grandson of Pope Alexander VI.

Couldn't resist adding one more for #MothMay, as I didn't want to finish on one I was unhappy with. Here's a tiny spangle-wing, which bores into the bark of the linden tree. Lindens are cultivated in New Zealand, but I'm sad to say these moths haven't come with them.

Still behind on #MothMay, especially as it's technically June here. But I did want to draw this lovely moth. The shape went all wonky and I really struggled to get the gloss on its wings. I keep reminding myself that drawing is a skill and I will improve with practice.

Pūkaha is a national treasure, but it's now in a dire situation and may close. :-( Support it if you can. pukaha.org.nz

I needed a smile today. This guy was it.

Another weirdo for #MothMay. This is the currant clearwing, and as the name says, those wings aren't white, they're transparent. Native to Europe and Asia, introduced to NZ. I have currants in my garden and even though these are a pest, I'd be delighted if they turned up.

As requested @andrewtychen.bsky.social here is Marbles "helping" me at work.

Still drawing New Zealand weirdos for #MothMay. This one's the common hebe plume moth. Not a mosquito, despite appearances. It feeds on our shrubby, native Veronica species, which are known as hebes.

Still drawing New Zealand weirdos for #MothMay. Here's Gymnobathra flavidella, which seems like it should be conspicuous with its butter-yellow colour, but it's less than a centimetre long.

And here's one of my New Zealand weirdo moths from the weekend for #MothMay. Macarostola miniella is a pretty specialised moth, as the larvae are leaf miners and then leaf rollers on a threatened native tree, the swamp maire.

I'm a bit late posting one of my efforts for #MothMay last week. Here's my large emerald, a stunning moth native to large areas of Europe and Asia.

I love the lurid colours of the elephant hawk moth! It's a member of the Sphingidae, a family of fast, agile fliers. Some hover in mid-air to feed on flowers, and others are capable of crossing oceans. #mothmay

Very behind on #MothMay, but couldn't resist the cinnabar moth, introduced to New Zealand as a biocontrol agent to control ragwort, which is a troublesome weed in our pastures. I decided to draw a different perspective this time.

What a fabulous spider!

I'm still sidetracked drawing New Zealand moths for #mothmay. This one took a bit of extra work as it's so detailed. It's the emerald pug, found only in New Zealand. You might be starting to think that there's no tree trunk in the country which isn't covered with moss and lichen. That's not far off.

I haven't come close to doing this small lichen moth justice, but I had a try. It really does have those little raised flaps with black underneath. It's perfectly adapted to camouflaging itself on certain kinds of lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. #mothmay

In the light of the current interest in death cap mushrooms, and the often inaccurate information in the media, I spoke to an expert in death caps and the mushroom group they belong to. theturnstone.substack.com/p/fatal-error

Back into #mothmay, here’s the Kentish glory. It’s native to many parts of Europe and Asia and is the only member of its family, making it one of the most taxonomically unique moths.

Also, Australian species keep turning up in New Zealand, either blown on the wind or hitchhiking on cargo. This one would have been a hitchhiker, since the females can't fly - for obvious reasons. Males have normal wings, but they aren't so colourful. #mothmay

It turn out that New Zealand has a huge range of greenish moths with the most extraordinary camouflage against mosses and lichens. This drawing doesn't come close to doing justice to the green carpet owlet. #mothmay

I've got behind on #mothmay, but I'm still drawing moths. Since the challenge wasn't specific about which emperor moth to draw, I've gone for the species in New Zealand, actually from Australia. The stunning caterpillars feed on eucalypts, or gum trees, hence the name gum emperor moth.

#FirstDogOnTheMoon @theguardian.com really nails it on AI today. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Today’s moth fir #MothMay is the scarce forester. When they are very small the caterpillars actually tunnel inside the leaves of its host plants rather that crawling around on the leaf surface.

And here’s my next one for #MothMay, the scarlet tiger. This stunner is native to Europe and western Asia and prefers damp area.

I’m running a bit late with #MothMay, but here’s yesterday’s moth, Ethmia pusiella, another good botanist, which feeds on a couple of species in the borage family.

And here’s my 4th moth for #MothMay, the enigmatic frosted phoenix. Thought to possibly be extinct as it hadn’t been seen since 1959, until a Swedish tourist visiting Rakiura (Stewart Island) uploaded a photo to @iNaturalist last year and created an entomological sensation.

I decided to keep up with #MothMay over the weekend, with some lovely species from New Zealand. Here is the pūriri moth, out largest moth which begins life in the leaf litter then tunnels into trees.

Day 2 of #MothMay, and it's the peppered moth, exemplar of natural selection. Following the industrial revolution, dark-coloured forms came to dominate as air pollution killed the pale lichens against which it used to camouflage itself.