Out to the Mokes

Landing on Burgess Island

A post shared by Abby McBride (@sketchbiologist) on Sep 13, 2017 at 2:13pm PDT

First expedition in New Zealand, out to the beautiful Mokohinau Islands.

First sketch of NZ

Testing out new sketching gear, at the mudflats in the Tamaki River

A post shared by Abby McBride (@sketchbiologist) on Sep 11, 2017 at 2:49pm PDT

I rigged up a Rite-in-the-Rain sketchbook for this trip. I think it will come in handy.

Seabird landing

It's official: my seabird sketching project has begun (this press release materialized mere hours after I touched down at Auckland International Airport).

I'm doing a Fulbright-Nat Geo Storytelling Fellowship in New Zealand. See more stories from the seabird capital of the world...

Scribble map

I had to draw one of my signature Highly Inaccurate Sketch Maps to start getting my bearings for New Zealand. The yellow scribble is by my two-year-old niece but all of the other scribbles are by me.

A post shared by Abby McBride (@sketchbiologist) on Aug 24, 2017 at 8:01am PDT

Zee and the Storm-Petrel

Zee will be lying low in the coming months, while I head to New Zealand to sketch seabirds for a Fulbright-National Geographic Storytelling Fellowship. (See more Adventures of Zee.)

Here's one last sighting of Zee with the long-lost New Zealand Storm-Petrel. This little seabird, thought to be extinct for the entire 20th century, was recently found nesting on an island just 50 miles from New Zealand's biggest city.

The storm-petrel's tenuous recovery depends on ongoing conservation efforts, including constant vigilance to keep invasive cats and rats away from its breeding grounds.

Stay tuned to learn more about this storm-petrel and other seabirds of New Zealand, appropriately known as the "seabird capital of the world" (and as a global leader in saving these very important, very endangered animals!).