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

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

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

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

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

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

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

While visiting the aviary in the Dunedin Botanic Gardens a curious lori tried to taste my camera. Lorikeets have one of the strangest tongues in the bird world, with a brush like-tip that gathers pollen and nectar efficiently! #birding #birdart #anatomy #study #sciart #scientificillustration

A #treasuremap for my friend and award winning author John Egenes @jegenes.bsky.social for his new book, The Marfa Blues. So much fun to make a treasure map to fit in with the story! #fantasymap #map #illustration #bookmap #artsky

A book cover for my friend and award winning author John Egenes @jegenes.bsky.social of his new book, The Marfa Blues. You may have heard of John's last book, Man and Horse (or maybe you've seen it's cameo in the Barbie movie). Both are great reads so check them out! #bookcover #illustration #art

We're at Planet eBooks for the next few days. Stop by and look around. planetebooks.net/book-deals/t...

A spotted towhee for you. #sciart #birdart #birds #animalart #painting #illustration

Tesyed out some lovely impasto brushes on #krita using a moko kakariki as my subject matter. #aotearoa #newzealand #gecko #sciart #animalart #reptile #painting

The Wild Dunedin Festival of Nature put on an amazing Nature Dome event! It was a fantastic day to celebrate Dunedin's wildlife and help spread the word that you too can get connected to nature by visiting natural spaces nearby, like Orokonui Ecosanctuary! Thanks Marty Buyck for the lovely photos!

🪶 Today, more than 1/3 of the federal grant $$ we were relying on to finance our science & conservation work in 2025 is paused w/ no indication of when, or if, we will be able to access it again. Your tax-deductible donation helps us weather this period of uncertainty. birdpop.org/pages/do... 1/2

Last year I helped out my sister with her ecological fieldwork in Oteake Conservation Park, Central Otago. The deep gullies between the scree slopes are hidden gems. The cold springs create microclimates for a diversity of rare plants, insects, and lizards. #reptiles #Oteake #Newzealand

I'm sorry did I just tear up over this little fish? #anglerfish #deepsea #deepseacreature

Fulfilling my dream of being a #wildlife #artist, I painted this for Tiaki Manioto (freshwater conservation group) to highlight some key natural features of the #Taieri River in Central #Otago. Freshwater muscles, Australasian #bittern, freshwater #invertebrates, and the upland bully (fish)

Back when I was learning to use colored pencils to draw botanical subjects from life accurately and to scale. An oak leaf and English laurel leaf from the backyard, A poroporo flower, and a ripened apple. #botanicalart #SciArt #scientificillustration #art #coloredpencil

When the sun shines on #Mopanui these young #Otago green skinks come out to sunbathe. Otago green #skinks are not well understood, but from recent observations they seem to cuddle to stay warm or to warm up.

Here's a wee article about a mural I painted on a utility cabinet to celebrate Aotearoa's unique wildlife and plants. It was a pleasure to work with the folks improving the habitat at Half-Mile reserve to creat a mural the community would appreciate. #SciArt www.codc.govt.nz/your-council...

Last year I showed a scientific poster at the The Society for Research of Amphibians and Reptiles of New Zealand conference. This is a portrait of an Otago green skink, a threatened lizard that is endemic to the Otago region of NZ, which I used on my poster. #sciart