Melodramatic gull

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You never know when an old voice memo of piano noodling will come in handy as background music for 43 sketches. See also: Hastily animated birds, part two: Tentative Goose.

What’s in the bucket?

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Getting my feet wet in salmon restoration, in one of the very few U.S. rivers where wild Atlantic salmon are still hanging on. Guess what’s in the bucket! Atlantic salmon are part of a whole suite of threatened fish species that spawn in rivers and spend their adult lives at sea (or vice versa). These “sea-run fish” remind me a lot of seabirds in the way they form a link between terrestrial and marine ecosystems. 🎥 Thanks to Zach Sheller @downeastsalmon! #atlanticsalmon #searunfish #downeast #maine #conservation #ecology #wildlife #nature #newengland #fish #atlantic #salmon #fisheries #river #riparian #watershed #marineecology #seabirds #salmonstory #salmonsketches #sketch #biology

A post shared by Abby McBride (@sketchbiologist) on Oct 16, 2020 at 8:23am PDT

Answer! Juvenile salmon, a.k.a. parr (the stage between fry and smolt).

Success for seabirds

A story of rare good news for seabirds, thanks to conservationists in Mexico.

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Guadalupe Murrelet, one of the many seabird species benefiting from spectacular conservation efforts on islands of northwest Mexico (story for Living Bird Magazine @CornellBirds): https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/mexicos-conservation-efforts-spur-dramatic-recoveries-for-20-species-of-seabirds/ #seabirds #conservation #birds #nature #science #animals #ocean #islands #mexico #art #drawing #painting #sketch #seabirdstory

A post shared by Abby McBride (@sketchbiologist) on Jun 19, 2020 at 4:17am PDT

Plastic patrol

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I wrote a story about a seabird (guess the species!) that is monitoring plastic pollution all over the Arctic: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/a-hardy-seabird-is-helping-to-detect-plastic-pollution-in-the-arctic/ #LivingBirdMagazine @CornellBirds #northernfulmar #seabird #sketch #watercolor #bird #arctic #seabirdstory #wildlife #nature #science #conservation #plasticpollution #painting #art

A post shared by Abby McBride (@sketchbiologist) on Apr 22, 2020 at 1:06pm PDT

(Here’s the story.)

Stop, drop, and roll

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Today in “scientists like pictures too(?)”...my illustration of ‘Generalized fire response strategies in plants and animals’ by Juli G. Pausas in @oikosjournal. . (Visit oikosjournal.org/forum to see the paper and more illustrations.) #ecology #art #conservation #illustration #wildlife #painting #animal #botany #trees #seeds #birds #ornithology #mammals #herps #fire #forestfire #oikosforum #scienceinpictures

A post shared by Abby McBride (@sketchbiologist) on Sep 24, 2019 at 6:56am PDT